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Bank to Move to the Capital City


ncsugrad204

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At least any speculation about a suburban location can be put to rest. Whew!! :thumbsup:

By the way...is anyone else psyched up about all the stuff coming online in 2008?? The Green Building (which I will work in yeah!), TTA (hopefully), various residential stuff will finish around then, the Convention Center. Downtown Raleigh should be fully awake from a long slumber around that time...

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Bear with me....

Maybe the RBC Tower will manage to be at least 30 floors, if not higher, and Suntrust will go in the Reynolds Tower. Then Bank of America realizes that maybe their little ole midrise is dwarfed by Wachovia, BB&T, RBC and Suntrust so they decide they need to build something taller to compete.....

muahahahahaha *cackles wildly*

The Bank of America tower is kinda little though seriously....anyone have any height/floor info on it? I guess that since their headquarters are so close (Charlotte) it's kept them from expanding in downtown Raleigh...

I hate playing the waiting game though...maybe RBC and Reynolds will announce actual specs around the same time in a few months....

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The Bank of America tower is kinda little though seriously....anyone have any height/floor info on it? I guess that since their headquarters are so close (Charlotte) it's kept them from expanding in downtown Raleigh...

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One Hannover Square (BofA buildilng) is approx. 320,000 square feet and 17 stories tall.

My understanding is that the building size has more to do with the fact that BofA has surprisingly little market share in the Triangle relative to other banks.

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I found a press release on this thing, and one big part that I found exciting was this:

Over the next five years, RBC Centura plans to affirm its commitment to Raleigh by contributing $1 million to downtown development through the RBC Centura Heart of the City Grants Program designed to fund economic development in downtown Raleigh. As part of this program, the bank will work with existing downtown revitalization and economic development groups to support initiatives and projects that attract new residents and businesses.

This is great that they have decided to invest that kind of money in downtown. I think they are going to be a great corporate partner.

Press Release

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I think Raleigh will end up having a long panoramic skyline. Nothing comparable to Atlanta's, but still, quite long. With the hotel/s beside 1 & 2 Hannover Square, the Quorom, and the Reynolds tower, that would make our skyline quite a sight. They need to focus on filling in the gaps though around the northern area of Fayetville St. It would be great if RBC chooses to put their tower a little to the north. I think it would compliment the Reynolds tower quite nicely. Do any of you guys think GloSo will ever see buildings over 10 floors? I would think the max in that area would probably be around 12 - 15 floors.

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Do any of you guys think GloSo will ever see buildings over 10 floors? I would think the max in that area would probably be around 12 - 15 floors.

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Well, the cheezy answer to that question is "yes" - because Glenwood Towers is already there and is 14 stories tall. But will new construction ever go that tall? Probably. If someone proposes a 12 story building there I don't see the city trying to stop it.

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I read the above posts and laugh, but it is all good. One thing to remember, outside of HQ buildings, banks or few companies own the buildings they occupy. They pay to have the space and their name at the top of the building. Example: Progress Energy building vs Hanover II--BB&T. I doubt BofA will ever "build" a building in downtown Raleigh.

If I were betting real money, I say a 15-17 story building at the old 1st Citizen's lot and Highwoods. They will either get another tenant or steal one from one of the buildings downtown to fill up the rest of the space. If they are not moving jobs from Rocky Mount, that means they will pull some people in but most people will come from growth (purchases, capital growth). They will need to do this if they are only looking for 130K sq feet. The thing to remember is RBC is a publicly traded company that just got its head handed to them. That head was handed it to them with 1) all that money they have in the bank and 2) by the public and financial markets. I doubt they are going out to build a 40 to 50 story building "to make a statement because they got money." Now they have learn how to run a bank in the competitive USA, they will work on solid growth. Nice to see them firm on their feet with plan on growth.

I would like to see RBC purchase another/several mid-tier bank like Regents Bank and move that up to Raleigh from Montgomery (who would want to live in Montgomery?) or some other mid-tier bank. What interests me the most is what other jobs will be created by them moving. Is there a "band of bandits" that follows Bank HQs providing services and even a customer base. Like with IBM and GSK in the park or when a car mfg plant moves to Alabama. Many jobs are created outside of the company along with the jobs the big company creates. Then you must think about the off-shoots. How many tech/software companies and how many bio-tech companies are in the Triangle now because of people who left the big motherships like IBM and GSK. It takes years but that is the biggest payoff.

I just hope Air Canada increases the size of the jet they fly direct to RTP. It use to small and they increased a little. I want an A300 with one of those new AC paint jobs flying in 3 times a day and out 3 times. And for all those nay-sayers who talk junk about the new Marriott downtown and how downtown could not support a 4-star hotel, I guess they are wishing they would have spruced up their

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Here is to confirm that WRAL is reporting that 130,000 sq ft number for the RBC HQ. Also "sources" say between the 300 and 500 blocks of Fayetteville Street. (This sounds like the Lichtin spot, or the lot North of the Hudson. ) I really hope that the "sources" or wrong, or that there is some re-evaluation done, becuase that size is actually about 1/3d the size of 1 Hannover. It's probably the equivalent on 333 Corporate with 2 floors cut-off. If they are looking for exposure, they aren't going to find it from a building that size at that location. 333 Corporate hardly stands out on the skyline, a shorter building next to it would never be seen. I'm hoping that the 130,000 was taken as space they are building for themselves, hopefully they'll find some other tenants and build the 40 story scraper that they need to build.
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I found a press release on this thing, and one big part that I found exciting was this:

This is great that they have decided to invest that kind of money in downtown.  I think they are going to be a great corporate partner.

Press Release

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"RBC Centura has not yet selected the real estate for its new headquarters office, but plans to make its final decision on a downtown location within the next 60 days. There are currently multiple building proposals under consideration that include retail, commercial and residential elements. RBC Centura's goal is to complete construction and be stationed downtown by 2008."

I think that is pretty interesting as well... Im not sure if one of those proposals under consideration could be the Reynolds Tower. I am glad to hear how the proposals include retail and residential. The more residents the better.

But the WRAL link kind of squashes that idea of the Reynolds Tower. But it did say that information was from sources.(maybe they are wrong)

Either way any kind of development is good for Downtown and is greatly welcomed.

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I was thinking the same thing. Obviously, I would have loved to see a new tallest, but anything is welcome. 130,000 square feet is the size of a Wal-Mart. I am guessing if it is a 15-17 floor tower, they will only utilize a portion of these floors unless the footprint is small. If they go this route, I don't think Meeker should push so hard for Fayetteville Street unless it is on an unobstructed portion of it. As it is, you can't see the new Progress Energy building except from certain angles.

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I heard (from a completely unreliable source) that the building will be approx. 300,000 sq. ft. on the site of the Progress executive parking lot, where the Lichtin Building was supposed to go. If there's ground level retail and 130,000 sq. ft. for the bank, that leaves additional space for other office tenants. On that footprint, if you guess-timate around 15,000 s.f. per story that'd be approx. 20 stories.

In any event, it would be really great to have a second US HQ fronting on Fayetteville St., even if it's not in a landmark building. AND, anything beats another surface parking lot. Building up density downtown even in mid-rise buildings like that is a good thing.

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One thing to remember, outside of HQ buildings, banks or few companies own the buildings they occupy.  They pay to have the space and their name at the top of the building.  Example:  Progress Energy building vs Hanover II--BB&T.  I doubt BofA will ever "build" a building in downtown Raleigh.   

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Absolutely correct. Bof A will never build a building in downtown Raleigh; although it's also true that (as is obviously the case with RBC) major tenants can significantly influence the scope of a building project; so if their market share increases and they need more space, it is possible that they will be the driving force behind another tower.

As for RBC, if I had to guess, I'd say that Highwoods will own the building (I imagine that Progress might continue to own the dirt and lease it to HW) and RBC will be an anchor among other tenants-- some retail, a law fim or two, maybe an engineering firm, a tech company...

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From an anti terrorism standpoint, I wonder how a bank feels about its headquarters being mixed in with access points they cannot control.

Does anyone know if Bank of America or Wachovia have other companies leasing space in their towers in Charlotte?

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BofA is in several shared buildings in downtown Charlotte. Maybe not the big one, but the Hearst Bld beside it has BofA and on about 5-8 floors and other companies on the rest. (guesstimate). Most buildings

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Video on Wral's site

the above link is a video of the story about RBC's location.

This is getting technical, but the report says a building of at least 130,000 sq ft (which translates into roughly 14-15 stories). I get the feeling that RBC is just stating their space requirements, and they or the developer are probably looking for other tenants. So worst case, they build a 14-15 story building, which is reasonable. No need to announce a 40 story building, not be able to find tenants, and then have 60% of the building vacant.

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This is getting technical, but the report says a building of at least 130,000 sq ft (which translates into roughly 14-15 stories). I get the feeling that RBC is just stating their space requirements, and they or the developer are probably looking for other tenants. So worst case, they build a 14-15 story building, which is reasonable. No need to announce a 40 story building, not be able to find tenants, and then have 60% of the building vacant.

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As you well know, neither RBC nor any developers would even consider building larger unless they had at least a certain percentage leased. Perhaps 50% of the space not used by RBC? Whether that's condos, retail, office, or whatever. Anyway, downtown Raleigh is nowhere near the point where speculative construction will happen.

If this building is to be 100% RBC and no larger than 15 stories, but is built on the Progress Energy executive parking lot - aka the Lichtin lot - that would be just great. It's been stated on the forum a billion times before, but Progress supposedly won't allow anything much taller than 12 or 13 stories to be built there. A 14 story RBC building on that lot would be much better than the fortification of a parking lot that's there right now.

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If this building is to be 100% RBC and no larger than 15 stories, but is built on the Progress Energy executive parking lot - aka the Lichtin lot - that would be just great.

Isn't the Licthin lot on the same block as the old Progress Bldg on Davie St? If so, that would leave to old First Citizens lot (Martin and Wilmington st) open to further development.

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Thanks for the square footage info on II Hannover. Based on the size of this building the average floor size is 15,000 sq. feet. Assuming 130,000 needed for RBC, then that is only 8-10 floors probably. I guess if residential is added, it could top it out at 20. Who knows but it sure is fun to speculate. We haven't had this opportunity here lately...

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