Possible HQ Relocations

[rockhilljames]

That's what I get for being out of town....

Here I thought I had stumbled upon a big secret. A friend of mine works over at city hall in the budget dept, they are seriously worried about it. I told him that BofA is a good corporate citizen and not to worry...at least it would get that hideous key off their tower.

[swh1972]

I think that the fear from Cleveland's standpoint is that they just went through this with the BofA / MBNA merger. The Cleveland area is home to a large call center for MBNA, and jobs were on the line. Uncertainty scares people.

[monsoon]

Not a new HQ, but the Observer ran a story indicating that Rubbermaid is planning to add 320 new jobs to the County, with an average salary of $88,000. The State offered $6.6 million in tax breaks in exchange for the jobs.

Yes, this is going to be in Huntersville. It's near the former HQ of DiamlerChrysler Vans and within walking distance of one of the two express bus transit stations in the town.

[jednc]

I heard a rumor yesterday that Best Buy was moving their corp. headquarters to the Charlotte area. Specifically they said in the Mooresville/Troutman area. I'm not so sure I believe this and thought I'd fish to see if anyone else had heard anything about this.

My guess is...this is not true. But, I'd certainly welcome a 10th Fortune 500 Company to the area if it is true.

[Raintree21]

7 years is forever in the corporate world, but Best Buy moved to a brand new corporate campus in 2001 in Richfield, Minnesota. So I would think they would stay there for a while unless they got a sweet heart of a deal to move elsewhere.

[jednc]

7 years is forever in the corporate world, but Best Buy moved to a brand new corporate campus in 2001 in Richfield, Minnesota. So I would think they would stay there for a while unless they got a sweet heart of a deal to move elsewhere.

Yeah, that makes sense. If there was any deal that had been offered to them, I think there would be some more info floating around out there too.

[gtownluv]

Rumor is not true. Best Buy has so much invested in the HQ in Richfield, Minnesota. Even Best Buy's 1000 store is being built in Mall of America there.

[atlrvr]

A divison of Doosan, one of South Korea's largest conglomerates, has opened its international HQ in Charlotte (at Harris and I-77). They will have roughly 100 jobs, but also plan to heavily invest in programs and institutions that will help foreigners assimilate to American life.

[Andyc545]

A divison of Doosan, one of South Korea's largest conglomerates, has opened its international HQ in Charlotte (at Harris and I-77). They will have roughly 100 jobs, but also plan to heavily invest in programs and institutions that will help foreigners assimilate to American life.

Are their offices going to be in the new offices built across from North Lake where the new Lowe's and Best Buy is? Or are they taking space where Countrywide/BofA Offices are on the other side of 77?

[atlrvr]

While not a HQ relocation, the Charlotte Business Journal today states that a new Forumla One (F1) race team is looking to open in the Charlotte area. One of the co-owners would be Peter Windsor who is a big name in F1 and used to work for both BMW Williams and Ferrari, so in theory, he should have the technical skills to successfully run a team, though you need a TON of money to be truly be competitive in the sport.

The team would be known as USF1 and would have as it's them "Made in America" and feature American drivers.

This would be amazing, as F1 racing is the most watched sport in the world and is very European focused, and should help draw some new European companies to the area.

The catalyst for launching a new team in Charlotte would be the new top-of-the-line wind tunnel in Concord and the area's large labor pool of motorsports employees.

Now if we could only get a road course F1 race in Charlotte.....

[AuLukey]

Now if we could only get a road course F1 race in Charlotte.....

Somebody call Bruton!

EDIT: I personally don't see how putting a team in America based on a European schedule could be financially justifiable. Flying those cars, etc can not be cheap, not to mention flying across the pond for every race. That is, unless the sport is trying to move into a portion of the American market and this is just the first step... In which case Charlotte would be well suited as their starting grounds.

[Windsurfer]

Somebody call Bruton!

Would be cooler to have it run through some streets downtown like they used to do (still?) in Southern California.

[InitialD]

EDIT: I personally don't see how putting a team in America based on a European schedule could be financially justifiable. Flying those cars, etc can not be cheap, not to mention flying across the pond for every race. That is, unless the sport is trying to move into a portion of the American market and this is just the first step... In which case Charlotte would be well suited as their starting grounds.

It is fairly international, though, with 4 races in Asia, 2 in the Middle East, and 1 each in Brazil and Australia along with the races in Europe. The US has hosted F1 races in the past at Indy.

[Mobuchu]

Would be cooler to have it run through some streets downtown like they used to do (still?) in Southern California.

That'd be awsome! Finally a good use for all our overhead walkways... And it would never happen, but use a section of 277 on the course.

I think we would have to do some repaving though.

[mad_park]

You have to wonder how many NASCAR techs could work on F1 cars. NASCAR still uses pushrod engines, carburetors, spring suspensions, etc.

There is a group that is trying to build a road course up in Rowan County right by the Yadkin river crossing. Would be similar to VIR and Road Atlanta. It's finances were shaky even during the boom so I'd say it is even more questionable now as to whether this thing will get built. Of course an F1 team backing them might help.

[atlrvr]

It looks like USF1 might actually be based in Charlotte city limits. Ken Anderson confirmed to the Observer they are looking at a building in Univ. City.

Official announcement is to come later this month or early in March and the first driver might be named at that time too.

[atlrvr]

The soon-to-be Charlotte-based F1 team (USF1) will be officially announced today at noon on Speed TV, which is dedicating a program to the announcement.

Rumors have persisted that Danica Patrick might be a driver for the team, in which case she would certainly relocate to Charlotte. Good look to all you single guys out there So far, she denies it.

[Windsurfer]

The soon-to-be Charlotte-based F1 team (USF1) will be officially announced today at noon on Speed TV, which is dedicating a program to the announcement.

Rumors have persisted that Danica Patrick might be a driver for the team, in which case she would certainly relocate to Charlotte. Good look to all you single guys out there So far, she denies it.

I believe she's married now.

[Charlotte_native]

The soon-to-be Charlotte-based F1 team (USF1) will be officially announced today at noon on Speed TV, which is dedicating a program to the announcement.

For us non-racing fans, what does this mean? Is this a big group or just a cool new facet to the race scene here?

[monsoon]

F1 = Forumula One racing. This is as opposed to NASCAR racing. Think Indy 500 or European racing. I presume this would be a racing team that might locate it's garage here.

[atlrvr]

F1 racing is the top tier open-wheel (those cars that look like oversized go-carts with one seat and no roof) in the world, and is the highest viewed sporting event in the world, with higher viewership than the World Cup or Olympics. The races are typically on public streets (barricaded to make tracks) or on purpose-built race tracks, and are in every continent except North America (there have been races previously, but no longer).

USF1 will be a new team to compete in the series. Each team fields two cars/drivers. Other teams include Ferrari, Williams/Toyota, McLaren/Mercedes, BMW Sauber, and ING Renault....and others, but those are probably the top teams that are most well known. The highest paid athelete in any sport based on salary was Michael Schumacher, who was a driver for Ferrari for many years.

Anyway, like I said USF1 will be team and their premise is the cars (and presumably engines) will be made in America, and the drivers will be Americans as well. There currently are no American teams or American drivers in F1 racing at all, and there hasn't been an American driver for an American team in over 40 years.

While this is barely making news at all in America, it has been huge news almost every day in European sports pages, and I've noticed Charlotte being written WITHOUT N.C. or USA in both British and Irish press.

Edit.

To add onto Monsoon's comments about having a garage here. That would be the NASCAR equivalent. What makes this is a big deal is that every other team that competes in F1 has their garage/HQ in Europe, so this would be a one of a kind for F1. Also, NASCAR teams typically have a budget of about $25M or so per year, where as USF1 is prediciting a budget of $64M, so this would be like the equivalent of 2.5 new NASCAR teams opening here, plus we should expect to see new vendors, marketing, etc. open up shop that otherwise wouldn't be serving NASCAR.

2nd Edit. This could also be a big deal for generating international tourism. Factory tours for Ferrari, BMW, McLaren are very popular.

[monsoon]

So I am watching this on the Speed Channel. They open with a huge banner, F1 announcement in Charlotte, North Carolina. Interesting for a channel that is located in Charlotte.

I think the difference between F1 Racing in the USA vs the rest of the world is very similar to American football vs what we call Soccer. (which the rest of the world calls football) Unfortunately the production values of the speed channel's announcement seemed very amateurish and so far 20 minutes into this spectacle, I still can't figure out what exactly is being announced, if anything.

Update: I don't think anything was announced except for the intention to develop a US based F1 car that will be developed here in Charlotte. Details are very sketchy beyond that. The entire "announcement" reminded me more of an infomercial where they were trying to drum up support for the idea. Apparently they think it is a good idea to locate such a development effort here because of the technology that is here for Nascar. They would also hope to have American drivers for the car. One of the people behind this idea built the wind tunnel used to test Nascar cars.

This sounds like it is coming from the change in rules that F1 made recently to lower the cost of entry for a team to enter the sport. They were shocked when Honda pulled out of sponsoring a team, and there are rumors that a few others may follow suit.

[rockhilljames]

I'm wondering how this works financially for the new team. As you've mentioned, getting into F1 is very, very expensive. I'm just wondering where they are going to get their funding from and how long the team could hang on. I doubt they are well funded enough to compete with Ferrari or MacLaren, so I'm skeptical that a middle/back of the pack team could hang on for long without deep pockets.

It would be AMAZING to have a team based out of here and even more AMAZING to actually someday get a race. I've always dreamed of having an F1 race in Charlotte. Imagine seeing cars going 150 on Tryon Street through downtown. Hell yes!!

[swampfox43]

According to this story, Carbon Motors Corp. is scouring the Charlotte area for a possible HQ location. These ready made police cars look really cool! I hope we can land this HQ.

[monsoon]

I'm wondering how this works financially for the new team. As you've mentioned, getting into F1 is very, very expensive. I'm just wondering where they are going to get their funding from and how long the team could hang on. I doubt they are well funded enough to compete with Ferrari or MacLaren, so I'm skeptical that a middle/back of the pack team could hang on for long without deep pockets.

It would be AMAZING to have a team based out of here and even more AMAZING to actually someday get a race. I've always dreamed of having an F1 race in Charlotte. Imagine seeing cars going 150 on Tryon Street through downtown. Hell yes!!

The BBC is reporting about some sort of massive split within F1 racing where 8 or so of the traditional teams are upset at the new rules that are making this team from Charlotte possible. They don't want spending limits which were put in to make the price for entry into this race more viable. Hence the announcement above from a few months ago.

Now those 8 teams have announced they are leaving the F1 organization and will setup their own race and world series. Though I have not heard anything about the Charlotte team since the infomercial like announcement, I suspect this won't be good for them. The rebel teams are Ferrari, Ferrari, which has participated since the inaugural championship in 1950, current championship leader Brawn GP, McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso. F1 had been previously stung a few months back by the news that Honda was completely pulling out.

I can't remember, but it seems to me the CLT announcement had them partnering with a European team, but I don't know it it was one of these.