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ReynoldsAmerican moving out of historic tower!

twincity

By twincity
in The NC Triad

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twincity Burg

twincity

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ReynoldaAmerican just announced that they will vacate the iconic RJR skyscraper built in the 1929, by 2010. all jobs will now be in the adjoining 18 story plaza.

Is this good or bad for downtown, good, meaning that the tower could finally be open to the public, and could become of better use. bad, meaning that close to 240,000 sf of office space will be on the market and could strain future projects with office space in their plans. I dont want this building to go residential. its too imprtant for that...LOL. either stay office or maybe an upscale hotel with the ground floor Art Deco museum open to the public?

thoughts?

http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2008/oc...-building/news/

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basket1058 Unincorporated Area

basket1058

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In the short term this will no doubt be a blow to downtown revitalization efforts and the city at large but Reynolds has been on the downswing for quite a while now and the merger really only bought the compnay some more time so it was likely that this was going to happen sooner or later. But since I am a glass half full kind of guy I think there is a lot of opportunity here. The building's beautiful lobby area would be a great place for some kind of retail (as there used to be retail there in the early 80's) and the great architectural quality of the building would make it a great place to have some kind of luxury hotel in a portion of the building. It still is the premier icon of the city and I imagine quite a few small businesses would be itching to relocate to such a prestigous address.

The future of the building doesn't worry me quite as much but the glut of space that this puts on the market does worry me. This will probably bring down the axe on the centerpiece tower that is called for in the civic plaza plans along with the proposed LEED certified building by Walter, Robbs, Callahan & Pierce (if it hasn't been nixed already). A real blow at the downtown revitalization efforts to say the least.

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yadkinv Whistle-Stop

yadkinv

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Agreed, this was just a matter of time; just a little sooner than thought. It's also bad timing considering the Wachovia debacle. What is incredible is that the iconic building is not on the Historic Register; that should be an immediate task. Normally, I'd say this is really bad, but in this case, I think this will be a sought after commodity because it's a one-of-a-kind, and real quality.

My concern is an empty Wachovia building potentially.

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JerseyBoy Burg

JerseyBoy

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Another era comes to an end... :(

I don't like the decision at all, but I completely understand the pressures the company is under. I'd rather them vacate this tower than move their operations to Whitaker Park or the suburbs.

Like others have said, I'd like to see this building's ground floor opened back up for retail. Personally, I wish RJR would enter into an agreement with an upscale hotel company (Hilton, Westin, Hyatt, etc.) and have them convert the tower into a hotel. An agreement would be made between the two so that RJR ensures that a number of rooms are occupied each night/month (similar to Bank of America and Ritz Carlton in Charlotte). It would be a perfect business hotel for RJR as it connects directly to their headquarters. This could work!

This could actually be a blessing in disguise for downtown! The only way this could end up becoming a disaster is if Reynolds hands this building over to somebody who doesn't have the experience to know what they're doing or the willingness to think big.

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cityboi Metropolitan Area

cityboi

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I agree and my thoughts exactly that this could be a blessing disguise. Certainly there is great potential for the historic building. Yes a hotel is a great idea but so is a conversion to condos or apartments. Make it LEED certified. Unfortuantely companies moving downtown want brand new class A office space so it will likely never be used as an office building once its empty. But I dont think it will sit empty as long as the Wachovia building has. Remember there is always a silver lining. Luxury apartments sounds like a good fit. This is happening in the historic 9-story Southeastern Building in Greensboro so the RJR building could see a similar future.

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triadguy37 Whistle-Stop

triadguy37

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This is old news. The last I heard about this was they were looking into other uses for the building. It is doubtful that it will be turned into residential. RJR might still have a use for this building given their interest in acquiring the Greensboro Tobacco Company.

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cityboi Metropolitan Area

cityboi

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This is old news. The last I heard about this was they were looking into other uses for the building. It is doubtful that it will be turned into residential. RJR might still have a use for this building given their interest in acquiring the Greensboro Tobacco Company.
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