The Good News Report

[Urbanity]

If I were a betting man I would rule out a Radio Shack announcement in the short term. The Wall Street rumor mill has the company in play as an acquisition target. While they will need a new hq site (due to lease agreements) if they are bought by private equity (which seems most likely) -- a corporate buyer may fold command into their own operations. Either scenario may involve substantial corporate downsizing (in order to increase RS focus on the wireless business)

I would think (without any direct knowledge of the specifics) that any negotiations about new hq sites will be delayed until the ownership question is settled.

http://www.reuters.c...20100303?rpc=44

On a related note I had something in my reader feed (and for the life of me can't find it now) that was from another forum. The poster was in Fort Worth and claimed their connections were deep inside Radio Shack who confirmed there was never any real intention to move so much as wring out some new incentives in their existing locale.

Not sure what that's worth and again - I can't find the original link - so take with a grain of salt.

Edited March 12, 2010 by Urbanity

[krazeeboi]

On a related note I had something in my reader feed (and for the life of me can't find it now) that was from another forum. The poster was in Fort Worth and claimed their connections were deep inside Radio Shack who confirmed there was never any real intention to move so much as wring out some new incentives in their existing locale.

Not sure what that's worth and again - I can't find the original link - so take with a grain of salt.

Very believable to me and I said as much when the news first broke.

[JayGee]

Very believable to me and I said as much when the news first broke.

Absolutely. It is a fairly common tactic.

[dubone]

Crescent is emerging from bankruptcy and has chosen to consolidate office space in one of three uptown towers (BB&T, Carillon or Hearst), looking for 10ksf. That is good news primarily in that a locally headquartered business is coming out of bankruptcy, and good for uptown employment in that they are consolidating from their Ballantyne and South Park locations into uptown.

It used to be that uptown vacancy was so low, these types of decisions would often default to suburban offices, but I guess now there is room to go uptown. Hopefully then with the eventual return of economic vitality, they'll be able to grow their space uptown.

http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2010/03/15/newscolumn3.html

[krazeeboi]

Wonder how long it might be again before we hear any serious talk of spec space being built in Uptown? Or are those days largely behind us in this new environment of more stringent lending standards?

[atlrvr]

On a related note I had something in my reader feed (and for the life of me can't find it now) that was from another forum. The poster was in Fort Worth and claimed their connections were deep inside Radio Shack who confirmed there was never any real intention to move so much as wring out some new incentives in their existing locale.

Not sure what that's worth and again - I can't find the original link - so take with a grain of salt.

This was confirmed last night....RadioShack has extended its lease in Fort Worth an additional 5 years.

So....if the Chamber really is working on something bigger than 825 new Siemans jobs, what could it be?

I also recently heard a rumor that 5/3 will be looking to expand their Investment Banking group into Charlotte, though I don't have specifics like timeframe or which product groups would open here.

A small move that I do know for a fact is that RBC Capital Markets is moving thier affordable housing group HQ to Charlotte from Cleveland. They will initially be based in their current SouthPark space, but I'm not sure if they will need to grow into bigger space.

[HopHead]

So....if the Chamber really is working on something bigger than 825 new Siemans jobs, what could it be?

Oh, so you're the one that misspelled "Siemens" in the Observer!!! (j/k) To your question, I think ENN may be a possibility since that has to be a sizable HQ move here. Given Perdue's small hints that more large coups are coming I would believe it has to be more energy sector jobs. It didn't take long for that RadioShack move to lose steam.

[JayGee]

Oh, so you're the one that misspelled "Siemens" in the Observer!!! (j/k) To your question, I think ENN may be a possibility since that has to be a sizable HQ move here. Given Perdue's small hints that more large coups are coming I would believe it has to be more energy sector jobs. It didn't take long for that RadioShack move to lose steam.

The bizarre thing is that they spelled in wrong in the headline and right in the article!

[atlrvr]

In Deutsche, a 2 vowel combination almost always results in an emphasis on the second vowel.....I never understood why a German company would spell a name counter to its German pronouciation, unless we all say it wrong.....do they say it "sImens?

Anyway, I suppose ENN could be the big news, though I have anticipated it to be smaller in scope and further into the future, but that is just based on my gut feeling. I'd love to be completely surprised, and have a move be announced that no one anticipated......lets say, US Airways? The Hartford? Time Warner Cable?

[palmetto75]

That is good news primarily in that a locally headquartered business is coming out of bankruptcy, and good for uptown employment in that they are consolidating from their Ballantyne and South Park locations into uptown.

Its good if they are emerging from bankruptcy AND paying back their creditors, which include several local companies. Would also love to know if part of their BK deals allows them to break leases in these locations in order to move. Sorry to be so negative, but have little pity for an organization that was the original piggy bank of corporate robber barons and goes into BK the second things get a little tight. If they never return to their formal glory it will not be a loss in my book.

[Urbanity]

Anyway, I suppose ENN could be the big news, though I have anticipated it to be smaller in scope and further into the future, but that is just based on my gut feeling. I'd love to be completely surprised, and have a move be announced that no one anticipated......lets say, US Airways? The Hartford? Time Warner Cable?

I'm kind of hoping it is ENN as well, but would love any of the three latter that you mentioned.

[Urbanity]

Robbins-Gioia, Inc, which offers management consulting services, announced that its financial services consulting group which operates from several location nationwide will make its headquarters in Charlotte (currently at 201 S. Tryon).

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/RobbinsGioia-Inc-Announces-bw-3571605914.html?x=0&.v=1

[HopHead]

^Good news! The article doesn't mention any employment numbers though. Anyone have insight on that?

[HopHead]

Received a Facebook update from Third Ward that talks about Fifth Third bank moving their NC HQ to uptown. I think it sums up most everything we've seen though the IJL building will be renamed "Fifth Third Center":

"Fifth Third Bank announced that it is moving its North Carolina headquarters to 201 North Tryon Street in Uptown Charlotte in June of this year. After the move, the building will be named the 'Fifth Third Center'.

Fifth Third will move 250 employees to the Uptown location and initially occupy over 71,000 square feet. Fifth Third has an option to take more space in the building as the bank continues to grow.

'The state of North Carolina, particularly the Charlotte and Raleigh metro areas, represents one of the most attractive growth areas in the country. We plan to aggressively invest in the resources necessary to significantly expand our North Carolina market share', said Bob James, President and CEO of Fifth Third Bank’s North Carolina Affiliate."

[atlrvr]

Crescent is emerging from bankruptcy and has chosen to consolidate office space in one of three uptown towers (BB&T, Carillon or Hearst), looking for 10ksf. That is good news primarily in that a locally headquartered business is coming out of bankruptcy, and good for uptown employment in that they are consolidating from their Ballantyne and South Park locations into uptown.

The winner is Carillon. That building is turning into a real niche building for real estate and Wall Street type of firms....similar to what Hesta envisioned back when they built it, just a dream deferred.

They are moving out of 400 S Tryon I believe for their Uptown space along with the rest of Duke, as well as the FBI. It will be nearly vacant by next summer. It would be a perfect building to lure an engineering/energy firm to.

[Urbanity]

Wachovia Capital Partners, which was obviously bought by Wells Fargo has been spun out, been renamed Pamlico Capital, and is going to be headquarterd in Charlotte. Oh and it has a portfolio of over $2 billion in assets!

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100324005248&newsLang=en

[Norm2]

Wow thats impressive.

[rancenc]

I am sitting on my knuckles waiting for the announcement coming in the next week concerning some astronomically good economic news to hit Charlotte. It isn't Seamens, but something much larger. I don't know what it is just that the communicator is with the Chamber of Commerce and couldn't be specific.

Any news from your "communicator" at the Charlotte Chamber on this particular topic by chance?

[Norm2]

Any news from your "communicator" at the Charlotte Chamber on this particular topic by chance?

Maybe Obama will be announcing it when he comes into town LOL! I kid I kid. Hopefully we'll hear something soon!

[caterpillar2]

Maybe Obama will be announcing it when he comes into town LOL! I kid I kid. Hopefully we'll hear something soon!

Maybe he is announcing that he's moving ACORN headquarters to Charlotte.

Any news from your "communicator" at the Charlotte Chamber on this particular topic by chance?

Nothing yet. Maybe if I load her with booze, she'll talk.

[atlrvr]

Some smaller deals of note.

Babcock is taking 40,000 sq. ft in Ballantyne for their HQ relocation here. According to the CBJ that is up from the less than 20k originally planned. 40k would accomodate about 150 employees, which is a lot more than the couple of dozen when they announced the spin off. Again, they will be a new Fortune 1000 company HQ in Charlotte when the spin off is complete in the next couple of months.

Pamlico Capital (the private equity spinoff from Wachovia) is leasing space in the new BofA tower under construction. I find it interesting they are taking space there as opposed to a Wells building....maybe Wells wants 100% of the 4 buildings they own occupied by them.

In a similar move, CIT Group (the commercial finance firm that almost went bankrupt last fall) is said to be looking at 201 S Tryon to move to, out of Wachovia 2. The CBJ article today mentioned 50k sq. ft. I don't know how much they currently occupy in the Wachovia building. Wake Forest is also said to be looking at 200 and 201 S Tryon for their uptown campus. These buildings are the ones with Dean & Deluca (201) and McCormick & Schmicks (200) on the ground floors.

[jednc]

Wake Forest is also said to be looking at 200 and 201 S Tryon for their uptown campus. These buildings are the ones with Dean & Deluca (201) and McCormick & Schmicks (200) on the ground floors.

Someone remind me again why Wake Forest isn't moving to the new DEC? Now that I see this post, I do remember reading something about it...but I can't really remember those details anymore.

[krazeeboi]

Maybe he is announcing that he's moving ACORN headquarters to Charlotte.

First of all, ACORN doesn't exist anymore. Secondly, please let's not go down the political route in these threads. They cause threads to become derailed too quickly. If you want to have legitimate political discussions, do so in the Coffee House.

[cltbwimob]

Hewitt Associates is adding 463 jobs in Charlotte.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/03/31/1347767/hewitt-to-add-463-jobs-in-charlotte.html

[HopHead]

Verizon Wireless will be adding another 100 people to their call center in Matthews by year end. This is addition to the nearly 50 they've added since the 4th quarter.