The Good News Report

[Niner National]

Did Amazon stop using Laser Ship? Because before, things that gets delivered by Laser Ship gets here within one day instead of two. From what I've noticed, all of my things now gets delivered by UPS again. 

They probably use multiple vendors. I saw a Lazer Ship guy at my building a few days ago carrying an Amazon package.

[kermit]

^ I think Laser Ship delivered everything in Charlotte that came from the Columbia warehouse. Anything that was sourced from another warehouse came (mostly) UPS.

[Neo]

Looks like Amazon will be opening its first North Carolina distribution center in Concord. No word  yet on number of jobs, etc as Amazon hasn't made the official announcement.

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/09/09/5161396/amazon-to-open-distribution-center.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#.VA8gz_ldV8E

 

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php/topic/50227-the-good-news-report/?view=findpost&p=1318688

 

[AuLukey]

It's a shame that this is just a "sortation center" rather than a fulfillment center.  It makes more logistical sense being that it's going to be right next to Concord Regional and could mean a lot more business for that airport.  Granted the closest fulfillment center is in Spartanburg, so it isn't surprising, I'm just a little let down.  It's actually pretty surprising that the two centers are so close together on a grand scale.

[kermit]

The Chamber just sent an invitation for a "major jobs announcement" Monday at 10am, at the Chamber.

 

let the speculation begin....

[atlrvr]

Maybe this has nothing to do with it, but Citigroup has been hiring a bunch of IT developer for risk management jobs in Charlotte recently (not their Fort Mill mortgage office).  As far as I know, they must be building out a new group here, because I'm pretty certain they haven't had a corporate office in Charlotte. 

[HopHead]

The Chamber just sent an invitation for a "major jobs announcement" Monday at 10am, at the Chamber.

 

let the speculation begin....

 

I know we've been beating this like a dead horse, but it would AWESOME if the jobs announcement included an agreement to move into Tryon Place (or other) so the dirt can get moving on that project.

[CLTProductions]

I know we've been beating this like a dead horse, but it would AWESOME if the jobs announcement included an agreement to move into Tryon Place (or other) so the dirt can get moving on that project.

Ahhhhh the never ending positivity of this forum. We can only hope right....

[15895]

I know we've been beating this like a dead horse, but it would AWESOME if the jobs announcement included an agreement to move into Tryon Place (or other) so the dirt can get moving on that project.

Ohhhh how perfect of a name "CitiGroup Tower" would be for tryon place.

I wonder - if they did plan on using Tryon Place - what temporary office space they would use. I wonder how much space Duke Energy has in their Communist Block building. If Duke had anymore space in there, maybe they could vacate some of their existing space in existing office towers and Citi could take over some space.

I know that's a long probably unrealistic scenario but hey

[kermit]

Per Eric Frazier tweets:

 

 

AvidExchange is adding 600 jobs in CLT, Gov McCrory announces at chamber of commerce

 

per Eric Spanberg tweet:

avg salary $52K; building 115K SF HQ @ the NC Music Factory

 

I think I am glad the Music Factory area is getting some love, but the location seems kinda isolated for an office. I would have preferred to see them in the "real city" and leave the music factory as an entertainment district. Perhaps that massive supply of daytime parking is hard to resist.

 

From the Chamber press release:

 

AvidXchange, one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S., plans to build a new 115,000-square-foot corporate headquarters building at the NC Music Factory in uptown Charlotte. New positions will include software development and engineering, finance, human resources, legal, research and development, and project management. The average wage for these positions will be approximately $52,000 annually.

 

Its interesting that they are building 115,000 sq ft for 800 employees. Either there will be a long ramp-up time or they are leaving themselves without much room for expansion after the 800.

Edited September 15, 2014 by kermit

[HopHead]

As much as I wanted to see this job announcement affect Center City with a new building, I'm pretty excited about AvidExchange building their HQ at the NC Music Factory (which is inside the 277 loop though). Seems like that area needed a jolt of some kind to move forward a new phase of expansion. This looks to be it. 

[rjp212]

Will this be a part of the "village" they have planned for the large gravel parking lot?  Seems like a good jolt to that project.

[15895]

I hope the HQ is a nice addition to the area. Maybe some lofts on top, bars on ground floor.

[Guest]

Per Eric Frazier tweets:

 

 

per Eric Spanberg tweet:

 

I think I am glad the Music Factory area is getting some love, but the location seems kinda isolated for an office. I would have preferred to see them in the "real city" and leave the music factory as an entertainment district. Perhaps that massive supply of daytime parking is hard to resist.

 

From the Chamber press release:

 

Its interesting that they are building 115,000 sq ft for 800 employees. Either there will be a long ramp-up time or they are leaving themselves without much room for expansion after the 800.

How disappointing! I had heard about the expansion from a contact on Friday. However I was certain that they would be picking the new building that was announced last week for Midtown Area, since this company was previously HQ'd in Midtown already.

 

I also think that they are missing out, and should have developed a 200,000 sq foot building and leased the rest. 

 

This is good momentum for NC Music Factory though, so thats a plus.

Edited September 15, 2014 by Guest

[lewy2000]

Its interesting that they are building 115,000 sq ft for 800 employees. Either there will be a long ramp-up time or they are leaving themselves without much room for expansion after the 800.

 

My buddy who works at the Midtown location says only one department is moving to the Music Factory, for what it's worth.

[atlrvr]

It sounds like they are moving to some temp space at Silver Hammer studio.  What's unclear is if they are then constructing an entirely new building, or rehabbing all of the studio space into office space. 

[Guest]

It sounds like they are moving to some temp space at Silver Hammer studio.  What's unclear is if they are then constructing an entirely new building, or rehabbing all of the studio space into office space. 

Silver Hammer Studios is only 54,930, so I think its a new building that is anchoring the Uptown Village.

 

Edit:

This listing was on Loopnet, but its now listed as "Off-Market."

 

Though it does call it a Historical Property. Then again I wouldn't exactly call Silver Hammer Studios "Historic" since it was built in 1987.

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/16076910/817-Hamilton-Street-Charlotte-NC/

Edited September 15, 2014 by Guest

[tozmervo]

The Biz Journal article definitely says new building. http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/queen_city_agenda/2014/09/avidxchange-to-expand-in-charlotte-adding-603-jobs.html

[rjp212]

-rumor- has it that the new owners of the building will produce a product that is well positioned to add to Charlotte's status as an electric energy / smart grid cluster. If initial production is successful, then plans are in place for a much more intensive landuse at the site.

Sorry about the vagueness, but I am much more upbeat about the future prospect of the building than when first announced as a ''combined clean-tech and data-communications' company at the site.

 

 

 

Electric-Vehicle Battery Maker is moving into the old Phillip Morris site.  

 

" city officials had been told by the new tenant that there would be an announcement in October concerning the facility."

 

“Victory Industries specializes in battery technology and manufacturing for long life commercial applications and electric vehicle transportation,” reads one job posting. “Victory Industries Management is a growing company and is in the process of setting up its manufacturing facility and is building its engineering and support team to accomplish this.”

 

http://www.mooresvilletribune.com/news/electric-vehicle-battery-maker-moving-into-philip-morris-plant/article_6a2974f4-31ad-5d71-bec6-c38e7246504b.html

Edited September 17, 2014 by rjp212

[atlrvr]

^  I hope the engineering is done at the site, as well as the manufacturing.

[Neo]

^  I hope the engineering is done at the site, as well as the manufacturing.

 

It's a massive site so I can't understand how they wouldn't be all inclusive. The site does have excellent road and rail access though...and additionally is close to Concord's airport as well (though I doubt that means anything here...but private jets are all the rage these days). I'm still a little confused about the company itself. Is this basically a startup? I took it that this is a relatively new company to the market.

[Niner National]

With companies like Panasonic and LG already owning a huge chunk of the battery market for electric cars, and both making multi billion dollar investments recently for new production facilities, I just can't see this company competing well.

[Matthew.Brendan]

Until it's sold to one of the mega corps ;-)

[kermit]

Meanwhile Cary (Cary?) lands 1200 new IT jobs.

Ugh, its not even a real city.

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2014/09/18/hcl-technologies-adding-1-237-jobs-in-cary.html?ana=e_trig_bn_breakingnews&u=jDmEk+CKbYnAvaVfOFOlFGXcGSC&t=1411047497

[ah59396]

Meanwhile Cary (Cary?) lands 1200 new IT jobs.

Ugh, its not even a real city.

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2014/09/18/hcl-technologies-adding-1-237-jobs-in-cary.html?ana=e_trig_bn_breakingnews&u=jDmEk+CKbYnAvaVfOFOlFGXcGSC&t=1411047497

 

 

That's great for the Triangle, but what a bummer for Raleigh.  Cary is my worst nightmare come true.  It's a super Ballantyne!