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The Truist Center is a 47-story, skyscraper in Uptown
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
. The city's third tallest building, it is located along North Tryon Street. It was opened on November 14, 2002 it was the city's second tallest building, and was known as the "Hearst Tower" until 2019. The structure is composed of a 32-story tower resting atop a 15-floor podium. During Bank of America's occupancy in the building located in the podium was a three-story trading facility designed by
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel A. Owings, Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer Jo ...
and operated by
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...
. The trading facility included a , two-story trading floor. Now the former trading floor is part of Truist's technology innovation center. The building is currently the headquarters of
Truist Financial Truist Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company was formed in December 2019 as the result of the merger of BB&T (Branch Banking and Trust Company) and SunTrust Banks. Its b ...
, which purchased the building in March 2020.


Architecture

The building's reverse floorplate"Muscular Hearst Tower flare skyward", ''The Charlotte Observer'', December 9, 2001. design makes the upper floors average compared to an average of only for the lower floors. The building was specifically designed to use the art deco 1920s style
Bank of America Corporate Center The Bank of America Corporate Center is an 871 ft (265 m) skyscraper in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina. Designed by Argentine architect César Pelli and HKS Architects, and best known as the headquarters of the namesake Bank of Ameri ...
had used, but create a building that has a unique look and was taller than the 60-story Corporate Center. The emphasis on rectilinear and symmetry was altered to use triangle motifs, which is displayed in the College Street and Tryon Street entrances to make them look vaguely similar Gothic arches. On the fourth-floor exterior the black granite and precast concrete panels intersection look similar to interlocking triangles. The plaza of the building on Tryon Street was created to be a mini-
Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...
. Rockefeller Center in
Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
is composed of 19 building. Hearst Tower plaza is 160 feet long and 65 wide. It was intentionally lined with public art and restaurants with the goal of creating a shared public experience and bolstering Uptown as and arts destination. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Director Martin Cramton states this about the plaza's impact "It will create a tremendous element of surprise for people as they walk along Tryon Street. They will be absolutely amazed. The building's College Street lobby features brass railings designed by
Edgar Brandt Edgar William Brandt (24 December 1880 – 8 May 1960) was a French ironworker and prolific weapons designer. In 1901 he set up a small workshop at 76 rue Michel-Ange in the 16th arrondissement in Paris, where he began designing, silversmithing, ...
that were rescued from Le Bon Marche department store in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. On the mezzanine level, it connects to neighboring
Bank of America Corporate Center The Bank of America Corporate Center is an 871 ft (265 m) skyscraper in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina. Designed by Argentine architect César Pelli and HKS Architects, and best known as the headquarters of the namesake Bank of Ameri ...
via skybridge, as part of the
Overstreet Mall The Overstreet Mall is a series of pedestrian bridges in Uptown Charlotte. Proposed in 1971 and completed around 1977, the design was based on the design of the Milan Galleria and the Montreal Place Ville-Maria. The mall has about of walkways an ...
. The Truist Plaza, a public plaza lined with restaurants, shops, and an art Gallery, is located next to the main entrance off North Tryon Street. In front of the plaza is a glass and bronze sculpture crafted by Howard Ben Tre entitled the Castellan, which translates to "keeper of the castle." Within the lobby is Collaborate214, a
coworking space Coworking is an arrangement in which workers for different companies share an office space. It allows cost savings and convenience through the use of common infrastructures, such as equipment, utilities and receptionist and custodial services, a ...
introduced in October 2014. The building's unique design was to complement the wedding cake design of nearby
Bank of America Corporate Center The Bank of America Corporate Center is an 871 ft (265 m) skyscraper in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina. Designed by Argentine architect César Pelli and HKS Architects, and best known as the headquarters of the namesake Bank of Ameri ...
by being the inverse of the headquarter's design.


History

It was announced in August 1998 that the CityFair building would be torn down to make space for the building. The CityFair building opened in October 1988. It had three levels of retail and a 700-space parking structure. Unfortunately, the public private partnership with the city and developer Carley Capital was a bad financial decision for the city. The city spent $7 million on the project out of the original project cost of $30.4 million and the developer filed for bankruptcy shortly after the building's opening. It was the biggest retail project since the Overstreet Mall in the 1970s, considered the next generation in retail at the time. The city owned the parking structure and was going to get a percentage of the project's annual profits. In December 1988 Chemical Bank acquired the CityFair building. At that time, it had 60 stores and a food court. Hearst Tower was developed as a joint venture of Trammel Crow Co. and The Keith Corporation for Bank of America. The original cost was $160 million. The building proposal by Trammel Crow was made in June 1998. Then in December 1998 the planned building was renamed Hearst Tower, after the Hearst Corporation agreed to lease , their space had increased to before the building opened. The Hearst Corporation from the relocated from the Carillon Tower. Other large tenants announced at time were law firm Kennedy Covington Lobdell and Hickman leasing , an unnamed tenant leasing , and Bank of America occupying ."Up up up goes the Hearst Tower", ''The Charlotte Observer'', January 20, 2002. At the time of the announcement the building was 90% leased. Other tenants that signed leases ahead of construction included Law firm Mayer Brown and Platt with and Pricewaterhouse-Coopers with . Also, the building planned to have of retail space. Prior to the start of construction 94% of the space was leasing, with only not preleased. The CityFair building was imploded in June 1999. Then in August the original building permits for the footing and foundation of the building were issued. Construction started soon after in the fall of 1999. As construction neared completion in early February 2002 the 700-foot tower crane was removed. The building opened on November 14th, 2002. In June 2012 Bank of America sold the building to Parkway Properties for $250 million. Then in 2016 when
Cousins Properties Incorporated Cousins Properties Incorporated is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests in office buildings in Atlanta, Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, Austin, Texas, Austin, Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, Tampa, Florida, Tampa, ...
merged with Parkway Properties they became the new owner. At the time of the sale Bank of America occupied , and the building was 94% leased. On 12 June 2019, it was announced that
Truist Financial Truist Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company was formed in December 2019 as the result of the merger of BB&T (Branch Banking and Trust Company) and SunTrust Banks. Its b ...
, a bank holding company to be formed from the merger of
BB&T BB&T Corporation (previously known as the Branch Banking and Trust Company) was one of the largest banking and financial services firms in the United States, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 2019, BB&T announced its intentions to merge ...
and
SunTrust Banks SunTrust Banks, Inc. was an American bank holding company with SunTrust Bank as its largest subsidiary and assets of US$199 billion as of March 31, 2018. The bank's most direct corporate parent was established in 1891 in Atlanta, where it was h ...
, had selected Hearst Tower for its future new corporate headquarters. Truist will occupy in the tower and has an option to buy the tower from Cousins in the fourth quarter of 2019 for $455.5 million. On 14 August 2019, Hearst Communications announced it would move out of its namesake tower to offices near the city's Ballantyne neighborhood in early 2020 to make way for Truist. The space left by Bank of America, Hearst Communications, and K&L Gates moving out of the tower allowed Truist to occupy over half its square footage. U.S. Bank, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Bradley and Dixon Hughes Goodman continue to be tenants in the building. Truist announced plans to relocate the bank's executive team, corporate communications, finance, human resources, insurance, legal, technology, and risk management in the building. The bank will move in phases in August 2020 and lasting until June 2021. The bank plans to have as many as 2,000 in the building. Truist has announced that the Charlotte innovation center, planned to bring technology, legal, accounting staff together with its clients, will be located in the building. As of December 2020 it was under construction. On December 11, 2019, Truist Financial announced it had officially exercised its option to purchase the building from Cousins Properties for $455.5 million and would rename the tower Truist Center. New signage will also be added. The deal was completed March 31, 2020. However, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, further actions will be delayed. In November 2020 four signs were raised, two (on the North Tryon and North College street sides) with the Truist name, and two with its logo. The signage caused considerable controversy, with critics saying it was too sharp a contrast with the tower's curves. The building's architect, Charles Hull, denounced the new signage as an act of vandalism. Local media outlet Axios Charlotte has written a number of articles about locals' reactions to the lights and signs. In one article a resident said "God, what a disgrace to a previously gorgeous landmark. I’d rather we just had a hole in the ground.” The lights and signs have also caused residents to create a Chanage.Org petition to have them removed. Another large tenant of the building is
U.S. Bank U.S. Bancorp (stylized as us bancorp) is an American bank holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and incorporated in Delaware. It is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, and is the fifth largest banking institution i ...
, with some 300 employees occupying as of 2014. Another 560 were added in 2020. A large number are in compliance and technology. The bank views Charlotte as an important hub that gives them access to potential talent and one of the company's fastest-growing markets. The bank has been opening retail branches in Charlotte as following locating its vice chair and head of corporate and commercial banking to Charlotte. In June 2022
Truist Financial Truist Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company was formed in December 2019 as the result of the merger of BB&T (Branch Banking and Trust Company) and SunTrust Banks. Its b ...
completed construction of their technology innovation center. It consists of floors 14 and 15, which were formerly trading floors. The space will serve as a research lab and collaboration hub for engineers. To encourage collaboration it utilizes an open floor plan with different layouts for specific teams.


See also

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List of tallest buildings in Charlotte File:Skyline of Charlotte 2016.jpg, 350px, Skyline of Charlotte (Use cursor to identify buildings) poly 2920 668 2940 252 3044 104 3140 292 3172 428 3204 1380 3160 1384 3145 668 Bank of America Corporate Center poly 360 594 630 594 628 1266 600 ...
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List of tallest buildings in North Carolina This list of tallest buildings in North Carolina ranks skyscrapers in the U.S. state of North Carolina by height. The tallest building in North Carolina is the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, which contains 60 floors and is tall. T ...


References


External links


Hearst Tower Charlotte on Emporis

Hearst Tower on SkyscraperPage


{{Authority control Skyscraper office buildings in Charlotte, North Carolina Mass media company headquarters in the United States Office buildings completed in 2002 Skyscrapers in Charlotte, North Carolina