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550 South Tryon is a tall, 48-floor (54 floors including mechanical floors)
skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
in
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 ...
. When completed in 2010, it was the largest building in Charlotte (in square footage), second tallest building in Charlotte, 63rd tallest building in the United States, and the tallest in the world to use
precast Precast concrete is a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable mold or "form" which is then cured in a controlled environment, transported to the construction site and maneuvered into place; examples include precast beam ...
double tees.


History

Duke Power chief executive Bill Lee had put together the property in the 1990s, intending to build Duke's headquarters there, but the company dropped its plans and sold the land to Wachovia. Originally, the building was to be known as the Wachovia Corporate Center. It was to replace One Wachovia Center as the headquarters of
Wachovia Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asse ...
. Wachovia was to occupy of the tower. The first floor of the building was to contain the main lobby and elevators. The second floor was to have Wachovia's
server room A server room is a room, usually air-conditioned, devoted to the continuous operation of computer servers. An entire building or station devoted to this purpose is a data center. The computers in server rooms are usually headless systems that c ...
. The third floor would have been occupied by training areas during the day and classrooms at night. This area was to have been shared by Wachovia and Wake Forest University, which was to use it for its MBA courses. Floors four through seven were to contain the trading floor. It would have taken up and housed approximately 750 traders per floor. Wachovia would also have used floors 36 through 48. After Wells Fargo announced its purchase of Wachovia, Duke (by this time called Duke Energy) more than doubled the space it planned to use from to and the name changed to Duke Energy Center. In addition to the upper floors Wachovia would have used, Duke planned to use floors 15 through 22. Wells Fargo, which still owned the building, planned to occupy five of its 14 floors late in 2010.
KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...
and
Katten Muchin Rosenman Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP (Katten) is a full-service law firm with nearly 700 attorneys in locations across the United States, London and Shanghai. The firm's core areas of practice include commercial finance, corporate, financial markets and f ...
moved into the building in February 2010, while Duke Energy moved later in 2010. Originally Sonnenschein announced it would lease on the 34th and 35th floors and
Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...
leased of space.
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
, which took over Wachovia December 31, 2008, planned to use five of its 14 floors. After acquiring
Wachovia Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asse ...
,
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
still had reserved of space. However, in September 2009 the company stated they were open to leasing out 25% of that space. At that time they were committed to using 10 floors of the building. Prior to
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
purchasing
Wachovia Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asse ...
Duke Energy Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Overview Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in ...
was planning to occupy of space. In February 2009, Duke announced it would occupy and become the building's primary tenant. The building was rebranded as Duke Energy Center. Duke announced plans to occupy floors 15 through 22 and 36-48. Originally,
Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...
had planned to locate the Charlotte campus of its
Babcock Graduate School of Management The Wake Forest University School of Business is the graduate school, graduate business school of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It offers undergraduate program, management-related master ...
in the tower, occupying approximately . However, Wake Forest pulled out of the project after the purchase of Wachovia by Wells Fargo. In August 2010 Commercial real estate firm Cassidy Turley announced it had signed a lease to occupy on the 34th floor of the building. The firm will taking part of the formerly leased by law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal in 2008. In 2009 the law firm closed its Charlotte office. In August 2012 Babson Capital Management announced they have signed a lease for in the building on the 33rd and 34th floors. The move gave the company a 50% space increase from its former space in
Charlotte Plaza Charlotte Plaza is a tall skyscraper in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was built in 1982 and has 27 floors. It is the 20th-tallest building in the city. The Class A office building is owned by Rabina Properties, LLC. The ground and second floor are ...
. The extra space is to support the company's 49% in the last 63 years. In November 2012
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
started utilizing for several trading floors. The new space could hold 1,500 employees spread across two trading floors. It became the bank's largest hub for the bank’s investment banking and capital markets division. Wells Fargo has announced it will exit its lease to
One Wells Fargo Center One Wells Fargo Center is a skyscraper in Charlotte, North Carolina and is the headquarters for Wells Fargo's east coast division but will leave the building by the end of 2023. Opening on September 14, 1988, it was the tallest building in North ...
at the end of 2021. Currently it is the largest tenant with 500,000 square feet. The company has been consolidating its Charlotte footprint with leasing the entire 300 South Brevard building, expanding their employee space at the Duke Energy Center following Duke's departure, and relocating additional employees in
Three Wells Fargo Center Three Wells Fargo Center is a high rise in Charlotte, North Carolina. Completed in 2000, the building consists of 32 floors with of office space; it also includes an underground parking garage, an attached 10-story low-rise known as the Ratcliff ...
. Wells Fargo's departure will leave several large blocks of continuous space available which will include 224,776 square feet on floors 7 to 14, 148,469 square feet on 15 to 21, 59,132 square feet on 30 to 32 and 47,403 square feet on the top floors, 40 to 42. As of December 31, 2021 Duke had exited its lease of the building. All Duke employees left the building before the holidays. The Duke Energy Center signs and plaques have been removed the building is temporarily renamed 550 South Tryon.


Construction

The project was announced in the spring of 2004, and official renderings were not released until December 6, 2006. In the original petition to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission, the building was going to be built on a parcel next to
400 South Tryon 400 South Tryon, formerly called the Wachovia Center, is a skyscraper in Charlotte center city, North Carolina. When it was being built, there were rumors that the developer intended to add ten more floors to pass Bank of America Plaza, and becom ...
, with a height of and 34 floors. The site preparation began with the demolition of a Firestone Tire dealership in February 2006, and on February 28, 2006, the excavation and blasting of a -deep hole for the below-grade parking garage began. Over of explosives were used during its excavation and it took just over 60,000 dump truck loads to remove all of the excavated material from the site, some of which was used in the construction of a third runway at
Charlotte-Douglas International Airport Charlotte Douglas International Airport (IATA: CLT, ICAO: KCLT, FAA LID: CLT), typically referred to as Charlotte Douglas, Douglas Airport, or simply CLT, is an international airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, located roughly six miles west ...
. The building was constructed by Batson-Cook Construction, with ready mix products from Concrete Supply Co. and structural engineering firm TRC International Ltd, of
Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...
,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. The building core is constructed with poured-in-place concrete while the floor structures utilize precast
double tee A double tee or double-T beam is a load-bearing structure that resembles two T-beams connected to each other side by side. The strong bond of the flange (horizontal section) and the two webs (vertical members, also known as stems) creates a struc ...
s, a structural method typically seen in parking decks. These double tees span between the poured-in-place core and perimeter systems. The concrete used for the building is . The building received a certificate of occupancy on December 23, 2009, with the lobby and parking garage opening on January 2, 2010.


Features

It is the tallest building in the Levine Center for the Arts (formerly the Wells Fargo Cultural Campus) and the largest building in Charlotte, which will have a footprint. The complex will also include a 46-floor condominium tower (future), the
Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Harvey (play), ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit * Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most imp ...
, the Mint Museum Uptown, the
Knight Theater A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
, the
Bechtler Museum of Modern Art The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a museum space dedicated to the exhibition of mid-20th-century modern art. The modern art museum is part of the new Levine Center for the Arts in Uptown. The museum building was ...
, and a History Museum. The building has achieved
LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
Platinum status by including water-saving plumbing devices, a water storage system that will treat rainwater to be used for cooling tower make-up water, and a
green roof A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage ...
. Rock that was blasted for the parking structure is being recycled by hauling it to a local quarry, where it will be crushed for gravel. The facade of the structure is illuminated by hundreds of programmable color-changing LED and metal halide luminaires with design work by Gabler-Youngston Architectural Lighting Design. The facade lighting system provides various shows and effects. Due to the tower's high visibility over the east corner of
Bank of America Stadium Bank of America Stadium is a 74,867-seat football stadium located on in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It is the home facility and headquarters of the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League and Charlotte FC of Major ...
, the LED lights are used during key moments of sporting events played there. For example, if the
Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...
are playing, the tower lights up blue for Panthers touchdowns. During the
ACC Championship Game The ACC Championship Game is an annual American college football game held in early December by the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) each year to determine its football champion. From its inception in 2005 to 2022, the game pit the champion of ...
, whenever a team scores a touchdown, it lights up in that team's color.


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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Levine Center for the Arts Levine Center for the Arts on South Tryon Street in Charlotte, North Carolina, includes Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the Harvey B. Gantt Center, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing ...
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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 ...
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List of tallest buildings in the United States The world's first skyscraper was built in Chicago in 1885. Since then, the United States has been home to some of the world's tallest skyscrapers. New York City, specifically the borough of Manhattan, notably has the tallest skyline in the cou ...
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Duke Energy Plaza The Duke Energy Plaza is a , 40 floor skyscraper in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina. Upon its completion it will become the third largest building in Charlotte by leasable square feet and serve as the corporate headquarters of Duke Energy. It ...


References


External links

{{Charlotte skyscrapers Skyscraper office buildings in Charlotte, North Carolina Office buildings completed in 2010 Duke Energy Skyscrapers in Charlotte, North Carolina