BB&T Center
Encyclopedia
The BB&T Center is a 300 feet (91 m) tall skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...

 in Charlotte
CHARLOTTE
- CHARLOTTE :CHARLOTTE is an American blues-based hard rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1986. Currently, they are signed to indie label, Eonian Records, under which they released their debut cd, Medusa Groove, in 2010. Notable Charlotte songs include 'Siren', 'Little Devils',...

, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

. It was built in 1975 and has 22 floors.

History

Rodney Little of Little & Co. said that in 1975, Overstreet Mall, based on a Minneapolis design, was expected to be a big success as concern began about retailers moving to the suburbs. For this reason, Southern National Center did not face a major street, but was intended to be part of a network of bridges between office buildings and major stores such as Belk
Belk
Belk is a department store chain founded in 1888 in Monroe, North Carolina, today part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. After the founding of the first Belk store, the company grew in size and influence throughout the South via the chain in the USA, with its stores primarily located in the...

 and Ivey's
Dillard's
Dillard's, Inc. is a department store chain in the United States, with 330 stores in 29 states. Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, Dillard's locations are concentrated in Texas and Florida; with a major presence in other states including Arizona, Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri,...

. Another reason for locating along College Street was the concern Tryon Street would run out of space. However, in the 1980s, the Charlotte City Council decided to limit additional walkways, and the uptown Belk and Ivey's closed by the end of the decade.

Southern National Center was the home to the Charlotte headquarters of Southern Bell from 1975 to 1995. When BellSouth, the successor company to Southern Bell, moved to 16-story BellSouth Plaza in 1995, Little & Co. made plans for a $10 million renovation to attract new tenants. The merger of Southern National Bank
Southern National Bank
Southern National Bank was a bank headquartered first in Lumberton, North Carolina and then in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In a merger of equals, it joined with BB&T in 1995.-History:...

 and BB&T
BB&T
BB&T Corporation is an American bank with assets of $157 billion , offering full-service commercial and retail banking services along with other financial services like insurance, investments, retail brokerage, mortgage, corporate finance, consumer finance, payment services, international...

, which resulted in a name change to BB&T Center, meant BB&T increased its space to 59000 sq ft (5,481.3 m²), and NationsBank
NationsBank
NationsBank was one of the largest banking corporations in the United States, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1998, it acquired BankAmerica to become Bank of America.-Corporate history:...

 took 285000 sq ft (26,477.4 m²), but 166181 sq ft (15,438.7 m²) still remained vacant. Among the building's problems: most of the floor space had been designed specifically for Southern Bell, and the lobby was on the third floor due to the Overstreet Mall. An advantage was the 1500-space parking deck inside.

NationsBank became Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...

 and in 2001 and 2002 gave up 140000 sq ft (13,006.4 m²) as part of its operation moved to Gateway Center
Gateway Center
Gateway Center may refer to the following places in the United States:*Gateway Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania*Gateway Center building complex in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

, leaving 240000 sq ft (22,296.7 m²) still occupied. In 2004, BB&T agreed to increase its space in the building by 21000 sq ft (1,951 m²) to 100000 sq ft (9,290.3 m²).

In February 2007 the building was sold to CIM Group for $117 million.
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