BB&T Financial Center is a 340-foot (100 m) postmodern green glass and steel skyscraper at 200 West 2nd Street and is the 2nd tallest building in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States[2] with 271,445 square feet (25,218.1 m2) of space.[3] It was completed in 1987 and has 21 floors.[2] It served as the headquarters of BB&T from the merger of BB&T and Southern National Bank in 1995. The 19th floor has The Piedmont Club, with 13,232 square feet (1,229.3 m2).[3]
| BB&T Financial Center | |
|---|---|
 BB&T Financial Center | |
  Location within North Carolina | |
| General information | |
| Status | Completed |
| Type | Office |
| Location | 200 W. 2nd Street Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States |
| Coordinates | 36°05′44″N 80°14′50″W / 36.0956°N 80.2473°W |
| Completed | 1987 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 340 feet (100 m) |
| Top floor | 264 feet (80 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 21 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architecture firm | Hammill-Walter Associates; Sherman Carter Barnhart (consulting)[1] |
History
editOne Triad Park was completed in 1987 at a cost of $24 million. Aetna Life Insurance Co. bought the building in 1991 for $10.1 million after foreclosure when previous owners could not pay a $26 million loan.[4]
In the early 1990s, Southern National Bank was expanding and, although the headquarters stayed in Lumberton, North Carolina, the bank moved some operations to Winston-Salem. One Triad Park had 74,000 square feet (6,900 m2) of space Southern National could move into immediately.[5] In 1993, with Southern National taking 80,000 square feet (7,400 m2) on eight floors, the building's name changed to Southern National Financial Center on May 3.[6]
On August 1, 1994, BB&T and Southern National announced a "merger of equals". The merged bank would be called BB&T, though at first, the holding company remained Southern National.[7] The headquarters became BB&T Financial Center.[8] Southern National Corp. changed its name to BB&T Corp. in May 1997.[9] Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice was another major tenant.[10]
Parkway Properties Inc. of Jackson, Mississippi bought the building in 1996 for $25.5 million. Parkway sold the building to Cabot Investment Properties for $27 million in August 2003. Parkway Realty Services, a Parkway subsidiary, continued to manage the building. BB&T had 201,006 square feet (18,674.1 m2) as of 2002, and the Class A building was 97.5 percent occupied.[4]
In December 2011, Inland Private Capital Corp. of Oak Brook, Illinois bought BB&T Financial Center for $34.1 million. BB&T occupied 94 percent of the building, still considered Class A.[3]
In late 2014, investors bought BB&T Financial Center for $60 million, the most anyone ever paid per square foot for office space in the city, and nearly $26 million more than the tax value at the time.[11][12] As of April, 2022, the tax value on the building was $30.2 million, nearly $30 million below purchase price.[12]
After BB&T became Truist Financial in 2019, the company moved its headquarters to Truist Center in Charlotte, leaving the community/retail hub in Winston-Salem. Except for a branch office, all Truist employees were moving to other locations in the city.[13] It has been mostly empty ever since.[14]
Ownership
editOn October 18, 2018, one of the building's co-owners, Tyson "Ty" Rhame, was convicted by the Northern District of Georgia on 11 counts of mail and wire fraud conspiracy, and multiple counts of mail and wire fraud.[12] The building has been a forfeiture target by the U.S. Government since March 2016, and a hearing was set for May 23, 2022 to determine the outcome.[12] As of June 2, 2022, the hearing has not had an outcome.
References
edit- ^ "North Carolina's Changing Skylines" (PDF). North Carolina Architecture. May–June 1989. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-27.
- ^ a b "BB&T Financial Center". Emporis. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b c Craver, Richard (2012-01-12). "BB&T center has a new owner, Inland". Winston-Salem Journal. p. A11.
- ^ a b Louis, Brian (2003-08-23). "BB&T Financial Center Downtown Is Sold". Winston-Salem Journal. p. D1.
- ^ Yandle, C.E. (1992-12-13). "Pulling up roots to go for broke: Southern National is banking on it". The News & Observer.
- ^ "Office Building Will Change Its Name for Its Major Tenant". Greensboro News & Record. 1993-05-01. p. B7.
- ^ Gray, Tim (1994-08-02). "BB&T, Southern National banks plan to merge". News & Observer.
- ^ Wireback, Taft (1996-01-26). "Presidential Candidate Keyes Speaks in Triad". Greensboro News & Record. p. B2.
- ^ "Year of Changes". Greensboro News & Record. 1997-07-20.
- ^ "$15 Million Mortgage Taken Out on BB & T Building". Winston-Salem Journal. 1997-11-22.
- ^ Craver, Richard (2014-12-23). "Investors purchase BB&T building for $60 million". Winston-Salem Journal.
- ^ a b c d CRAVER, RICHARD. "Hearing will determine the fate of the former BB&T headquarters building in downtown Winston-Salem". journalnow.com. Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ Craver, Richard (2020-03-05). "Truist moving offices out of former BB&T headquarters, will keep branch location there". Winston-Salem Journal.
- ^ Craver, Richard (2024-10-24). "Wells Fargo vacates more office space in downtown Winston-Salem". Winston-Salem Journal.