Two Wells Fargo Center

Two Wells Fargo Center is a 433-foot (132 m) high rise in Charlotte, North Carolina. Completed in 1971.[1] It is currently the 14th tallest building in Charlotte. The building consists of 32 floors, an atrium, plaza, seven-story parking garage, and is connected to neighboring buildings via skybridges, as part of the Overstreet Mall.[3]

Two Wells Fargo Center
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeOffice
Architectural styleModern
Location325 South Tryon Street
Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
Coordinates35.2247°N 80.8447°W / 35.2247; -80.8447
Construction started1968
Completed1971
Opening1971
Height
Antenna spire433 feet (132 m)[1]
Technical details
Floor count32
Floor area758,508 square feet (70,467.7 m2)[2]
Other information
ParkingOn site parking garage
Public transit accessLight rail interchange 3rd Street/CC

History

The building was designed by LaBella Associates, formerly known as Pease Engineering and Architecture, with David Julian Moore was the architect on-site functioning as construction administrator.

When completed, the 32-story building was called Jefferson First Union Tower.[4] It became the tallest building in North Carolina, overtaking the Winston Tower in Winston-Salem.[5] The 13th floor contains only equipment and no offices.[6] Later, the building was renamed First Union Plaza. When First Union employees began moving into the new headquarters in February 1988, that building was called One First Union Center. The name Two First Union Center referred to the 32-story tower,[7] while the term "Two First Union complex" also included a 12-story building next door.[8]

Since the building was built it has been one of the bank's main buildings, mostly filled with bank employees.[9] Over the years there have been a few other tenants including Speedway Motorsports leased 20,000 square feet (1,858 m2) in 1998 to house 20 employees,[10] also in 1998 Ruddick Corp., the former owner of Harris Teeter leased space,[11] in 2006 law firm Downer, Walters & Mitchener vacated 6,000 square feet (557 m2) on the 17th floor to move to an office on Morehead St,[12] and CIT Group leased space in the building until 2010.[13] After the merger with Wells Fargo the building along with One Wachovia, Three Wachovia, and Duke Energy Center became the bank's main buildings in Uptown.[14]

As the bank changed names the buildings were renamed multiple times. In January 2002 all First Union buildings were took the Wachovia name as a result of First Union purchasing Wachovia. Two First Union became Two Wachovia Center.[15] In December 2010, as a result of Wells Fargo's 2008 purchase of Wachovia, the building was renamed Two Wells Fargo Center.[16]

In January 2023 Wells Fargo announced it will be exiting One Wells Fargo Center and Two Wells Fargo Center by the end of 2023. The employees from these two buildings will be consolidated into 550 South Tryon and Three Wells Fargo Center. After consolidation is complete Wells Fargo will occupy 95% of 550 South Tryon. The bank will be renovating 21 floors of 550 South Tryon and the food court. Three Wells Fargo Center will have 14 renovated over the next two to three years.[17]

In June 2023 the 32 story tower, 12 story building, and the 3.4 acre lot were listed for sale. Real estate firm CBRE was hired to market the buildings. No specific price released nor was any information about interested in the property discussed. The sale of the property is part of a larger effort by Wells Fargo to reduce its real estate footprint in Uptown.[18] As of August 2023 CBRE is currently in the early of stages of finding potential buyers to convert the buildings to multifamily residential.[19]

The shorter building in the Two First Union complex was built in 1954 to serve as the headquarters of Union National Bank, later First Union National Bank. The original building was 9 stories; 3 stories were added in the 1960s.[20] The building was known for its 21,000-square-foot (1,951 m2) Charlotte Hornets mural which lasted four years.[21][8] Wachovia planned to move its 900 employees out of the shorter building by the end of 2003. It was believed to be too outdated to occupy[22] but the decision was made to renovate it instead. The renovation costs were about equal to the cost to rebuild it. Chris Scorsone the lead designer of the renovation with Little Diversified Architectural Consulting said this about it "We looked at this as just another evolution of the building. The important part of the building was the location, not its style. This is an important part of the Wachovia campus."[23] The last renovation had taken place in the 1970s.[24] The new project involved moving some employees temporarily to the BellSouth building and other locations, the bank returned to the building in Spring 2006.[25] In May 2006, it was repainted from beige to gray to complement the renovated color scheme at the neighboring Wachovia Main. On October 12, 2006, the bank's new flagship branch opened on the ground floor. It replaced branches in One and Three Wachovia Center and at 8,500 square feet (790 m2), was one of the bank's largest, using the style of branches in New York City and Dallas.[26][27]

The Charlotte Masonic Temple at 329 S Tryon St. was already on the corner of South Tryon and Third Street when Union National Bank built the shorter building. It was built in 1915 for $122,750. The building was designed by architect C. C. Hook to be Egyptian-Revival architecture. In 1937 a fire gutted the building and it seemed like a total loss. However, it 1938 it was restored and rededicated. In 1985, First Union bought the Masonic Temple. Then in 1987 it was demolished. The former property is now occupied by Wells Fargo Plaza. The two massive columns of the building façade are now on display on Dave Lyle Blvd. in Rock Hill, SC.[28]

In 1998 First Union began considering building a 72-story building on the plaza to house additional employees in Uptown. The plan was for the tower to occupy where the 12 story tower currently stands, the atrium, some of the parking deck, and space in the plaza on South Tryon. Even with the construction of the Three First Union Center the company still didn't think they would have enough space. The bank planned to construct a building as grand as Bank of America Corporate Center. Before cancelling the project the bank was considering New York architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox as one of the two finalists for designing the building. KPF famously designed Shanghai World Financial Center, which opened in 2008. The other finalist was Atlanta architecture firm Thompson Ventulett Stainback & Associates, which designed One Wells Fargo Center. The project was tentatively called Four First Union.[29] However, the plans for the new tower were putting on hold indefinitely in September 1999 due to the company's poor performance on the stock market.[30] In 2002 the final renderings of the building were leaked. The renderings showed 100 floors with 80 usable. If the building were built it would've been 40 floors taller than the city's current tallest building, Bank of America Corporate Center.[31][32]


The 12-story building in November 2022

See also

References
  1. "Two Wells Fargo Center". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  2. Sharipo, Amy (22 October 2022). "Wachovia a year later: Charlotte's largest office buildings". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  3. "Two Wells Fargo Center". Emporis. Archived from the original on April 16, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  4. "Johnston Memorial Presbyterian Church Timeline" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
  5. John, Brasier (18 August 2022). "Charlotte company buys downtown Winston-Salem tower that once housed Wachovia headquarters". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  6. McBane, Wendy (September 14, 1985). "Broken Valve Kills Friday The 13th Chill". The Charlotte Observer. p. Metro 1.
  7. M.S. Van Hecke, "First Union Moving into New Tower,"The Charlotte Observer, February 6, 1988.
  8. Smith, Doug (August 7, 2003). "Wachovia To Vacate Building: 12-Story Building At Two First Union Started Race For Bigger Towers 50 Years Ago". The Charlotte Observer. p. 1D.
  9. O'Daniel, Adam; Boye, Will (18 December 2009). "Wells-Wachovia to consolidate uptown Charlotte offices". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  10. Spanberg, Erik (9 March 1998). "Humpy wheels out office deal". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  11. "Ruddick renews at Two First Union". Charlotte Business Journal. 27 July 1998. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  12. J. Lee, Howard (15 May 2006). "Law firm moving to Morehead". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  13. Will, Boye (11 May 2010). "CIT Group signs at South Tryon Square". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  14. O'Daniel, Adam; Boye, Will (18 December 2009). "Wells-Wachovia to consolidate uptown Charlotte offices". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  15. Tannenbaum, Fred (18 January 2002). "Wachovia renames Charlotte's First Union buildings". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  16. O'Daniel, Adam (15 December 2010). "Wells Fargo puts its name on uptown Charlotte bank towers". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  17. Graham, Symone (31 January 2023). "Wells Fargo to fill former Duke Energy building and invest in University-area campus". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  18. Franco, Elise (1 June 2023). "Wells Fargo looks to sell prime uptown property and tower as it prepares to condense office footprint". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  19. Franco, Elise (17 August 2023). "Uptown Charlotte to see uptick in office conversions amid market challenges?". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  20. Pfeifer, Jay (17 January 2005). "Wachovia building wins reprieve with renovation". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  21. Price, Mark (December 10, 2007). "Artist's `Never-Ending' Mural Is Finally Finished". The Charlotte Observer. p. 1A.
  22. "Wachovia to vacate Two First Union". Charlotte Business Journal. 7 August 2003. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  23. Pfeifer, Jay (17 January 2005). "Wachovia building wins reprieve with renovation". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  24. Rick Rothacker, "A Better Face for Wachovia at Third, Tryon", The Charlotte Observer, October 21, 2004, p. 1D.
  25. Rick Rothacker, "Wachovia Projects to Change Uptown's Look", The Charlotte Observer, February 25, 2006, p. 1D.
  26. Binyamin Appelbaum, "Wachovia Site Seeks Walk-Ups", The Charlotte Observer, November 16, 2005, p. 1D.
  27. Binyamin Appelbaum, "Bank Notes: An Occasional Roundup of News in the No. 2 Bank Town, The Charlotte Observer, October 13, 2006, p. 2D.
  28. David, Maria (18 November 2015). "Egyptian Revival architecture on Tryon Street". Charlotte Observer. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  29. Spanberg, Erik (7 September 1198). "First Union to tower 72 stories". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  30. Howard, J. Lee; Spanberg, Erik (6 September 1999). "First Union tower plans toppled". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  31. "Bank of America Corporate Center". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  32. Zoghby, J.c. (13 May 2022). "Four First Union renderings revealed for first time". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
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