KARNES Blog

Charlotte Observer
November 30, 2011

After seeing relatively little leasing activity for most of 2011, the uptown office vacancy rate is set to fall, thanks to Chiquita International Brands.

The banana purveyor’s announcement that it would move its corporate headquarters to the NASCAR Plaza from Cincinnati could shave nearly 1 percent off the rate – pushing it to 12 percent from its current 12.8 percent, according to Karnes Research in Charlotte.

Uptown’s office vacancy rate has hovered above 12 percent since the second quarter of 2010, when it was 12.1 percent. In 2007, at the end of the economic boom, when empty space was scarce, rates were around 2 percent, the lowest in the country.

In calculating the impact of Chiquita’s new lease, Karnes managing partner Andrew Jenkins estimated that Chiquita would occupy roughly 125,000 square feet – or the top three floors – of the office tower adjacent to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Last year, uptown had 11,000 more square feet become available than was leased.

“We’ve just had a shuffle of tenants recently and not a lot of new, good, big deals,” Jenkins said. “We haven’t had a lot of really strong, brand new tenants coming in taking a big chunk of space in a while.”

Countywide, there is 8.85 million square feet of office space available for lease. When Chiquita moves in, it will lower the county’s office vacancy rate to 17.75 percent from 18 percent, according to Karnes.

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CHARLOTTE (June 9, 2011) – Bissell Development announces the construction of two 10-story office buildings totaling 550,000 square feet in Ballantyne Corporate Park. This speculative office project is the largest in the nation. Located at the northwest corner of North Community House Road and Ballantyne Commons Parkway, the buildings are set for completion by end of 2012 and will be built to LEED® Silver specifications.

“Bissell has been the largest provider of new suburban office space in the Charlotte region over the past 10 years,” said Andrew Jenkins, Managing Partner, Karnes. “Bissell has proven that despite difficult economic conditions, there continues to be significant demand for Ballantyne Corporate Park, as evidenced by major recent leasing activity that includes Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Energy, Akima, HVM, Sompo Japan, and Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems.”

Left to Right: Ned Curran–President and CEO of Bissell, Mayor Anthony Foxx, “Smoky” Bissell–Chairman of Bissell, Jennifer Roberts– Mecklenburg County Commissioner, Jeff Edge–Senior Vice President of Economic Development with the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce

The Class “A” buildings will exude international modernism and include two-story lobbies, all-glass exterior curtain walls, and provide free structured parking at a ratio of nearly four spaces per 1000 square feet. Located at Ballantyne Corporate Park’s east entrance, the buildings will establish a landmark location and will feature balconies on all upper floors allowing tenants to further enjoy unparalleled views.

“We are thrilled that Bissell continues to show its confidence in the Charlotte office market with the construction of additional speculative office buildings,” said Jeff Edge, Senior Vice President of Economic Development, Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. “Our clients continue to give Ballantyne Corporate Park high marks in their analysis of office space options in Charlotte, and I am confident that this commitment by the Bissell organization will result in additional corporate relocations and expansions to Charlotte and to Ballantyne.”

“We might appear contrarian to some, but our decision to move forward is based on our recent transaction volume, our prospect activity and confidence in the Charlotte market and Ballantyne in particular,” said Smoky Bissell, Chairman of Bissell.

Bissell Development will oversee the project, working with architecture firm LS3P Associates and general contractor Rodgers Builders. The construction facilitator is Marsh Associates, Inc.

Over the past 20 months, Bissell has signed leases totaling more than 850,000 square feet of new office space in Ballantyne Corporate Park and in stabilized product has an occupancy rate of 93%.

Ballantyne Corporate Park
Ballantyne Corporate Park, a 535-acre master-planned Class “A” office and business community in Charlotte, North Carolina, includes over 3.5 million square feet of office space and nearly 600 hotel rooms as well as restaurants, medical and retail amenities. Ballantyne Corporate Park was awarded the 2010 International Office Park of the Year by the Building Owners and Managers Association, recognizing quality in office buildings and excellence in building management. Zoned for more than 5 million square feet of office space, Ballantyne Corporate Park is positioned in the heart of Charlotte’s largest concentration of educated and experienced labor. Current corporate clients include SPX Corporation, AXA-Equitable, Bank of America, Snyder’s-Lance, Premier, Liberty Mutual, LendingTree, Polypore, Babcock & Wilcox, Camstar, ESPN and the Carlisle Companies. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ballantynecorporate.com.

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Charlotte Business Journal: Major expansion planned for the east side of south Charlotte’s Ballantyne | Charlotte Business Journal