New 25-story office tower planned in uptown Charlotte

Groundbreaking is set for this fall on a 25-story office tower at Tryon and Third streets, a timetable that would make it the first tower to start construction in uptown since the end of the recession.

Babson Capital Management will be the anchor tenant for the new 634,000-square-foot building, to be called 300 South Tryon. Construction is slated for completion by the spring of 2017.

The building will be next to the Latta Arcade, on the site of a parking lot that was Googles temporary home during the Democratic National Convention.

The new office building will be the first office tower completed in uptown since 2010, when the 48-story Duke Energy Center and 32-story 1 Bank of America Center opened. No new office buildings have begun construction uptown since the recession ended in 2009, said Andrew Jenkins, a real estate analyst with Karnes Research.

Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, a global real estate investment management firm, owns the property and will oversee development; Spectrum Properties will develop, manage and lease the property.

Babson and Cornerstone are affiliates of the MassMutual Financial Group of financial services companies. Babson, which when combined with its affiliates has more than $200 billion under management, employs at least 130 people in Charlotte.

The firm plans to relocate its existing Charlotte operations from the 45,000 square feet it currently leases in the Duke Energy Center.

Tom Finke, Babsons chairman and CEO, said the firm plans to occupy about 200,000 square feet in the new building. He said Babson has enjoyed good success in Charlotte, growing from about 60employees in 2008 or 2009.

The firm expects that to continue, and is positioning itself for continued long-term growth.

Weve grown quite frankly a little faster than we thought we would, Finke said. A lot of people came out of the (economic) crisis and struggled. We came out of it well.

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New 25-story office tower planned in uptown Charlotte