Two Wells Fargo Center is a high rise in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
. Completed in 1971.
It is currently the 14th tallest building in Charlotte. The building consists of 32 floors, an
atrium, plaza, seven-story
parking garage
A multistorey car park (Commonwealth English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistorey, parking building, parking structure, parkade (Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck, or indoor parking, is a building designed fo ...
, and is connected to neighboring buildings via
skybridges, as part of the
Overstreet Mall
The Overstreet Mall is a series of pedestrian bridges in Uptown Charlotte. Proposed in 1971 and completed around 1977, the design was based on the design of the Milan Galleria and the Montreal Place Ville-Marie. The mall has about of walkways ...
.
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. It became the tallest building in
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, overtaking the
Winston Tower
The Winston Tower (formerly Wachovia Building) is a 410 ft (125 m) tall skyscraper in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina, completed in 1966 with 29 floors. It was the tallest building in North Carol ...
in
Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...
. The
13th floor
Triskaidekaphobia ( , ; ) is fear or avoidance of the number . It is also a reason for the fear of Friday the 13th, called ''paraskevidekatriaphobia'' () or ''friggatriskaidekaphobia'' ( and ).
The term was used as early as in 1910 by Isador ...
contains only equipment and no offices. Later, the building was renamed First Union Plaza. When
First Union
First Union Corporation was a bank holding company that provided commercial bank, commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the Eastern United States, eastern U.S. First Union also provided various other financial services, incl ...
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, while the term "Two First Union complex" also included a 12-story building next door.
Since the building was built it has been one of the bank's main buildings, mostly filled with bank employees. Over the years there have been a few other tenants including Speedway Motorsports leased in 1998 to house 20 employees, also in 1998 Ruddick Corp., the former owner of
Harris Teeter
Harris Teeter Supermarkets, LLC., also known as Harris Teeter Neighborhood Food & Pharmacy, is an American supermarket chain based in Matthews, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte. , the chain operates 262 stores in ...
leased space, in 2006 law firm Downer, Walters & Mitchener vacated on the 17th floor to move to an office on Morehead St, and CIT Group leased space in the building until 2010. After the merger with
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
the building along with
One Wachovia,
Three Wachovia, and
550 South Tryon
550 South Tryon (formerly the Duke Energy Center) is a tall, 48-floor (54 floors including mechanical floors) skyscraper in Charlotte, North Carolina.
When completed in 2010, it was the largest building in Charlotte (in square footage), seco ...
became the bank's main buildings in
Uptown.
As the bank changed names the buildings were renamed multiple times. In January 2002 all
First Union
First Union Corporation was a bank holding company that provided commercial bank, commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the Eastern United States, eastern U.S. First Union also provided various other financial services, incl ...
buildings were taken the Wachovia name as a result of
First Union
First Union Corporation was a bank holding company that provided commercial bank, commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the Eastern United States, eastern U.S. First Union also provided various other financial services, incl ...
purchasing Wachovia. Two First Union became Two Wachovia Center. In December 2010, as a result of
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
's 2008 purchase of Wachovia, the building was renamed Two Wells Fargo Center.
In January 2023 Wells Fargo announced it will be exiting
301 South College and Two Wells Fargo Center by the end of 2023. The employees from these two buildings will be consolidated into
550 South Tryon
550 South Tryon (formerly the Duke Energy Center) is a tall, 48-floor (54 floors including mechanical floors) skyscraper in Charlotte, North Carolina.
When completed in 2010, it was the largest building in Charlotte (in square footage), seco ...
and
Three Wells Fargo Center. After consolidation is complete Wells Fargo will occupy 95% of
550 South Tryon
550 South Tryon (formerly the Duke Energy Center) is a tall, 48-floor (54 floors including mechanical floors) skyscraper in Charlotte, North Carolina.
When completed in 2010, it was the largest building in Charlotte (in square footage), seco ...
. 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.
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.
As of August 2023 CBRE is currently in the early of stages of finding potential buyers to convert the buildings to multifamily residential.
In January 2024 two proposals were submitted to Charlotte Center Partners sponsored Reimagining Vintage Office Design Competition showcased how the building could be redesigned. The first proposal was by Gensler it includes converting part of the 32 story tower into a 324 unit residential tower and renovating the 12 story building to be a modern office building. The second proposal by Little Diversified Architectural Consulting would convert the entire building into a residential tower and include ground floor retail.
Related buildings
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. The building was known for its
Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...
mural
A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' ...
which lasted four years.
[ 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 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." The last renovation had taken place in the 1970s.][Rick Rothacker, "A Better Face for Wachovia at Third, Tryon", ''The Charlotte Observer'', October 21, 2004, p. 1D.] The new project involved moving some employees temporarily to the BellSouth
BellSouth, LLC (stylized as ''BELLSOUTH'' and formerly known as BellSouth Corporation) was an American telecommunications holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth was one of the seven original Regional Bell Operating Companies after ...
building and other locations, the bank returned to the building in Spring 2006. 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
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
and Three Wachovia Center and at , was one of the bank's largest, using the style of branches in New York City and Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
.
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
A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting.
Development and history
I ...
. 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.
In 1998 First Union
First Union Corporation was a bank holding company that provided commercial bank, commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the Eastern United States, eastern U.S. First Union also provided various other financial services, incl ...
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
The Bank of America Corporate Center is an 871 ft (265 m) skyscraper in Charlotte center city, Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina. Designed by Argentina, Argentine architect César Pelli and HKS Architects, an ...
. 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
The Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC; , Shanghainese: ''Zånhae Guejieu Cinyon Tsonsin'') is a supertall skyscraper located in the Pudong district of Shanghai. It was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and developed by the Mori Building Comp ...
, which opened in 2008. The other finalist was Atlanta architecture firm Thompson Ventulett Stainback & Associates, which designed 301 South College. The project was tentatively called Four First Union. 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. 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.
See also
* List of tallest buildings in Charlotte
File:Skyline of Charlotte 2016.jpg, 350px, Skyline of Charlotte (Use cursor to identify buildings)
poly 2920 668 2940 252 3044 104 3140 292 3172 428 3204 1380 3160 1384 3145 668 Bank of America Corporate Center
poly 360 594 630 594 628 1266 600 ...
*List of tallest buildings in North Carolina
This list of tallest buildings in North Carolina ranks skyscrapers in the United States of America, U.S. state of North Carolina by height. The tallest building in North Carolina is the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, which contain ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Charlotte skyscrapers
Skyscraper office buildings in Charlotte, North Carolina
Office buildings completed in 1971
Wells Fargo buildings
Uptown Charlotte