BankTown Banking & Finance News

[atlrvr]

BJKM might have a better idea, but I believe they (Robinhood) were trying to sub-lease just 1 of their 2 floors (this was a few months ago), but have idea if they ever moved in and if they are actually occupying the other floor.

[CLT2014]

1 hour ago, atlrvr said:

BJKM might have a better idea, but I believe they (Robinhood) were trying to sub-lease just 1 of their 2 floors (this was a few months ago), but have idea if they ever moved in and if they are actually occupying the other floor.

I don't think there are any humans in the entire Deloitte building... Robinhood never really had people come in and Deloitte is basically work at the client / work from home / drop in once a month. If you go in the lobby at 8AM on Tuesday you'll see like 5 people in an hour.

Edited August 3, 2022 by CLT2014

[KJHburg]

3 hours ago, atlrvr said:

BJKM might have a better idea, but I believe they (Robinhood) were trying to sub-lease just 1 of their 2 floors (this was a few months ago), but have idea if they ever moved in and if they are actually occupying the other floor.

sounds like they will be closing the entire Robinhood Charlotte office and trying to sublease it all.  Great this new San Fran fintech is interested and seems to be hiring here already.

https://www.figure.com/

Edited August 3, 2022 by KJHburg

[BJKM]

4 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

BJKM, whoa! Bringing the added value for a first post. Welcome and join the fray.

Haha thanks. I’ve been lurking here since probably 2011 but I’m certainly no insider. I just come here for the pretty renderings and sassy internet warriors 

4 hours ago, KJHburg said:

wow good news and I do see your company is hiring in Charlotte now.

https://www.figure.com/careers#Careers-Open-Roles

We are indeed. We’ve grown almost 100% in the last year. I am a trainer for them (former Cms chemistry teacher) and we are hiring a lot of customer service people. I train the people that service the HELOCs after they are funded. We use blockchain technology to originate the loans and business is booming. 

4 hours ago, DonkeyKong said:

Have they closed the whole clt office?  

I am not privy to the details but it was presented to us as the “old Robinhood space”. I know that they want charlotte to be their biggest office out of all of our offices. Right now Reno, NV is our biggest but they’re expecting lots of growth here. I also know they want us to use a hybrid model (they want to move to 4 day work weeks eventually) so I am not sure how much space they took, but I know they are planning for about 200 of us located in charlotte. They showed us some renderings and it looks like we’re about half way up the building on the south facing side. Should be a good vantage point for some South End growth shots as well as the next LU tower about to rise. 

[KJHburg]

6 minutes ago, BJKM said:

 

I am not privy to the details but it was presented to us as the “old Robinhood space”. I know that they want charlotte to be their biggest office out of all of our offices. Right now Reno, NV is our biggest but they’re expecting lots of growth here. I also know they want us to use a hybrid model (they want to move to 4 day work weeks eventually) so I am not sure how much space they took, but I know they are planning for about 200 of us located in charlotte. They showed us some renderings and it looks like we’re about half way up the building on the south facing side. Should be a good vantage point for some South End growth shots as well as the next LU tower about to rise. 

thanks again for breaking news here on UP this is great we lose one gain another Fintech.  And Charlotte has a whole lot more fintech people than Reno a fine city but based on tourism and the gateway to Lake Tahoe.  Like MUFG, US Bank, Moodys, USAA, Varobank, Silicon Valley Bank you will find a deep wide talent pool here in the QC.  

[BJKM]

2 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

thanks again for breaking news here on UP this is great we lose one gain another Fintech.  And Charlotte has a whole lot more fintech people than Reno a fine city but based on tourism and the gateway to Lake Tahoe.  Like MUFG, US Bank, Moodys, USAA, Varobank, Silicon Valley Bank you will find a deep wide talent pool here in the QC.  

 This is slightly off topic so I apologize, but Reno is just that…fine. The DT where all the casinos are is gross and seedy, but once you cross the river it’s a completely different city. Thankfully in the winter the casinos will let the homeless wander through them so they can get out of the cold and use the bathroom.
 

Past Liberty st they call it midtown and it reminds me of Camden st in south end. They’ve done a street diet and added protected bike lanes.  They widened sidewalks but kept the original facades of the 1-2 story businesses there. Lots of bars and restaurants though they could use some work in that arena. My colleagues tell me Reno’s population feels like it has exploded and that their housing market is bad because of CA people coming across the line to live in Reno I assume for tax purposes and the WFH situation(it’s only a 4 hour drive to SF from Reno and you pass through Sacramento to do that). 
 

Tahoe is beautiful though. I never understood why people seemed obsessed with it until I went because of this job. It’s so weird to be in the desert and then cross the mountain range into huge pine forests with 2 feet of snow on the ground next to crystal clear blue water.
 

Anyway carry on and I look forward to posting lots of pictures  

[CLT2014]

Are we getting actual fintech jobs from Figure in Charlotte (like product, technology, et.) or are we getting the "non-tech" portion of a fintech like customer service and processing? Just wondering what types of opportunities are coming our way as Robindhood's expansion included graphic design, product management, data science, software engineering, et... alongside customer service.

Edited August 3, 2022 by CLT2014

[Desert Power]

5 hours ago, BJKM said:

Haha thanks. I’ve been lurking here since probably 2011 but I’m certainly no insider. I just come here for the pretty renderings and sassy internet warriors 

We are indeed. We’ve grown almost 100% in the last year. I am a trainer for them (former Cms chemistry teacher) and we are hiring a lot of customer service people. I train the people that service the HELOCs after they are funded. We use blockchain technology to originate the loans and business is booming. 

I am not privy to the details but it was presented to us as the “old Robinhood space”. I know that they want charlotte to be their biggest office out of all of our offices. Right now Reno, NV is our biggest but they’re expecting lots of growth here. I also know they want us to use a hybrid model (they want to move to 4 day work weeks eventually) so I am not sure how much space they took, but I know they are planning for about 200 of us located in charlotte. They showed us some renderings and it looks like we’re about half way up the building on the south facing side. Should be a good vantage point for some South End growth shots as well as the next LU tower about to rise. 

Welcome to the forum. Insight into our city's largest industry is always helpful.

[BJKM]

22 hours ago, CLT2014 said:

Are we getting actual fintech jobs from Figure in Charlotte (like product, technology, et.) or are we getting the "non-tech" portion of a fintech like customer service and processing? Just wondering what types of opportunities are coming our way as Robindhood's expansion included graphic design, product management, data science, software engineering, et... alongside customer service.

I asked HR today for clarity here because I kind of have a foot in that world.
 

Most of it will be existing customer service people and their people ops leaders (several managers and leads have moved here  from Reno in the past couple months) . We have a temp office in Ballantyne currently and will be adding 30-40 ish people in the coming months. We will  have our Marketplace division (investments) here also and we already have some marketing/graphic design people here. Whether they stay remote/hybrid or not is unclear. Most of the engineering and actual fintech work is still based in SF and NYC

[KJHburg]

Ally Bank CEO speaking on Charlotte's financial and banking status.  91,000 financial service jobs in this region!  3rd highest concentration of finance workers in top 50 metros.  

https://charlotteregion.com/blog/2022/07/11/clt-alliance-blog/charlotte-is-a-hot-spot-in-the-financial-services-industry/

[SydneycartonII]

[SydneycartonII]

I also found this.  I don’t know If it’s about the same institution or a different one.  I suspect the latter.

 

 

[CLT2014]

^The 350 person job expansion is for the Bank of London, a start up that launched in Nov 2021. It will be the 6th clearing house bank in the UK focused on transaction banking. This won't be a consumer bank / household name. It has a $1.1 billion valuation so far, despite not having revenue yet. 

[KJHburg]

Here is an article everyone can read about the Bank of London opening a 350 person office here.  NOW we are talking about some new jobs to the city. And they are leasing office space in One Independence Center 40K sq ft or so.  

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-bank-of-london-announces-a-multimillion-dollar-investment-in-charlotte-and-the-creation-of-350-new-jobs-301601447.html

Edited August 8, 2022 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

I sent my British tech consultant friend the article about Bank of London and here is what he said (and he has been to Charlotte multiple times)

""interesting development. It makes an interesting statement about Charlotte as a financial centre. As you probably know the Bank of London is a new organisation that aims primarily to disrupt and change how banks and organisations clear funds between them exploiting digital technology. Assumingly the Bank of London is targeting all the banks, financial institutions and Corporates in the Charlotte area to go with them for their Clearing operation. I think the only other location the BOL is in the USA is New York, so makes  a big statement about Charlotte. The jobs are serious high end salary ones so good for the local economy.""

 

[RANYC]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

I sent my British tech consultant friend the article about Bank of London and here is what he said (and he has been to Charlotte multiple times)

""interesting development. It makes an interesting statement about Charlotte as a financial centre. As you probably know the Bank of London is a new organisation that aims primarily to disrupt and change how banks and organisations clear funds between them exploiting digital technology. Assumingly the Bank of London is targeting all the banks, financial institutions and Corporates in the Charlotte area to go with them for their Clearing operation. I think the only other location the BOL is in the USA is New York, so makes  a big statement about Charlotte. The jobs are serious high end salary ones so good for the local economy.""

 

Great news.  Thanks for the international perspective.  Thrilled to see a new corporate presence and new jobs right in the heart of the city on North Tryon.  Kudos to the investment that One Independence made in its streetscape connectivity; street-level vitality matters.  What might also matter is that existing or potential clients already here are across the street from or in the same building as Bank of London's new presence:).

At any rate, great news.  Now if we can just get the waterfall of that pocket park at Tryon & Trade activated again.

[TheOneRJ]

4 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Here is an article everyone can read about the Bank of London opening a 350 person office here.  NOW we are talking about some new jobs to the city. And they are leasing office space in One Independence Center 40K sq ft or so.  

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-bank-of-london-announces-a-multimillion-dollar-investment-in-charlotte-and-the-creation-of-350-new-jobs-301601447.html

Charlotte will also have the largest concentration of US employees despite New York City being billed as the North American HQ.

[CltFlyer]

A good article with additional info on the Bank of London announcement .

Including a great quote from the founder and chief executive  in regards to Charlotte.

”Without doubt Charlotte has some of the best bank technology and business talent that the U.S. — and the world — has to offer. I should know,” said Anthony Watson, Group Chief Executive & Founder of The Bank of London. “I spent some of the happiest years of my working life in Charlotte when employed by Wachovia Bank (now Wells Fargo). I’m beyond delighted to once again work in the Queen City as we transform banking for the betterment of all.”

https://businessfacilities.com/2022/08/the-bank-of-london-to-create-350-jobs-in-north-carolina/amp/

[turbocraig]

Wonder if they’ll put their name on the building. 

[KJHburg]

Figure is indeed subleasing half of Robinhood's space in the Deloitte tower at Legacy so reports the Biz Journal.

""Lincoln Harris announced today that Figure will occupy 24,000 square feet on the building's eighth floor, which is about half of Robinhood's (NASDAQ: HOOD) current space. Lease terms were not immediately available.  About 90 employees from Figure's lending division will move into the space after Robinhood vacates. Figure's local office is currently at 15720 Brixham Hill Ave. in Ballantyne. It has raised more than $1.2 billion, including a $200 million Series D funding round last year.""

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2022/08/12/figure-technologies-lease-legacy-union-uptown.html   hopefully this means an expansion for them in the future for Figure. 

[RANYC]

15 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

Figure is indeed subleasing half of Robinhood's space in the Deloitte tower at Legacy so reports the Biz Journal.

""Lincoln Harris announced today that Figure will occupy 24,000 square feet on the building's eighth floor, which is about half of Robinhood's (NASDAQ: HOOD) current space. Lease terms were not immediately available.  About 90 employees from Figure's lending division will move into the space after Robinhood vacates. Figure's local office is currently at 15720 Brixham Hill Ave. in Ballantyne. It has raised more than $1.2 billion, including a $200 million Series D funding round last year.""

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2022/08/12/figure-technologies-lease-legacy-union-uptown.html   hopefully this means an expansion for them in the future for Figure. 

Love this.  One may take issue with Legacy Union's streetscape experience, but kudos to their efforts to get jobs and their people in center city.  At the very least, these new jobs are potential patrons to beer spots and restaurants just down the street in South End.

[videtur quam contuor]

Series D funding? That is usually a sign of poor performance.

[RANYC]

19 minutes ago, tarhoosier said:

Series D funding? That is usually a sign of poor performance.

Still passing

[BJKM]

20 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Figure is indeed subleasing half of Robinhood's space in the Deloitte tower at Legacy so reports the Biz Journal.

""Lincoln Harris announced today that Figure will occupy 24,000 square feet on the building's eighth floor, which is about half of Robinhood's (NASDAQ: HOOD) current space. Lease terms were not immediately available.  About 90 employees from Figure's lending division will move into the space after Robinhood vacates. Figure's local office is currently at 15720 Brixham Hill Ave. in Ballantyne. It has raised more than $1.2 billion, including a $200 million Series D funding round last year.""

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2022/08/12/figure-technologies-lease-legacy-union-uptown.html   hopefully this means an expansion for them in the future for Figure. 

I should be able to get in on Monday to help with the move. I’ll snag some pictures. My desk will be facing Tryon but we have the whole floor so I should be aloe to get some good shots. 

20 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

Series D funding? That is usually a sign of poor performance.

We started in 2018 and the data shows we are on track for a 1000% increase in revenue per quarter over the last year.
Personally I think that’s not bad for a company of less than 600 people total. We have also been aggressively hiring since q4 of last year.  
 

Again, I am not in the finance side of things, but based on weekly meetings, we have put a lot of money into developing the Provenance Blockchain as well as the USDF consortium, which could be a contributing factor for seeking additional streams of cash.

Edited August 13, 2022 by BJKM

[KJHburg]

Wells Fargo is scaling back its huge mortgage operation and this is not temporary thing it seems.  They have a major mortgage office off Carowinds Blvd in Fort Mill in this area.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-14/wells-fargo-to-cut-back-mortgage-business-after-scandals-take-toll