The Good News Report

[cltbwimob]

http://m.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/outside_the_loop/2015/10/9-years-later-plastics-company-plans-100m-plant-in.html

300 jobs, $100 million invested in Chester County..not too shabby for our neighbor two counties South.  Seems like Chester is getting a lot of new manufacturers these days.

I love the fact that they are manufacturing jobs too.  The Charlotte area needs more production jobs.

[cltcane]

Neil Blinde, currently head of Wells Fargo Securities' Depositories Investment Banking Group, has been named Well Fargo's Corporate Treasurer.  He will remain based in Charlotte and report directly to CFO John Shrewsberry.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/banking/article41620293.html

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151027006731/en/Wells-Fargo-Corporate-Treasurer-Paul-Ackerman-Vice

[Deleted.]

^It seems to me that, many top Wells Fargo employessare based in Charlotte. How many are based in CLT, compared to San Francisco? Could we ever see the HQ here in CLT?

[Silicon Dogwoods]

^It seems to me that, many top Wells Fargo employessare based in Charlotte. How many are based in CLT, compared to San Francisco? Could we ever see the HQ here in CLT?

Never say never. But Wells CEO John Stumpf has made clear his preference for San Francisco. Most of his direct reports are in San Francisco. And unlike Bank of America, Wells acquired Wachovia, not the other way 'round. The one thing that I have noticed about Wells in San Francisco is that they are not terribly invested in The City. In fact, I'd say they're more emotionally invested here than in San Francisco, but that's a legacy from the Wachovia era.

What could make them move here? A catastrophe in California that costs them way more money to stay in San Francisco than to move to Charlotte. I'd say that's possible but unlikely. Or one of the Charlotte-based LOB heads becomes the clear choice for Chairman & CEO and decides to move the hq here. Also possible but unlikely.

We'll probably see continued functional relocation from San Francisco to Charlotte, just not the headquarters itself. Chevron is also functionally relocating out of the Bay Area. They've relocated much of the company to Houston, leaving very little behind in San Ramon but the C suite. Functional relocations are politically and financially smart. Jobs and money are spread around to a number of states and cities. Cost reductions can be taken-Houston is way more affordable than San Ramon and the Bay Area.  Bank of America is also functionally relocating, but here it's the C suite that is going to Boston and New York. Many jobs have stayed here-except trading, of course.

I think the days of F100 companies being heavily invested in and identified with their hq city are coming to a close. Companies are global and CEOs can pretty much live wherever they want. And if you're wealthy with no real knowledge of Charlotte (like Stumpf) then I can understand why you'd choose San Francisco over Charlotte.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Silicon Dogwoods

[HopHead]

^Yea, I totally agree with this.. While it would be cool to have Wells Fargo one day call Charlotte its HQ, it likely never will happen unless there is some unforseen circumstance. Many large corporations operate with key executives spread throughout a country (and sometimes world). It's a lot easier to do that today given the mobile nature of people's jobs and the ability to conduct business anywhere. I work for a Fortune 100 company and our organization operates just like this (our CEO is in the Bay Area, majority of other C level people are in Austin, Boston and Atlanta)... Some key executives will always have at least a part time home in the HQ city, but not everyone needs to be there anymore. 

[atlrvr]

The lack of F100 companies investing in their HQ cities is really a function of so-so economy and very low interest rates.

I know a reliable source that says BofA will begin relocating corp jobs to Charlotte once their profit margin begins to rise (the easiest way for this to happen is for interest rates to rise).  The math is pretty compelling.  The average employee in NYC costs about $20k more per person for the average accounting, IT, finance, marketing, legal, etc job (about $15k salary differential and $5k office space differential per employee).  Relocating 10k people (this is not a number I heard, just a reasonable example) would cut costs by $200,000,000 a year or $2 billion over 10 years.  That's meaningful.  There are a lot of upfront costs involved (probably close to $500 million), which is why they needs profits to be a bit more stable.

As far as Wells, David Carroll is the only exec based on Charlotte that has a realistic chance to become CEO when Stumpf is forced to retired in 3 years (I believe they have a hard cap of 65 years old retirement)  Carroll would be 60 then, so its unclear if Wells would want an exec that would be CEO for a max of 5 years.  The odd's on favorite is Tim Sloan, who actually is based in Los Angeles.

 

[Silicon Dogwoods]

Yes, I've heard Sloan cited as the favorite as well. Since he's based in Los Angeles, was he part of the old First Interstate acquisition?

[dcharlotte]

Never say never. But Wells CEO John Stumpf has made clear his preference for San Francisco. Most of his direct reports are in San Francisco. And unlike Bank of America, Wells acquired Wachovia, not the other way 'round. The one thing that I have noticed about Wells in San Francisco is that they are not terribly invested in The City. In fact, I'd say they're more emotionally invested here than in San Francisco, but that's a legacy from the Wachovia era.

What could make them move here? A catastrophe in California that costs them way more money to stay in San Francisco than to move to Charlotte. I'd say that's possible but unlikely. Or one of the Charlotte-based LOB heads becomes the clear choice for Chairman & CEO and decides to move the hq here. Also possible but unlikely.

We'll probably see continued functional relocation from San Francisco to Charlotte, just not the headquarters itself. Chevron is also functionally relocating out of the Bay Area. They've relocated much of the company to Houston, leaving very little behind in San Ramon but the C suite. Functional relocations are politically and financially smart. Jobs and money are spread around to a number of states and cities. Cost reductions can be taken-Houston is way more affordable than San Ramon and the Bay Area.  Bank of America is also functionally relocating, but here it's the C suite that is going to Boston and New York. Many jobs have stayed here-except trading, of course.

I think the days of F100 companies being heavily invested in and identified with their hq city are coming to a close. Companies are global and CEOs can pretty much live wherever they want. And if you're wealthy with no real knowledge of Charlotte (like Stumpf) then I can understand why you'd choose San Francisco over Charlotte.

Finance also isn't king in the bay area anymore. As tech companies gobble up additional space, talent, and real estate in the city (both commercial and residential) the bank will have to contend with paying their employees more to live in a crowded region. I would imagine that as their leases roll in the bay area additional employees are going to be moving to Charlotte. The bay area has the highest prices outside of NYC for office space and it is not nearly as important to the company operationally. 

[HopHead]

This article kind of adds on to what atlrvr was referring to above with regard to Bank of America actually expanding their Charlotte presence. According to Cousins, BofA has recently taken 100,000 sqft of space off the market in their Corporate Center uptown. In addition to that, they are expected to not renew some leases because they want to keep the space for their own use. BofA is also expected to renew the lease on 1.1 million sqft of space at Gateway Village. So, I will just speculate... if BofA does infact do all this, does it open the possibility of them constructing another uptown skyscraper? I know they still own some land uptown (I forget where).

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/real_estate/2015/10/cousins-execs-say-banks-hungry-for-space-in.html

Edited October 28, 2015 by HopHead

[atlrvr]

They own the land/parking lot next to Hall House.  They did no renew their lease with CMPD that has their Uptown station there.  This is where their next tower would go.

I would expect that BofA and Wells to continue to add corporate jobs in Charlotte as they have natural turnover in NY or Wells.  US Bank continues to grow aggressively here as well, which has less to do with costs, and more to do with talent.

 

 

Edited October 28, 2015 by atlrvr

[CLTProductions]

This article kind of adds on to what atlrvr was referring to above with regard to Bank of America actually expanding their Charlotte presence. According to Cousins, BofA has recently taken 100,000 sqft of space off the market in their Corporate Center uptown. In addition to that, they are expected to not renew some leases because they want to keep the space for their own use. BofA is also expected to renew the lease on 1.1 million sqft of space at Gateway Village. So, I will just speculate... if BofA does infact do all this, does it open the possibility of them constructing another uptown skyscraper? I know they still own some land uptown (I forget where).

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/real_estate/2015/10/cousins-execs-say-banks-hungry-for-space-in.html

They own the land bordered by Tryon, 7th and College (the land on the 8th St side is owned by CHA). I think a new tower is unlikely as they still have a ton of space in existing places they can use. However, they are definitely pulling back on MyWork and are going old school with office space (I'm all for it).

[HopHead]

They own the land/parking lot next to Hall House.  They did no renew their lease with CMPD that has their Uptown station there.  This is where their next tower would go.

 

That's right... That's why I was thinking it was certainly a possibility. Especially if they continue to grow. Perhaps one day they no longer want to lease that space at Gateway. 

[RiverwoodCLT]

Charlotte-based Snyder's-Lance to buy Diamond Foods

Charlotte-based snackmaker Snyder's-Lance Inc. (NASDAQ: LNCE) announced Wednesday it has an agreement to buy Diamond Foods for $1.27 billion.

The total value of the cash and stock merger is about $1.91 billion, including the assumption of $640 million in debt. Shareholders of San Francisco-based Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ:DMND) will receive 0.775 of a Snyder share and $12.50 in cash per share.

Snyder's-Lance keeps growing it will be in the Fortune 500 soon.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2015/10/28/charlotte-based-snyders-lance-to-buy-diamond-foods.html

 

 

Edited October 29, 2015 by RiverwoodCLT

[cltcane]

Albemarle-based Uwharrie Bank is expanding into Charlotte with the hiring of a new mortgage division president and the opening of a location on Providence Rd. in Elizabeth offering residential mortgage, commercial lending, and wealth management services.  I'm an Albemarle native and know the management team and many members of the board of directors well, and I think this a great move for them.  Uwharrie Bank is known for its customer service and community commitment in Stanly County, and they have beautifully restored at least five historic buildings in downtown Albemarle to create corporate office space and facilities for community use.

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/bank_notes/2015/10/uwharrie-bank-enters-charlotte-market.html

http://files.uwharrie.com/news/2015-10-15 Uwharrie Bank Expanding.pdf

[Spartan]

Doesn't BofA also own the air rights to the CTC?

[DMann]

I have seen in the Atlanta Biz Journal that they are out of the running for GE.   Does that open up any hope for Charlotte?

 

 

[Deleted.]

6 hours ago, DMann said:

I have seen in the Atlanta Biz Journal that they are out of the running for GE.   Does that open up any hope for Charlotte?

 

 

The article mentioned 6 cities, GE are believed to be considering and CLT wasn't on the list. And is also said GE is likely to stay in the north east. So I don't think CLT is in the running. 

[southslider]

What about Electrolux?

[sclark]

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/real_estate/2015/11/paypal-considering-charlotte-for-east-coast.html

Paypal seems like a good fit for CLT. I'd be very excited to welcome them. 

[Deleted.]

2 minutes ago, sclark said:

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/real_estate/2015/11/paypal-considering-charlotte-for-east-coast.html

Paypal seems like a good fit for CLT. I'd be very excited to welcome them. 

This would be a big deal for CLT! I sincerely hope we offer incentives, tax breaks, anything to get PayPal! How about Tryon Place for their 200k+ feet operation center? 

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Piedmont767 said:

This would be a big deal for CLT! I sincerely hope we offer incentives, tax breaks, anything to get PayPal! How about Tryon Place for their 200k+ feet operation center? 

Tryon Place is definitely the right fit for Silicon Valley based PayPal. It just screams "Tech Company"

[Deleted.]

5 minutes ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

Tryon Place is definitely the right fit for Silicon Valley based PayPal. It just screams "Tech Company"

How about the PayPal logo across Tryon Place? In additon to the BMW logo of course! 

[DMann]

Former AT&T building,or the recently deChiquita,d building?

[CLTProductions]

32 minutes ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

Tryon Place is definitely the right fit for Silicon Valley based PayPal. It just screams "Tech Company"

Probably too far off for completion. I am hoping for 615 S College for this one....

[kermit]

^ When I read the phrase "operations center" I think back-office / server farm stuff that would go into University "Research" Park, Arrowwood or Fort Mill. I would be hugely surprised if this ended up uptown.

Edited November 18, 2015 by kermit