Is there a Carolina Panthers connection to this new SouthPark office building?

An upscale office building is rising in SouthPark, but the individual behind the project is a bit of a mystery.

The 7,200-square-foot building under construction on Rexford Road will have a “Williamsburg revival” design with “Georgian features,” according to documents from a rezoning that was initiated in fall 2016 and approved in spring 2017. The building sits on an eclectic street that includes corporate headquarters, a hotel and condos.

The owner is a “private individual who wants a private office in which to conduct his family’s financial affairs,” Bob Branan, the petitioner for the rezoning, said at a community meeting on the project, according to a summary.

The building is to have a “residential feel” and could be “viewed as a home,” he added.

The meeting summary from December 2016 said the owner would likely be revealed at an upcoming public hearing, but that doesn’t appear to have happened. Real estate records, however, hold a clue as to who is behind the building.

The property owner is a limited liability company called Rexford Office LLC, with an address at 800 S. Mint St. – the location of Bank of America Stadium.

A spokesman for the Carolina Panthers and team owner Jerry Richardson, who announced plans to put the team up for sale in December, could not be reached for comment. Branan – a financial manager with a private office, according to his LinkedIn page – wouldn’t comment.

Branan applied for the rezoning on behalf of a limited liability company called Manna Capital LLC. Branan is the manager of Manna Capital as well as the organizer of Rexford Office, according to N.C. Secretary of State records.

The Rexford Road property had been owned by Bank of North Carolina, which had a branch at the location. Charlotte City Council approved the required rezoning in April 2017, and Rexford Office purchased the property days later.

The community meeting summary said construction would take about 12 months..

Staff writer Ely Portillo contributed

This story was originally published February 27, 2018 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Is there a Carolina Panthers connection to this new SouthPark office building?."