This crypto giant is the latest tenant for South End Charlotte tower 110 East
Another tenant is heading to the 110 East office tower in South End.
Coinbase, the nation’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platform, will be leasing two floors and taking up 58,600 square feet, according to a news release from Trinity Partners, which handles leasing for the building.
It’s been a busy time for the year-old building that sat vacant in its early days. Coinbase’s move is the third leasing announcement the tower has had in the past two weeks. And it’s now the largest leasing deal for the 24-story tower.
Last week, SouthState Bank, a Florida-based bank, announced it’d be relocating its headquarters to 110 East, taking up 40,000-square-foot space.
An unnamed tenant also recently signed up for 15,500 square feet of space.
“The strong market momentum at 110 East continues, driven by the building’s prime location and upcoming campus redevelopment and retail,” Trinity office leasing partner Jennifer Kurz said in the release. And the top five floors are still available, Kurz added, which can come with branding and signage rights.
Coinbase’s Charlotte expansion
Coinbase announced in April that it would be expanding its operations in Charlotte. The move was part of the platform’s overall growth strategy to employ over 1,000 people in the U.S. this year. Coinbase has over 4,000 employees worldwide with hubs in San Francisco and New York City.
At the time, Coinbase did not say how much it would be investing in the Charlotte expansion or where it would move to. However, the firm said it would be hiring more than 130 people to work in the city in its compliance and customer support departments.
Position pay ranged from $32 to $41 for hourly and $96,000 to $117,000 for salaried workers, according to CharlotteAxios, which first reported about Coinbase’s plans.
“We’re coming to Charlotte for a specific reason,” Coinbase’s chief people officer L.J. Brock previously said in a LinkedIn video. “We think there’s an incredible intersection of financial services and technology talent in the greater Charlotte area.” Especially with Charlotte being one of the nation’s largest banking centers.
However, crypto is digital or virtual currency. It isn’t controlled by a central bank nor does it have an innate value. It’s worth only what people are willing to pay for it in the market.
Office vacancy stabilizing in Charlotte
With Coinbase moving into 110 East, the office tower is currently 37% occupied, according to Trinity. That’s a big change from when the building was completed last March without pre-signed tenants.
Now, the tower with 370,000 square feet of office, retail and restaurant space has several tenants including, Humana; Patterson Pope, a storage solution company; and The Iberian Pig, an Atlanta-based Spanish tapas restaurant that will occupy the building’s first-floor retail space next year.
And more are on the way. Rhea Greene, a managing partner at Trinity, previously said that the building has over a million square feet of active prospects.
The leasing momentum will also help continue to stabilize Charlotte’s overall office vacancy rate. As of the first quarter, the vacancy rate sits at 22.4%, according to an April report from commercial real estate firm JLL.
While the vacancy rate is higher than the national average, which is 19.7%, Charlotte’s office market is turning a corner, especially with buildings like 110 East focusing on amenities.
Besides the lounge and fitness area that 110 East has, it’s also in an urban area near transportation and a soon to be redeveloped retail space.
Part of 110 East’s campus includes the redevelopment of the Jones Building at 1820 South Blvd., the former home of Tupelo Honey, and an adjacent retail building, which used to house The Manchester and Room 1812.
It’s all part of enticing people back into the office.
“There is a general return to office culture that is happening… And the desire is when we do come back to the office, we want a more elevated experience,” Greene previously said. “We want more engagement… more vibrant, walkable urban areas. There is more emphasis on quality products right now.”
