Skyline update: Duke Energy’s 40-story, $675M uptown tower is nearly done after 3 years

Say goodbye to cranes. Say hello to letters.

Workers this week finished installing the Duke Energy letters and logo atop the corporation’s shiny new headquarters building in uptown Charlotte. The installation took over a week, company spokeswoman Caroline Portillo said on Wednesday.

Construction on the 600-foot-tall Duke Energy Plaza at South Tryon and South College streets started in spring 2019. The cost is in line with initial projections of $675 million, Portillo said.

The new headquarters reflects a real estate consolidation by the corporation, and will save it up to $90 million over the next five years.

The next major work to complete on the exterior is lighting, which will run up and down the height of the building, Portillo said in an email. Developer Childress Klein will be testing out lights periodically over the next couple of months.

Crews are still working on the interior, which is about 40% complete, Portillo said. None of the 40 floors is completely finished.

What to know about new Duke Energy tower

Interested in some other key facts about the tower and Duke Energy’s move? Here are a few.

• The building stands 40 stories tall and will be home to 4,000 employees. Office workers will move into the building in phases, starting in January and lasting much of the new year.
• The tower has 1 million square feet of working space and six levels of parking.
• There will be ground-floor retail on South Tryon and South College streets.
• Two developers closed on a deal in May to purchase two of Duke Energy’s other properties in uptown, 401 S. College St. and 526 S. Church St.
• Duke Energy’s real estate consolidation will mean those two properties will see new life. Plans include ground-floor retail, apartments and offices.
• Duke Energy Plaza will have a ribbon cutting next year. The company will take requests from the public for lighting schemes on the outside of the building. Duke Energy also will work with Charlotte Center City Partners on coordinating lights with other uptown towers.

This story was originally published September 22, 2022 at 1:57 PM.

Gordon Rago

The Charlotte Observer

704-358-5107

Gordon Rago covers growth and development for The Charlotte Observer. He previously was a reporter at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia and began his journalism career in 2013 at the Shoshone News-Press in Idaho.