Finance firm exits Ballantyne for University City [The Charlotte Observer, N.C.]

March 15--A financial services firm that was an original tenant of Ballantyne Corporate Park said Wednesday it is relocating its Charlotte operations to Innovation Park, the upstart office campus in University City.

AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, a New York-based company with its Charlotte operations in Ballantyne since 1998, signed a lease to move next year to Innovation Park, which sits on the sprawling campus built by IBM in the 1970s. Terms of the lease weren't disclosed.

The move comes amid intense competition in the Charlotte real estate market for office tenants.

The 535-acre Ballantyne Corporate Park is nearing completion on two new, 10-story office buildings, which together make up the largest speculative office project in the nation.

Innovation Park, which comprises 200 acres within University Research Campus, had IBM's high-tech infrastructure, and is undergoing $30 million in renovations.

Innovation Park first approached AXA Equitable in January, but the company wasn't interested at the time, according to Mercedes Merritt, director of leasing for the company that owns Innovation Park.

Following multiple visits to Innovation Park -- which has outdoor nature lounges, a gym, and services such as a day-care partnership and dry-cleaning deliveries -- the finance firm signed on earlier this week, Merritt said. She and others from the northeast campus spent Wednesday at AXA Equitable, speaking to 750 employees.

Innovation Park will be more than 60 percent leased once AXA Equitable moves in May 2013.

"We chose the Innovation Park location for a number of reasons, including its state-of-the-art work environment featuring a full range of attractive amenities for our employees," AXA Equitable said in a statement.

Ned Curran, president and CEO of The Bissell Cos., developer of Ballantyne Corporate Park, said in a statement that Bissell is delighted AXA Equitable remains "committed to Charlotte."

Innovation Park's quoted rates are far lower than Ballantyne's -- between $16 and $18 per square foot, compared to Ballantyne Corporate Park's rates in the $22.50 to $27 per square foot range, according to real estate analyst Andrew Jenkins with Karnes Research in Charlotte.

"Just assuming that they pay the lower rates, respectively, they would be saving approximately $1.1 million annually at Innovation Park," Jenkins said.

The relocation is being touted as a coup by Innovation Park. Purchased two years ago by a Rockville, Md. firm specializing in buying distressed properties, the once-bustling 200-acre IBM campus had passed through two owners before being bought by BECO Management. Its spinoff company, BECO South, runs the business park.

Existing tenants at Innovation Park include IBM, Siemens Energy, Aon Hewitt insurance services, and Areva, a nuclear power company.

"When my partners and I purchased the property in early 2010, it was a sad, tired skeleton of what had once been the vibrant, bustling IBM campus," said Chris Epstein, president of BECO South, in a statement.

"We set out to bring the site back to life, and...transform Innovation Park into an energizing 'must see, must be' destination."

Smith: 704-358-5087

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