Vanguard buying sprawling University City campus that Centene abandoned. What we know. [The Charlotte Observer]

Charlotte Observer (NC)

Wealth management giant Vanguard is moving into a newly built 91-acre campus in University City after managed health insurance company Centene abruptly backed away from its billion-dollar plans to locate there in 2022.

The Pennsylvania-based investment company announced the purchase of the 700,000 square-foot facility at 2405 Governor Hunt Road on Tuesday. Vanguard’s new campus is expected to open in 2025.

Vanguard said it is planning to consolidate its local operations and workers in the new campus.

Vanguard opened its first Charlotte office in 1997 and employs more than 2,400 people in the region. The company offers investments, advice, and retirement services to tens of millions of clients around the world.

Employees will have a better experience at the new modernized campus and benefit from in-person collaborations, said Jennifer Manry, Charlotte site co-lead, in a news release. A spokeswoman said employees currently work out of several locations in the area.

The Charlotte facility includes new office space, along with such amenities as dedicated collaboration spaces, a conference center, full-service cafeteria, outdoor eating and walking areas, EV charging stations and a fitness center.

A Vanguard spokeswoman declined to disclose the purchase price for the property.

Real estate brokers from Cushman & Wakefield’s Charlotte and St. Louis offices assisted with the deal between Centene and Vanguard.

What happened with the Centene deal

In 2020, St. Louis-based Centene detailed plans to build its East Coast headquarters in Charlotte and bring 3,200 jobs to the area. But a number of factors appeared to force the company to abandon those plans.

At time, Centene said it was backing out of the deal that it had made with such fanfare because more people wanting to work from home.

But in the year preceding that decision, the company also saw significant leadership changes and a pivot to consolidating real estate to help boost profit margins, the Observer previously reported.