The postmodern granite and glass skyscraper at 301 South College Street in Charlotte used to be known as One Wells Fargo Center. Before the pandemic, the building was the megabank’s East Coast headquarters, where it rented almost 700,000 square feet of office space. But since then, Wells Fargo has been reducing its footprint; it now occupies less than half that area, and in January it announced it would leave the 42-story building altogether by the end of 2023.
Few tenants have swooped in to take its place. The building’s occupancy rate has plummeted from 98% at the end of 2021 to 52.9% today, according to data from Fitch Ratings and CoStar; when Wells Fargo fully vacates, it could fall as low as 34%. That drop has made refinancing the skyscraper’s $160 million mortgage a challenge—so much so that the owner, Vision Properties, has had to request a loan extension from a special servicer. The extension talks could be a prelude to loan modifications or even a default process. (Vision confirmed that it was in negotiations but declined to comment further.) Whatever the outcome, it means some real pain for Vision’s management—and its lenders and investors.
