Dallas-born developer helped build Charlotte. Now, it’s making a Queen City comeback
Trammell Crow Company, a commercial real estate business with ties to the uptown skyline, is reopening an office in Charlotte.
The global developer opened a Raleigh office about two years ago to reestablish its presence in North Carolina after decades of construction across the state. In Charlotte, Trammell Crow will focus on bringing industrial, apartment and other developments to the region.
The company’s late founder and namesake started an office in Charlotte in the 1970s and played a major role in the business landscape.
Campbell Smith, senior managing director for the company’s Mid-Atlantic operations, said population trends, the business climate and the quality of life led the company back to Charlotte.
“We are bringing more senior leaders to this market to continue growing our business in Charlotte and the nearby markets of Upstate South Carolina, working across a variety of product types and delivering the best projects on the best development sites,” Smith said in a news release.
Employees will work in a temporary office, with plans to build a permanent Charlotte office in the future. In July 2021, TCC opened its doors in Raleigh at the Industrious at Charter Square in downtown Raleigh.
“Our further expansion into Charlotte doubles down on this and is a true testament to the state of the N.C. market,” said spokesperson Elise Maguire Ferrara.
Trammell Crow’s Charlotte connections
Between 1974 and 2013, Trammell Crow developed, acquired or invested in 67 projects in the state, such as the Hearst Tower, now the Truist Center. The leadership team was also involved with the 755,928-square-foot industrial Metro 63 building in Kannapolis and 400H in downtown Raleigh, a 20-story tower with 242 apartments, offices, and ground floor retail.
The company gave birth to Childress Klein when Crow divided Charlotte real estate holdings with Don Childress and Fred Klein, who worked together in the Philadelphia Office. Klein moved to Charlotte to help open a Trammell Crow office here.
Childress Klein formed in 1988 and employs more than 130 people across the Southeast, with assets valued over $3 billion.
Trammell Crow was founded in 1948 and is based in Dallas. The company employs than 600 people in about 30 cities in U.S. and Europe. It’s developed or acquired nearly 2,900 buildings valued at $75 billion.
In the early 1970s, the company became well-known in Charlotte after developing the Bank of America Plaza building. Crow later opened a Charlotte office in 1978 and started building office parks, warehouses and skyscrapers. Some of the other projects included the One Wells Fargo Center (previously known as the One First Union Center) and the former Belk headquarters complex at Lake Pointe office park on Tyvola Road.
