Writer: Joshua Andino
2 min read February 2023 — Wells Fargo is leaving Uptown for… Uptown. The national bank is moving from One and Two Wells Fargo Center to Three Wells Fargo Center and the former Duke Energy Center.
The move comes after a Tuesday letter sent to the bank’s employees, with the bank aiming to have moved all of its employees – two of its east coast divisions, to their new site at Three Wells Fargo Center and 550 South Tryon, formerly known as the Duke Energy Center by the end of the year, reports the Charlotte Business Journal.
Both buildings, as well as the bank’s Customer Information Center in Charlotte’s University neighborhood, will undergo major renovations to offer employees, all 27,000 of them, more modernized spaces and upgraded amenities, while renaming the buildings at a later date.
Renovation plans include refurbishing 21 floors at the former Duke Energy Center in an effort to make the space more collaborative and inviting, Mary Mack, CEO of consumer lending and small business banking told the CBJ, saying, “That was one of the big pieces of feedback they’ve given us to not only modernize the space and make it something warm and inviting and engaging, but bring us together.” Fourteen floors at the Three Wells Fargo Center will also be renovated over the next few years. The move and subsequent renovations will consolidate Wells Fargo’s employees into a smaller and more concentrated area.
Also in the works is Wells Fargo Customer Information Center renovation in Charlotte’s University neighborhood, which houses just under half – 10,000 of the 27,000 Charlotte-based team, and is the banks largest single site in the country.
Mack told the CBJ that, “In this investment for instance, it will enhance a lot of the employee facilities,” adding, “We will not only invest in the tools they use and technology but will invest in things that are important to employees like the food court or collaborative space.”
The move comes as some organizations have struggled to bring workers back into the office. Wells Fargo has been working under a hybrid model with employees coming into the office three times a week. Some companies, from Disney and Starbucks to Morgan Stanley, have begun looking to return employees full-time to the office as other organizations across industries have reduced headcount by thousands of employees, and while Wells Fargo has not announced plans to reduce its workforce, it did layoff several hundred employees in its mortgage division at the end of last year, and the bank has announced its intentions to pull back from the home lending business for a “smaller, less complex business.”
The concerns around office space has seen a number of buildings remain emptier than their pre-pandemic norms, with real estate firm JLL noting firms have begun to scale back large requirements and offer more sublease space in an effort to reduce costs. Nevertheless, Mack explained that the ongoing investment into the CIC demonstrated the bank’s commitment to Charlotte, and has since grown in workforce, tech, and value to the bank.
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