BB&T to anchor new downtown Wilmington office building

BB&T will be the anchor tenant in the five-story office building planned for 101 N. Third St. Contributed photo/LS3P Associates

BB&T will be the anchor tenant in a five-story office building downtown that will begin construction this summer.

The building, at 101 N. Third St., will be the first Class A office structure built downtown since the Bank of America Building in 2009. Class A denotes the highest quality office space.

BB&T will occupy 34,000 square feet of the 68,000-square-foot building. The current building on the site, which houses a PNC Bank branch, will be demolished.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for July 1 and completion is expected in June 2015, according to the developers, Will Purvis and Brian Eckel of Cape Fear Development Partners, a subsidiary of Cape Fear Commercial.

The project, which was announced in January, received its Technical Review Committee approval May 13.

Cape Fear Commercial is managing development and leasing of the building, which is designed by architectural firm LS3P Associates. Barnhill Contracting Co. is the builder.

Sharing the first floor with BB&T will be Dunkin' Donuts, the developers said.

The site has been designed with three bank drive-thru lanes and 14 on-site parking spaces. The developers are also working with the city for access to the adjacent Second Street parking deck for tenants' use, Eckel said.

"We have experienced a great surge in activity over the last 12 months in the Wilmington office market and believe that more users will play their part in shaping the new look of the downtown market by making the (central business district) their place of business," Eckel said in a statement.

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BB&T to anchor new downtown Wilmington office building