Synchrony interested in leasing former AXA building at Ballantyne Corporate Park

Synchrony Financial, the consumer finance company that is considering a 400-job expansion in Charlotte, is in talks to lease the Rushmore One building formerly occupied by AXA Financial at Ballantyne Corporate Park, according to real estate sources.

The two-story building was built by The Bissell Cos. in the late 1990s for AXA, one of the first major tenants at the south Charlotte office park. After AXA announced it would move to Innovation Park in University City, Smoky Bissell, chairman of The Bissell Cos., said the property could be ripe for redevelopment because it didn't have the same density as newer properties at Ballantyne: Rushmore One, which AXA used as an operations and service center, totals about 170,000 square feet and sits on 14 acres at the park. The park's new Gragg and Woodward buildings, by comparison, total more than 550,000 square feet on 10 acres.

"We really probably need to look at our alternatives on that property," Bissell said then. "It does have more parking than any other building we have."

The parking may be what appeals to Synchrony. About 275 of the jobs Synchrony is looking to add as part of its expansion would be call-center positions, and call-center tenants typically require a higher parking ratio for their employees. The Rushmore One building has a parking ratio of five spaces per 1,000 square feet of office space, higher than the Woodward building, for example, which has a parking ratio of 3.75 spaces per 1,000 square feet.

The Rushmore One building has 152,000 square feet of office space and 17,500 square feet of storage space, according to listing materials, and at two stories the building has large floorplates that may also appeal to a call-center use.

Will Boye covers commercial real estate and law firms for the Charlotte Business Journal.