Home of RJR on the market
Reynolds American Inc. has officially launched the biggest recycling project in its history.
The company has put its historic former headquarters on the market, hiring Commercial Realty Advisors of Winston-Salem as the broker.
The 22-story building has been the headquarters of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. since it debuted as an innovative architectural and engineering masterpiece in April 1929. The building also served as the home for various commercial and retail businesses from its opening until the early 1980s.
In October 2008, Reynolds said it planned to consolidate its downtown employees, both Reynolds American Inc. and the subsidiary, into the neighboring Plaza Building by early 2010. That goal recently was accomplished.
The decision to vacate the building came shortly after Reynolds said it was eliminating 570 jobs, mostly white collar, as part of a continuing effort of trying to balance consumer demand for its products with company size.
The Reynolds Building is valued at $12.3 million, according to Forsyth County tax records.
Reynolds has said it is open to selling and leasing the building, which has at least 240,000 square feet of mostly Class B office space. Commercial real-estate developers say that the building has the potential for mixed use, including residential units.
David Howard, a spokesman for Reynolds, said that the company chose the broker because it “has the background, expertise and local knowledge needed for this project.”
Among Commercial Realty’s projects have been representing the buyer of the Park Building and taking over leasing of that building, brokering the Hillcrest golf course land transaction and the selling of the Fieldcrest Cannon building in Greensboro.
The broker will work with Jones Lang LaSalle, an international commercial-realty company based in Chicago, to evaluate and market the building.
“Over the next several months, the broker will evaluate possible uses of the building that will take into account not only its practical usage, but its historic significance to the community and the role it might play in downtown development in Winston-Salem,” Howard said.
John Reese II, the managing partner for Commercial Realty, said that the two real-estate companies will spend up to 60 days to “determine the best and highest use of the building.”
“The canvass is totally blank right now,” he said.
The building is being entered into a competitive market for downtown office space.
There is about 100,000 square feet of space available in the Wachovia Center, which has 600,000 square feet.
There also is 204,000 square feet of space in Winston Tower Main, which has about 436,000 square feet, and all 268,708 square feet in Winston Tower Church, according to the Web site of Magnolia Partners, which manages the buildings.
“With the building being an iconic part of Winston-Salem, we believe there will be considerable options for adaptive reuse,” Reese said.
Howard said that Reynolds will consider whatever recommendations that the real-estate companies make, including upgrading office space to Class A specifications.
The decision by Reynolds marks another change in the evolution of Winston-Salem’s economy, said Gayle Anderson, the chief executive and president of the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce.
“There is excitement in the community about the re-development potential of this building,” Anderson said. “Until more specifics are known, it’s difficult to predict how it might be seen in the marketplace. We look forward to seeing their plans and working with them.”
The building is not on the National Register of Historic Places, company spokeswoman Maura Payne said.
However, the building represented the culmination of a downtown construction spree during the 1920s. The job of designing the building went to Shreve & Lamb. The Winston-Salem Journal reported at the time that the architectural firm was asked to produce “an effect of conservatism along with attractiveness, but to avoid flashiness.”
According to a centennial edition of the Journal published in 1997, “city residents could be forgiven for wondering whether the architects followed the directive.”
“Gray-brown marble from Missouri, black marble from Belgium and buff-colored marble from France covered the walls and floor. The ceiling was festooned with gold leaves, and the grillwork, elevator doors and door frames were bright, gleaming brass.”
The building, which at the time was the tallest south of Baltimore, won a national architectural award. A gigantic version of it would rise from the sidewalks of Manhattan as the Empire State Building, another Shreve & Lamb design.
By Richard Craver
November 23, 2009
