Bridgestone Americas Inc. is moving its corporate headquarters to a new 514,000 square-foot build-to-suit high-rise in downtown Nashville. The decision to make the move to the $232-million building was reached because Bridgestone had outgrown its current headquarters and the company decided to consolidate its operations in a central location.
Downtown Nashville will benefit from the addition of 1,700 new jobs after the move. A total of 1,100 positions will be relocated from Bridgestone’s current head office near Nashville International Airport and 600 jobs will be transferred from three out-of-state offices.
Highwoods Properties, the NC based company, has been chosen to develop the 30-story Class A office tower. Bridgestone will be the property’s only tenant, and has pre-leased all 506,000 square feet of office space. The 8,000 square feet remaining is speculative retail space. The building also includes 1,150 parking spaces, of which 36 percent will be underground. Perkins + Will has been hired to design the space.
The development is expected to start later this year, with completion scheduled for the third quarter of 2017. A planned 66,000 square feet will be abated until Q2 of 2019. Exact financial details of the lease have not been made public, but it will be a long-term one with annual increases.
The project must be approved by the Nashville Metropolitan Council, the Industrial Development Board, as well as the State of Tennessee. Since the project has the backing of Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty, Nashville Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Ralph Schulz and will receive a $50 million incentive package from the city, it is expected to be approved without delay.
