AT&T Building (Nashville)

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AT&T Building

View of the AT&T Building
Information
Location 333 Commerce Street, Nashville, Tennessee
Coordinates 36°9′45″N 86°46′37″W / 36.1625, -86.77694Coordinates: 36°9′45″N 86°46′37″W / 36.1625, -86.77694
Status Complete
Groundbreaking 1991
Constructed 1994
Use Offices
Height
Antenna/Spire 630.5 ft (192.2 m) (1)
Floor count 32 (1)
Floor area 690,297 sq ft (64,131 m²) office area (3)
>1,000,000 sq ft (93,000 m²) total area (2)
Companies
Architect Earl Swensson Associates (2)
Structural
Engineer		 I. C. Thomasson Associates (2)
Contractor Brasfield & Gorrie
Ray Bell Construction (2,4)
Developer The Mathews Company (5)
Owner Pitney Bowes
    (1994-2006)
Cerberus Capital Management
    (2006-2007)
MTL Leasing
    (2007-Present) (3,6)
References: 1[1], 2[2], 3[3], 4[4], 5[5], 6[6]

The AT&T Building (formerly the South Central Bell Building and BellSouth Building, also known as the Batman Building) is a 630.5 ft (192 m), 32-story skyscraper completed in August 1994 and located in Nashville, Tennessee. The structure is designed as an office tower capable of housing 2,000 workers and as of 2008 is occupied by two companies. It is currently the tallest building in the state of Tennessee.

Contents

[edit] Architecture and design

The building sits on 2.7 acres (1.1 ha) of property on Commerce St between 3rd and 4th Avenues North, and has a footprint of 1⅔ city blocks. It features a three-story winter garden atrium as its foyer and has a nine-story underground parking garage with 1,300 vehicle capacity.[1][2][3] The decorative bridge of the structure was designed to resemble a telephone receiver sitting in its cradle,[7] and the addition of the spires gives an appearance similar to that of the Melbourne Central Tower in Melbourne, Australia. Also atop the building, situated just below the bridge structure, is a communications dish covered by the AT&T wordmark. Its distinctive design and dark coloration have earned it the nickname "Batman Building", due to its resemblance to the mask of superhero character Batman.[8]

Richard Miller, the president of architectural firm Earl Swensson Associates, said of the design process "...at the time we did that they [South Central Bell] wanted a signature piece of architecture. What happens inside the building drives the way the outside looks."[9]

[edit] Tenants

AT&T, previously BellSouth Telecommunications and before that South Central Bell,[10][11] has operated its Tennessee headquarters out of the building since it was opened in 1994. Prior to 2006, it was the sole occupant of the building, and now occupies approximately 500,000 sq ft (46,000 m²) of office space.[12] AT&T holds a 23.5 year lease which ends January 2020.[3] The other tenant, Nissan North America, has operated a temporary headquarters in the remainder of office area, twelve floors, since June 19, 2006. The company will relocate to a permanent location in Franklin, Tennessee in mid-2008.[13][14]

Local television station WTVF Channel 5, while not utilizing office space, operates two live video cameras atop the western spire, which were established in 1995 and 1996.[8][15] These cameras are used to provide scenic views of Nashville and assist in covering news events.

[edit] Ownership

After completion in 1994, the AT&T Building was purchased by Prefco XIV L.P., a limited partnership of the Pitney Bowes Real Estate Financing Corp, for US$100.8 million.[3][16] Ownership of the building was transferred to Cerberus Capital Management subsidiary EntreCap Financial in July 2006 after Cerberus acquired Prefco. The building was immediately placed back on the market for resell, and in mid-2007 was sold to MTL Leasing LLC for an undisclosed sum.[6][16]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Portfolio - Corporate - BellSouth Tennessee Headquarters. ESArch.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
  2. ^ a b Enterprise Electric, LLC: Portfolio. EnterpriseLLC.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-30.
  3. ^ a b c d Fox, David A. "This Land is Their Land...: Prefco XIV L.P.", BusinessTN.com, November 2004. Retrieved on 2007-11-30. 
  4. ^ Dolloff, J Holly. "Brasfield & Gorrie puts its stamp on Nashville projects", Nashville Business Journal, 2006-04-14. Retrieved on 2007-11-30. 
  5. ^ The Mathews Company Timeline. TheMathewsCompany.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-30.
  6. ^ a b Stinson, Jim. "Downtown landmark purchased", Nashville Business Journal, 2007-05-18. Retrieved on 2008-05-20. 
  7. ^ BellSouth Building. GlassSteelandStone.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-30.
  8. ^ a b "'Batman Building' Gets A New Name", NewsChannel5.com, 2007-09-25. Retrieved on 2007-11-30. 
  9. ^ Lewis, Bill. "Taking part in shaping a vibrant Nashville", The Tennessean, 2003-12-28. Retrieved on 2007-11-30. Archived from the original on 2007-11-30. 
  10. ^ ATT.com (2006-03-05). "AT&T, BellSouth to Merge". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-11-30.
  11. ^ "POLL: What should Nashvillians call the BellSouth Building?", NewsChannel5.com, 2007-09-25. Retrieved on 2007-11-30. 
  12. ^ Lawson, Richard. "BellSouth Tower to open space", The Tennessean, 2004-07-23. Retrieved on 2007-11-30. Archived from the original on 2007-11-30. 
  13. ^ Morton, Jim (2006-08-09). SHIFT_ 2.0: Embracing Change at Nissan North America, Inc.. NissanNews.com. Archived from the original on 2006-08-18. Retrieved on 2007-11-30.
  14. ^ "Nissan HQ construction continues as BellSouth Tower up for sale...", Monterey Herald via Weatherblogg.com, 2006-11-26. Retrieved on 2007-11-30. 
  15. ^ History Of Firsts At NewsChannel 5. NewsChannel5.com (2007-02-12). Retrieved on 2007-11-30.
  16. ^ a b "Nashville Skyscraper Up For Sale", NewsChannel5.com, 2006-12-18. Retrieved on 2007-11-30. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Nashville landmarks
Existing
Former
Preceded by
Fifth Third Center		 Tallest Building in Nashville
1994—Present
192.2 m		 Succeeded by
None