Lowes will be investing $153 million into the building as a tech hub for 2,000 employees. 400 jobs will be transferred from the company's headquarters in Mooresville, the remaining 1,600 employees will be new hires. The state has offered Lowes $54.1 million of incentives for the development of 1,600 new jobs. The state also be awarding Lowe's a $2 million grant from its North Carolina One Fund. Lowe's also considered Dallas for the expansion. Ultimately Charlotte was chosen owing to its proximity to the company's headquarters in
Mooresville, North Carolina and the appeal of South End to the millennial population. The generation enjoys living in denser urban areas with access to the light rail, scooters, and an area that is easily walkable. Lowe's recently stated their target move-in is the summer of 2022. The hiring numbers for the 1,600 new positions Lowe's officially began to occupy the building in August 2022 with 1,000 employees initially working in the building. The hiring process for the 2,000 employees is ongoing as of August 2022. Lowe's has not set a date for when all 2,000 employees will occupy the building. The design of the office space was intended to encourage collaboration. Some of the specific elements that encourage collaboration are pods featuring sit/stand desks, tables for team huddles, and plenty of whiteboards. The large number of windows on each floor flood the space with natural light and provide inspiring skyline views of Uptown. The building has an innovation lab that provides in-house team focus on emerging technologies that allow for demos of new ways to transform how people work, live, and shop at Lowe's. The two-level auditorium with 168 can be used to host town and tech talks. Other employee amenities include social spaces, cafes, four quiet rooms, and two massage chairs. Many different tenants occupy the of ground floor retail. The other ground floor retail tenants are Brown Bag Seafood Co., a fast-casual seafood chain and Allbirds, a sustainability focused shoe company, occupying . In September 2022 retailer Outdoor Voices began leasing of ground floor retail. Outdoor Voices is an athletic apparel store selling items such as sweatpants, leggings, and men's activewear. It is a competitor to other chains with locations in
South End such as Lululemon, Anthropologie, Warby Parker, Cava, Barry's and Free People. ==See also==