Bissell Cos. celebrates topping out with workers

The last beam of the Woodward building in Ballantyne Corporate Park was put into place today as workers celebrated with barbeque.

Sticking with tradition, workers and the building's namesakes, James and Martha Woodward, signed the final piece of steel before it was hoisted into place. A cedar tree and an American flag were also placed on top of the white beam.

While common in the United Kingdom, Germany, Czech Republic and Poland, the origins of the topping out ceremony in the United States are obscure, according to Wikipedia. European craftsmen are believed to have brought the tradition with them to the United States.

Wikipedia also says the practice of "topping out" a new building can be traced to the ancient Scandinavian religious practice of placing a tree on the top of a new building to appease the tree-dwelling spirits of their ancestors that had been displaced.

The Bissell Cos. said the Woodward tree represents zero injuries and good luck. The flag symbolizes that the building has been topped out. Bissell says the tree will stay up there for the next several weeks.

The developer also celebrated its topping out with a luncheon at the adjoining Irby Building. Chairman H.C. "Smoky" Bissell also spoke. When the Woodward is finished next year, it will be the office park's tallest building.

The photographs were taken by the Observer's Diedra Laird.

Bissell to celebrate topping out

The Bissell folks are preparing for what might feel routine these days - a topping out celebration for their newest building.

The Bissell Cos. has been on an office-building spree in recent years, despite an economy that has stalled commercial projects or pushed fellow developers into bankruptcy protection.

The developer on Friday plans to be finished with the steel framework for the Woodward Building, a 10-story, 275,000-square-foot office building in Ballantyne Corporate park. The Woodward building is named for former UNC Charlotte Chancellor James Woodward and his wife. Bissell plans to finish it by the end of next year.

The development giant that created the SouthPark and Ballantyne communities has gone against the industry grain, adding buildings and boosting the park’s existing or planned space to more than 4.3 million square feet. Earlier this year, the company broke ground on two new 10-story speculative buildings totaling more than half a million square feet.

In September, the Charlotte City Council voted to voted to rezone 520 acres off Ballantyne Commons Parkway so the park can expand. That rezoning helps Bissell with its plans to add 1 million square feet of office space to the area.

Ballantyne Corporate Park has garnered national attention as the country’s largest speculative commercial project, meaning the office space is being built with no guarantee of future tenants. It also was named the 2010 International Office Park of the Year by the trade group Building Owners and Managers Association.

Bissell has announced or built 10 buildings in the past three years, eight of which are speculative.
There hasn't been much speculative building in recent years because lenders don’t want to make loans for such projects, which are seen as risky in today’s market.

Bissell has paid for its new projects using internal capital, the company says.

Bissell president and CEO Ned Curran has talked about how the new buildings will let Bissell attract corporations seeking larger, contiguous space, something that was lacking in the Charlotte market before the recent recession. Companies are also requiring shorter lead times, developers say.

This year, leasing activity at the office park continued to grow and is on track to end the year up more than 10 percent over 2010, the company says.