301 South College

In July 1985, Trammell Crow Co. and Norfolk Southern Corp. announced plans for the block between College and Brevard Streets and between 2nd and 3rd Streets. First Union Center, named for its main occupant, would include an {{convert|850,000|sqft|m2}} 34-story granite and glass skyscraperKatherine White, "N.C.-Held Firm Could Erect Obstacle for Downtown Project," The Charlotte Observer, October 3, 1985. called Two First Union Center, which was to be Art Deco and the city's first postmodernist office tower. The project would also include a hotel, two office buildings and a park. Unlike nearby buildings with flat roofs, the JPJ Architects design used a roof where "[t]he top is rounded, a bold arch rising above the setback sections that enliven the principal facade ... this one looks like an old radio".Richard Maschal, "New High-Rise to Reach into History", The Charlotte Observer, July 11, 1985. The first office tower was to start construction in December 1985 and be complete in 1987.

By mid-1986, Two First Union Center had been changed to a 42-story building, to be Charlotte's tallest,Wendy McBane, "College Street Reemerges", The Charlotte Observer, June 14, 1986. and by December, when NCNB and Charter Properties announced an even taller building, First Union's new headquarters was called One First Union Center.M.S. Van Hecke, "$300 Million Complex Will Rise 50 Stories", The Charlotte Observer, December 11, 1986. The $100 million One First Union Center became the city's tallest building on August 21, 1987, with the pouring of concrete for the 41st floor–ending NCNB Plaza's 13-year reign as the tallest building in both Charlotte and the Carolinas.David Perlmutt, "Hitting New Heights: First Union Gets Tall Bragging Rights", The Charlotte Observer, August 21, 1987. When First Union employees began moving into the new building in February 1988, the name Two First Union Center referred to the bank's previous headquarters on Tryon Street.M.S. Van Hecke, "First Union Moving into New Tower,"The Charlotte Observer, February 6, 1988.

As of May 13, 1988, a foundation was in place for the planned hotel, expected to be 19 stories and 250 rooms, but Trammell Crow had not yet submitted plans to the county's building standards department. Omni Hotels was said to be interested in the site.Ron Stodghill II, "3rd St. Likely Omni Hotel Site," The Charlotte Observer, May 14, 1988. On October 18, 1990, the 22-story, 410-room Omni Charlotte held a ribbon cutting, though only eight floors of rooms were ready and fourteen stories had been completed. Omni president Bill Sheehan called it "probably our finest facility".Rob Urban, "Another Set Fire Mars Hotel Opening," The Charlotte Observer, October 19, 1990. In 1996, The Yarmouth Group bought the Omni for $33 million and changed it to a Westin. In 1998, Hilton Hotels bought the hotel for about twice that much.Doug Smith, "Back Uptown: Omni to Buy Radisson," The Charlotte Observer, December 9, 1998. The hotel is now Hilton Charlotte Center City.

After First Union's purchase of Wachovia in 2001, and subsequent adoption of Wachovia's name in 2002, One First Union's name changed to One Wachovia Center.{{cite news | last = Tannenbaum | first = Fred | title = Wachovia Renames Charlotte's First Union Buildings | work = Charlotte Business Journal | date = 2002-01-18 | url = http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2002/01/14/daily52.html | access-date = 2009-02-05}}

File:One Wells Fargo Center, Three Wells Fargo Center.jpg (left) and One Wells Fargo Center (back) as seen from the Mint Museum courtyard steps.]]

In 2007, Wachovia announced that it would be moving its headquarters to the new Wachovia Corporate Center, scheduled for completion in 2010.{{cite news | title = Wachovia to move top execs to new building | work = Charlotte Business Journal | publisher = American City Business Journals, Inc. | date = 2007-08-21 | url = http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2007/08/27/daily53.html | access-date = 2008-03-09}} After Wells Fargo announced its purchase of Wachovia in 2008, Duke Energy announced plans to take more space in the new building. In February 2009, Duke announced it would occupy the Duke Energy Center, formerly the Wachovia Corporate Center, as its corporate headquarters.{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2009/02/23/daily43.html?page=all|title=Duke moves HQs to Wachovia tower|last=Downey|first=John|work=Charlotte Business Journal|date=2009-02-26|access-date=2014-03-19}}

In December 2010, the building was renamed to One Wells Fargo Center.{{cite news|url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/12/14/1910624/wells-fargo-changing-names-of.html|title=Wells Fargo changing names of uptown towers|last=Rothacker|first=Rick|work=The Charlotte Observer|date=2010-12-14|access-date=2010-12-21}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} It houses the Wells Fargo East Coast Division. On June 14, 2012, Azrieli Group Ltd. of Israel announced it was buying the building for $245 million.Andrew Dunn, "Israeli group to buy One Wells Fargo in $245 million deal," The Charlotte Observer, June 15, 2012.

Although Wells Fargo is the largest tenant, with {{convert|686,834|sqft|m2}}, or 70 percent of the space, and the namesake of the building, it is occupied by several large North Carolina businesses and national law firms.{{cite web | title = One First Union Center | work = Civil Engineering Trails | publisher = American Society of Civil Engineers | url = http://sections.asce.org/n_carolina/CE%20Trails/web_pages/1STUnion.htm | access-date = 2008-03-09}}{{cite web | title = Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice Charlotte Office Detail | publisher = Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice | url = http://www.wcsr.com/default.asp?id=109&objId=1 | access-date = 2008-03-09 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080206105056/http://www.wcsr.com/default.asp?id=109&objId=1 |archive-date = 2008-02-06}} Wells Fargo Center also includes Two Wells Fargo Center, Three Wells Fargo Center, the Hilton hotel, and a 58 unit condominium complex.

In November 2012 it was announced that 1,500 Wells Fargo Securities employees would be relocated from the building to 550 South Tryon into a new {{convert|300,000|sqft|m2}} space. This space in 550 South Tryon was originally intended to be a trading floor when 550 South Tryon was planned to be the new headquarters of Wachovia Corp. before the company was purchased by Wells Fargo.{{cite news | url=https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/bank_notes/2012/11/wells-fargo-securities-moving-into.html|

title=Wells Fargo Securities moving into new, larger Charlotte home | first1=Adam | last1=O'Daniel

|work=Charlotte Business Journal | date=29 November 2012 |access-date=3 October 2022}}

Starwood Capital Group of Greenwich, Connecticut and Vision Properties of Mountain Lakes, New Jersey announced plans to buy the building in February 2013. The $245 million deal closed in April.{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/real_estate/2013/04/starwood-capital-and-vision-equities.html|title=Starwood, Vision Equities buy One Wells Fargo for $245 million|last=Boye|first=Will|work=Charlotte Business Journal|date=2013-04-16|access-date=2013-04-18}} The building was sold again in March 2016 for $284 million.{{cite news|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/real_estate/2016/03/one-wells-fargo-center-sold-for-284-million.html|title=One Wells Fargo Center sold for $284 million|date=March 29, 2016|last=Fahey|first=Ashley|work=Charlotte Business Journal}}

Wells Fargo announced it would exit its lease of the building at the end of 2021. Currently it was the largest tenant with {{convert|500,000|sqft|m2}}. The company has been consolidating its Charlotte footprint with leasing the entire 300 South Brevard building,{{cite news|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2020/07/15/whats-next-for-uptowns-jukebox-building.html|

title=RENDERINGS: Uptown tower to undergo overhaul as Wells Fargo set to leave big vacancy|first1=Ashley|last1=Fahey|work=Charlotte Business Journal|date=15 July 2020|access-date=5 June 2021}} expanding their employee space at the Duke Energy Center following Duke's departure,{{cite news|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2021/05/17/duke-energy-hq-building-construction.html?ana=e_clt_bn_breakingnews_breakingnews&j=90560313&t=Breaking%20News&mkt_tok=NjczLVVXWS0yMjkAAAF9Go0r0z7Z7k7vB_8aBIzmCYSPjVpB0exneRpcedgNpfRxUEzKwrdM7kxSbuo-JLviaTsq_DJBTTKeTGcjp6Mzq5qvhCPiOQr9SxT5R3YZbP__abmENQ|title=Duke Energy to exit current HQ building in uptown after company's new tower delivers |first=Ashley |last=Fahey |work=Charlotte Business Journal |date=2021-05-17 |access-date=2021-05-17 }} and relocating additional employees in Three Wells Fargo Center. Wells Fargo's departure will leave several large blocks of continuous space available which will include {{convert|224,776|sqft|m2}} on floors 7 to 14, {{convert|148,469|sqft|m2}} on 15 to 21, {{convert|59,132|sqft|m2}} on 30 to 32 and {{convert|47,403|sqft|m2}} on the top floors, 40 to 42.

In February 2022 it was announced that Cushman & Wakefield will be handling leasing for the building. The building's landlord, Vision Properties, is almost finished with their $10 million renovations of the building. The renovations include improving the building's lobby, improvements to the outdoor plaza, and converting the top two floors into an amenity center. At the time of the announcement the building had a vacancy of {{convert|400,000|sqft|m2}}.{{cite news| url=https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2022/02/14/cushman-wakefield-one-wells-fargo-center-leasing.html|

title=Cushman & Wakefield takes over leasing at One Wells Fargo Center as renovations near end | first1=Collin|last1=Huguley

|work=Charlotte Business Journal|date=14 February 2022|access-date=3 October 2022}}

In October 2023 the building's owner Vision Properties defaulted on their $157 million loan. At that time the building was 52% occupied.{{cite news|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2023/10/23/one-wells-fargo-office-loan-receivership.html|title=Uptown's One Wells Fargo goes into receivership after default on $157M loan|last=Franco|first=Elie|work=Charlotte Business Journal|date=23 October 2023|access-date=15 April 2025}} In April 2025 Foundry Commercial took over the building leasing, the firm was hired by Childress Klein, the court appointed receiver. At that time the building was 47% occupied with {{convert|525,000|sqft|m2}} space available.

• List of tallest buildings in Charlotte
• List of tallest buildings in North Carolina
• Two Wells Fargo Center
• Three Wells Fargo Center

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{{Charlotte skyscrapers}}

Category:Skyscraper office buildings in Charlotte, North Carolina

Category:Office buildings completed in 1988

Category:Bank company headquarters in the United States

Category:Wells Fargo buildings

Category:Skyscrapers in Charlotte, North Carolina

Category:Uptown Charlotte