Red Hat Subleases Headquarters Space from Progress Energy

by Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

Red Hat plans to move its headquarters from North Carolina State University to a new 19-story, 365,000-square-foot,  hi-rise downtown. Red Hat will be subleasing the space from Progress Energy.

The lease contract amounts to about $86.68 million, not including concessions, over the next 23 years., the Triangle Business Journal reports.

The new building, Red Hat Tower, is situated at the corner of Wilmington and Davie streets. Company CFO Charlie Peters told Triangle Business Journal that the move would start this summer and should be completed by next year.

The Raleigh-based technology company will be vacating 191,000-square-feet of space in two office buildings on N. C. State’s Centennial Campus. According to its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company’s annual rental rate is about $1.7 million for the 1801 Varsity Drive building and around $1.8 million for the Venture Center III building.

In other news, the NewsObserver reports that a high-rise apartment building has been added to plans for the Edison development in downtown Raleigh. The 320-unit building will be located at the corner of Blount, Davis, Wilmington and Martin streets and will be 20 to 22 stories high.

Edison Land LLC Project Manager Gregg Sandreuter discussed the features of the proposed condominium tower at a City Council budget and economic development meeting. Sandreuter expects to submit a site plan in the next two or three months.

In the mid-2000s, the original Edison plan proposed the development of four towers, but the project has been scaled back due to the recession. On the southern portion, a six-story mix of residential and retail space will replace the initially proposed 24-story office tower. Construction on the initial phase is expected to break ground in October 2013, with completion scheduled for March 2015.