John Holder,CEO,Holder Properties, speaks to the audience of 300 future building occupants. The chief executive officers of Edens & Avant, The McNair Law Firm, and NBSC gathered with developer John Holder before 300 future fellow building occupants for lunch and ceremonial shoveling at noon Tuesday, June 17, on the site of the new office tower on the west side of Main Street between Lady and Gervais. Columbians may remember the site in the middle of the block as where the Carolina Theater showed movies.

Holder read some of the building's attributes and some of the construction activities. The following is a direct copy of his notes:

• State- of- the- art signature tower, fully occupied by tenants and investment partners (Edens & Avant, McNair, NBSC)

• 17 floors

• 400,000 square feet

• Two- story lobby space - management office, security station, NBSC branch, fitness center for tenants, upscale restaurant with outdoor dining, mail room, and loading dock

• Six levels of parking; nine floors of office space (three floors per tenant; NBSC also has a branch in lobby)

Joe Edens, Founder, Edens & Avant • Upgrading the 1/2- acre existing park with new trees, paths, and benches

• Starting construction July 7

• Will drill 272 piles at 85' long

• Pouring 18,000 CY concrete; equates to over 2,000 truckloads

• Installing over 100,000 square feet of glass

• Construction will be completed in 18 months

• Move- in date for the first tenant (Edens & Avant) is late December 2009; NBSC to move in spring 2010; McNair to move in summer 2010.

Terry Brown, CEO, Edens & Avant;William Youngblood, CEO, The McNair Law Firm; Chuck Garnett, CEO, NBSC Architects Scott Shell (top) and Jeffrey Paine designed the new tower.Their Durham, N.C. - based firm, duda/paine architects LLP, also designed First Citizens. Proposed new office tower next to NBSC on Lady and Capitol Place on Gervais