$811 million.

• Position: Western

Western Carolini University will open its Health and Human Sciences Building this tall, making it the first structure in the school's Millennial Initiative, which hopes to stimulate a public/private economic development similar to that of N.C. State University's Centennial Campus. The initiative was announced in 2005, when the school bought 344 acres adjacent to the main Cullowhee Campus. Construction started in 2009 and cost the state $46 million. Though private development near the building was stalled by the recession, school officials say interest has returned.

Western Carolina has designated 35 acres for private or public developments around the building, but that could he expanded to 60 acres. The school is hoping to attract development that can be tied to academia and the healthcare industry, such as clinics and doctors' offices.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The building, which is 160,000 square feet, will feature a clinic, seminar rooms, au auditorium, faculty offices, 21 labs and 11 classrooms, as well as a rooftop garden and a multistory atrium. Western Carolina is also discussing leasing interior space to a health-related business.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

New investment in Rutherford County in 2011, most in the state, says the N.C. Department of Commerce. Most came from Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook Inc.'s data center, near Forest...