Ballantyne's day.

• Position: CHARLOTTE REGION

The largest building to date in Ballantyne Corporate Park is breaking ground without a tenant lined up to fill its space, which is business as usual for developer Bissell Companies in what's arguably Charlotte's tightest office market. The 10-story Brigham building, spanning more than 287,000 square feet, is a bet on the future prospects of the business park started in 1996. It's the type of wager Bissell has consistently made at the 535-acre park on Charlotte's southern edge, and almost always come out ahead. Bissell began construction on twin buildings in the park two years before MetLife announced in 2013 it would fill them with 1,500 workers.

More than 300 companies occupy more than 4 million square feet in Ballantyne, including the headquarters of Premier, Snyder's-Lance and SPX. As the latest project gets underway, Ballantyne remains a draw for major corporations looking for a new home. The new building will also be attractive to businesses in Charlotte looking for more space, says Ned Curran, CEO of the company owned by veteran Charlotte developer H.C. "Smoky" Bissell's family. "It just feels like demand is fairly strong," says Curran, who doesn't worry about prospects of a national...