The space race.

• Author: Speizer, Irwin
• Position: Includes related article on new construction projects in other areas of the state - Construction activity in the downtown area of Charlotte, North Carolina - Industry Overview

Downtown Charlotte blasts off as two big banks try to keep pace with their growth - and each other.

If downtown Charlotte has been the center of construction activity in North Carolina this decade, the state's master builder has been Hugh McColl, who has not only built the nation's biggest bank but seen it erect an estimated $1 billion of office buildings, condominiums and cultural projects on the north side of the central business district. By keeping its contractors hustling, BankAmerica Corp. made Charlotte one of the nation's hottest downtown developments.

Now the action shifts south of Trade Street, the domain of arch-rival Ed Crutchfield, who could play the same role in the next decade that McColl did in the last. First Union Corp. has one high-rise under way - a 30-story office tower and plaza that cover about half a block near its headquarters. But it's what the bank might build next that's got the city, as well as the construction industry across North Carolina, talking.

First Union is working on a design for another office tower that would stretch at least 10 stories above BankAmerica's 60-story headquarters. The bank won't confirm it, but the local business journal reported First Union is considering an 80-story building, topped by a 20-story crown that would make it among the three-largest towers in the nation. And that could be just part of an even grander scheme.

Last year, First Union hired urban planner Alexander Cooper to devise a master plan for 30 blocks - nearly half of downtown south of Trade Street. First Union and BankAmerica combined don't have the financial muscle to control that much property. But First Union could develop key portions while using the plan as a catalyst to get others to build there.

Cooper, a New Yorker, tends to work on big projects that include not just offices but retail, residential and public space. One of his most famous plans was for Battery Park, transforming 92 acres of old docks and warehouses below the financial district on Manhattan's southern edge into apartments, shops and offices. "You don't hire Alexander Cooper to just do a plaza or a building," says Robert Walsh, president of Charlotte Center City Partners, the downtown-development organization. "I would suspect when an announcement is made, whether it involves one building or a series of buildings, it is going to be a pretty powerful statement that has greater ramifications than just a large building."

The bank has been stingy...