A ceremonial groundbreaking was held this past week, which drew an invitation-only crowd of about 80 to the project site, Bissell's highly regarded Ballantyne Corporate Park. Those attending included the Charlotte Chamber's Jeff Edge, Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, Mecklenburg County Commission Chair Jennifer Roberts, Margaret and (man of the hour) Smoky Bissell, and County Commissioner Neil Cooksey.

Market watcher The CoStar Group characterized the as-yet-unnamed project as the largest spec office development in the nation  and one of only six spec office projects in the Southeast scheduled for completion by year end 2012. Smoky took to the podium to the kind of applause befitting a rock star. He told the crowd the ambitiousness of the project, which Bissell is financing itself, may ?appear contrarian to some.? But demand from prospective tenants has been solid and existing companies are looking for room to expand. Bissell has signed leases totaling more than 850k SF in less than two years, and the existing 3.5M SF of office space in the park is now about 93% occupied. Rodgers Builders is GC and LS3P Associates is project architect.