NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Bridgestone Americas Inc. has broken ground in downtown Nashville on a 30-story office building that will become its headquarters when it opens in mid- to late 2017.
The structure, valued at more than $200 million, will be home to more than 1,700 employees, Bridgestone said, including 600 in jobs currently located at subsidiary units in Indianapolis and suburban Chicago.
Bridgestone Americas CEO and President Gary Garfield called this an “historic day” for the company as well as for Nashville and Tennessee.
“We proudly call Nashville home and are very eager to welcome our teammates from out-of-state as soon as possible,” he said. “The leadership and support of the state and city are to be applauded for reaching this groundbreaking milestone. It marks the next step in our journey to shape tomorrow together.”
Joining Mr. Garfield at the groundbreaking were Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam; Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty; Nashville Mayor Karl Dean; Highwoods Properties President and CEO Ed Fritsch; and Bridgestone executives and team representatives from the employee units to be relocated to Nashville.
In his prepared remarks, Mr. Haslam said he looks forward to working with Bridgestone “to make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs.”
The 514,000-sq.-ft. structure is being built in Nashville's Sobro neighborhood, one of eight downtown Nashville neighborhoods. It encompasses eight city blocks and includes the Music City Center convention center.
The new headquarters will be home to Bridgestone Americas' corporate staff and supporting functions, The jobs to be relocated to Nashville are at Bridgestone Retail Operations L.L.C. in Bloomingdale, Ill., and Firestone Building Products Co. L.L.C. and Firestone Industrial Products Co. L.L.C. in Indianapolis.
Highwoods Properties Inc., which is developing the property, has retained Chicago-based architecture firm Perkins + Will Inc. to design the new facility, including the interior. These design elements are expected to be LEED-certified at the Gold level and reflect best practices in workplace space design, Bridgestone said.
The tire maker will move to the new headquarters from its leased facility near Nashville International Airport, where its lease is expiring in late 2017.