VIDEO: Workers 'top out' new Bridgestone HQ

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Construction crews working on Bridgestone Americas Inc.'s 30-floor corporate headquarters in Nashville "topped out" the structure April 7, putting the $200 million project on schedule to be occupied by year-end.

Bridgestone also disclosed the structure, being built in downtown Nashville — just blocks from Bridgestone Arena and the County Music Hall of Fame — will be called "Bridgestone Tower," a named selected by the company's employees.

"Reaching the top of this skyline-changing structure is a critical milestone for the construction team," said David Gordon, division manager of Brasfield & Gorrie, the project's general contractor. "The hard work and dedication of the men and women on this team are reflected in the progress we've made, and we look forward to delivering the project later this year."

By year-end, Bridgestone expects to have more than 1,700 employees housed in the tower, including many who are relocating to Nashville from the Chicago and Indianapolis metro areas. The staff will represent Bridgestone Americas corporate and four core business units: Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations; Bridgestone Retail Operations; Firestone Building Products; and Firestone Industrial Products.

"We are proud to invest in Music City, our home for the past 25 years and now for many more years to come," said Gordon Knapp, CEO and president of Bridgestone Americas, who lauded the work done by the projects collaborators — Highwoods Properties, commercial real estate; Perkins+Will, architects; and Brassfield & Gorrie.

Bridgestone said it expects the building to be LEED-certified at the Gold level. Bridgestone Tower will further strengthen the thriving SoBro district with its neighbors the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Schermerhorn Symphony and the Bridgestone Arena.

At the same time, Bridgestone is working to complete the transformation of a second commercial property, in suburban Antioch, Tenn., into what will become Bridgestone Operations Center, office space to house additional staff.

"With Bridgestone Tower and Antioch that opens this summer, we're proud of the economic impact our new facilities will have on Music City, but we're most excited to have our business units and teammates together in the same metro area," Mr. Knapp added.

Perkins+Will Associate Principal Don Reynolds said Bridgestone Tower's all-glass facade organized in a series of four dynamic planes will make it a "signature building on the Nashville skyline.

It is designed to provide employees with a sustainable, resilient, flexible and highly collaborative and productive workplace."