Raleigh in running to land financial services company

Raleigh appears to be one of the cities in the running to land a major financial services company that is considering relocating.
In recent months a search team representing a company that could bring as many 1,000 jobs and eventually occupy 200,000 square feet of office space has made several visits to Raleigh.
The visits have been shrouded in secrecy, with the entire operation being dubbed "Project Cardinal," according to several real estate brokers. Those brokers say the mystery company is believed to be the Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae, currently based in Washington D.C.
Fannie Mae, which buys loans from banks and sells them to investors, has received billions in taxpayer money since late last year. The company has about 5,800 employees with the large majority based at its headquarters in D.C. It also has a substantial presence in Dallas.
Brian Faith, a spokesman for Fannie Mae, said today that the company has no intention of moving its headquarters.
"I had heard that some people are saying that we're moving the whole company to Raleigh but that isn't the case," he said. "In terms of other staffing decisions and whatnot I'm not at liberty to comment right now."
Raleigh's main competition appears to be Nashville.
The search team has identified two potential sites in Raleigh: The CapTrust Tower at North Hills and the Highwoods Office Park, located just a few exits east along the Beltline at Atlantic Avenue.
The 300,000-square-foot CapTrust Tower is a joint project between Duke Realty and Kane Realty. It opened last month and currently has about 200,000 square feet available.
John Kane, president of Kane Realty, said today that he'd met with representatives of a company that has made several visits to Raleigh. But he said a confidentiality agreement prevented him from saying more.
Last month, CB Richard Ellis delayed its scheduled move into the CapTrust Tower until the outcome of Project Cardinal is determined. CB Richard Ellis has a lease to occupy 10,000 square feet in the building.
Highwoods had about 115,000 square feet available in Highwoods Towers I & II at the end of the third quarter.
Ed Fritsch, CEO of Highwoods, mentioned Project Cardinal and another possible Raleigh deal on a conference call with analysts on Oct. 29.
"... a lot of money and elbow grease has been invested both by us and some of our peer competitors here in this market as there have been two unidentified prospects that have come in, one looking for 100 to grow to 200, and the other looking for a 300,000 square foot built-to-suit," Fritsch said on the call.
Fritsch went on to say that the smaller prospect was believed to be a financial services firm. There has been speculation that the larger prospect could be Radio-Shack, currently based in Fort Worth, Texas.
As for Project Cardinal, there is a significant difference in the asking rental rates at the two Raleigh properties being considered. Highwoods Towers I & II have asking rates of $20.50 and $22.50, respectively, according to Highwoods third quarter market survey. The CapTrust Tower is asking $31.50, according to the same survey.
If the mystery company is indeed Fannie Mae, the company would be coming from the Washington D.C. area and would likely register considerable savings on rent no matter where they moved in Raleigh.
And Fritsch noted in the October conference call that there's a chance all this excitement will come to nothing.
"Both of them are looking at multi-markets, so we may end up just being a stocking horse for their existing landlord," Fritsch said.