CHAPEL HILL, N.C.–State Employees Credit Union is purchasing the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina’s headquarters building here for $35 million with plans to turn it into a disaster recovery center and a branch.
The building is well known here for its distinct glass construction and rhomboid shape. The 240,000-square-foot, five-story building includes nearly 5,000 panes of reflective glass and rectangular floors that are 90 feet wide and 550 feet long.
The facility is located on a 39-acre parcel that also includes six houses and two vacant parcels of land. SECU said it plans to upgrade and refurbish the building that first opened in 1973. SECU, which claims nearly one-in-five residents of North Carolina as members, has approximately 70,000 members in the Chapel Hill area.
“Our regulators have long encouraged us to construct a new disaster recovery center outside of Raleigh,” said CEO Jim Blaine in a released statement.
Blue Cross has been consolidating its work force in the area, with many of the 900 currently working in the structure being moved to Durham, N.C.