AT&T Building (Nashville)

AT&T Building
View of the AT&T Building
General information
Type	Offices
Architectural style	Postmodern
Location	333 Commerce Street Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Coordinates
Construction started	1991
Completed	1994
Owner	Pitney Bowes(1994–2006) Cerberus Capital Management(2006–2007) MTL Leasing(2007-present)
Height
Antenna spire	617 ft (188.1 m)
Technical details
Floor count	33
Floor area	690,297 sq ft (64,131 m2) office area >1,000,000 sq ft (93,000 m2) total area
Design and construction
Architect	Earl Swensson Associates
Developer	The Mathews Company
Structural engineer	Stanley D. Lindsey and Assoc.
Services engineer	I. C. Thomasson Assoc.
Main contractor	Brasfield & Gorrie Ray Bell Construction

The AT&T Building (formerly the South Central Bell Building and BellSouth Building, colloquially known as the Batman Building) is a 617 ft (188 m), 33-story skyscraper completed in August 1994 and located in Nashville, Tennessee. The structure is designed as an office tower capable of housing 2,000 workers. It is currently the tallest building in the state of Tennessee.

Architecture and design

Top floors of the AT&T Building

The building sits on 2.7 acres (11,000 m²) of property on Commerce St between 3rd and 4th Avenues North, and has a footprint of 1⅔ city blocks. It features a three-story winter garden atrium as its foyer and has a nine-story underground parking garage with 1,300 vehicle capacity. Its distinctive design and dark coloration have earned it the nickname "Batman Building", due to its resemblance to the mask of superhero character Batman.

Richard Miller, the president of architectural firm Earl Swensson Associates, said of the design process: "...at the time we did that they [South Central Bell] wanted a signature piece of architecture. What happens inside the building drives the way the outside looks."

In August 2009, French online business journal Le Journal du Net named the iconic "Batman Building", or as the article names it "La Bat Tower", one of the 12 most original office buildings in the world.

The Melbourne Central Shopping Centre in Melbourne, Australia has a similar design.

In 2011, a drawing of the AT&T Building – alongside images of iconic structures from Tennessee's three other large cities (the Memphis Pyramid, Knoxville's Sunsphere, and the Tennessee Aquarium of Chattanooga) – was incorporated into the standard design of Tennessee's state-issued driver's licenses.

Tenants

AT&T Inc., previously BellSouth Telecommunications and before that South Central Bell, has operated its Tennessee headquarters out of the building since it was opened in 1994. Prior to 2006, it was the sole occupant of the building, and now occupies approximately 500,000 sq ft (46,000 m²) of office space. AT&T holds a 23.5 year lease which ends January 2020. Nissan North America operated a temporary headquarters in the remainder of office area, twelve floors, for two years before relocating to a permanent location in Franklin, Tennessee in mid-2008.

Local television station WTVF Channel 5, while not utilizing office space, operates two live remotely controlled video cameras mounted on the western spire, which were established in 1995 and 1996. These cameras are used to provide scenic views of Nashville and assist in covering news events.

Ownership

After completion in 1994, the AT&T Building was purchased by Prefco XIV L.P., a limited partnership of the Pitney Bowes Real Estate Financing Corp, for US$100.8 million. Ownership of the building was transferred to Cerberus Capital Management subsidiary EntreCap Financial in July 2006 after Cerberus acquired Prefco. The building was immediately placed back on the market for resell, and in mid-2007 was sold to MTL Leasing LLC for an undisclosed sum.

See also

• List of tallest buildings in Nashville
• List of tallest buildings by U.S. state

External links

• AT&T Building at Glass, Steel, and Stone
• AT&T Building at Emporis

Preceded by Fifth Third Center

Tallest Building in Nashville 1994—Present 192.2 m

Succeeded by None