Editor's Note: This piece was originally published July 18 on the Charlotte Business Journal, and is republished here with permission. To see additional pictures from the expansion, click here.
Charlotte-based AvidXchange Inc. will break ground in the fourth quarter on its second headquarters building, a $41 million investment that will help accommodate its growing workforce.
A second 201,000-square-foot building will be developed at the AvidXchange Music Factory campus just north of uptown, company executives announced at a press conference Thursday morning at AvidXchange's headquarters.
It will mirror AvidXchange's current headquarters building at the Music Factory. The sister facilities will be connected by a coffee shop, bistro-style restaurant and a 10,000-square-foot rooftop area.
"The expansion of our headquarters signifies more than being a rapidly growing fintech company. It represents the mark Charlotte is making as a center for innovation for other growing technology-focused companies," Chief Executive Officer Mike Praeger said in a statement.
The new building will house customer experience and career and talent development centers. Amenities will include basketball and volleyball courts, a fitness center, private meeting rooms and conference areas.
AvidXchange plans to invest in its expansion over five years, with plans to add more than 1,220 jobs here during that timeframe. Average salary for the new jobs will be $68,569. Before landing on Charlotte late last year, AvidXchange considered adding those jobs in Kansas City, Kan.; Oklahoma City and The Woodlands, Texas.
In December, the state approved $19.6 million in incentives for the project. AvidXchange will also receive a combined $3.3 million in incentives from the city and county, along with $1.7 million from the N.C. Community College System.
“We are committed to creating new employment opportunities for those who call Charlotte home, and investments like this expansion are helping bring that to life," Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said in a statement.
AvidXchange broke ground on its first 200,000-square-foot building off of Hamilton Street in 2015. Construction was completed in June 2017.
The company previously housed employees at a 60,000-square-foot office in the Music Factory as well as, separately, a 25,000-square-foot space beneath The Fillmore concert hall. AvidXchange purchased naming rights in 2016 at the Music Factory, the mixed-use development where the company has planted its headquarters that also includes an amphitheater, bars, restaurants, comedy and concert venues, and apartments.
AvidXchange struck an earlier incentives deal in 2015, when the company pledged to invest at least $21.4 million and hire almost 500 people by the end of 2018. That qualified it for up to $10 million worth of incentives over a 12-year period. Praeger previously said the company had surpassed that goal. AvidXchange today employs roughly 1,000 in Charlotte.
As part of the 2015 agreement, AvidXchange was also promised a maximum of $7.5 million from the grants, with another $2.5 million set aside for economically distressed areas, as part of a state campaign to encourage more investment in struggling counties.
The company opened a second headquarters in Sandy, Utah, in mid-2018 that includes a $35 million, 30,000-square-foot operations center.
AvidXchange also announced this morning a partnership with Bellevue, Washington-based SAP Concur, a software-as-a-service firm. The partnership gives Concur Invoice customers access to the AvidPay Network and AvidXchange Supplier Services.
“By building this relationship with AvidXchange, we’re allowing businesses who already trust our technology to tap into the AvidPay Network, creating additional value from their existing SAP Concur solutions,” said Ben Brewer, general manager of global small and medium-sized business at SAP Concur, in a statement.
Brasfield & Gorrie is the general contractor on the headquarters project. LS3P Associates is the architect. JLL brokered the transaction.
