Wake Forest to Move Charlotte Campus to Downtown

Uptown Charlotte will soon become the new home of the Wake Forest University Schools of Business campus.

Wake Forest has signed a lease with Bank of America Corp. for space in the former International Trade Center building at 200 North College St. The building will be renamed the Wake Forest University Charlotte Center and house all current and future Wake Forest Charlotte executive education programs, including its nationally ranked Evening and Saturday MBA degree programs specifically designed for busy working professionals who want to continue working while earning their MBA degree.

Moving the Charlotte campus to the new location will provide convenience to the busy working professionals enrolled in our programs, to our alumni, and to the entire business community who will be able to participate in networking and speaker events being planned in the new facility.

“Our students, faculty and alumni are the thought leaders of Charlotte. It’s only fitting that we move to the center of this vibrant business community,” said Wake Forest Dean of Business, Steve Reinemund.

“Great downtowns are vital places of commerce, hospitality, governance and academia.” said Michael Smith, the president and CEO of Charlotte Center City Partners. “We welcome Wake Forest University to Uptown Charlotte with anticipation of the many contributions they will make to our talented workforce and our community. In Center City, they will enjoy our highest concentration of professionals and the best access to our region.”

The move also raises the visibility of Wake Forest in the city which its largest concentration of alumni calls home. More than 6,000 Wake Forest graduates live in the Charlotte area. The new location will provide much needed space for alumni to gather, network and mentor current students.    

The Wake Forest Charlotte campus is currently located in the Morrocroft Centre in the SouthPark neighborhood.   The campus opened in 1995 with 30 students in one MBA program. Today, there are two Charlotte-based MBA programs with a total of 180 students. The Wake Forest program is the top ranked program of its kind in North Carolina and is ranked in the top 10% nationally by US News and World Report.

Rob Hinton and Eric Parris with Jones Lang LaSalle and Chris Swart of Lincoln Harris were responsible for making the deal happen. Wake Forest plans for Charlotte area MBA students to have their first classes in the new location in January of 2012.