TD Puts Final Touches on $17M Remodeling Job in South Carolina

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When TD Bank bought South Financial Group in October 2010, it got more than branch offices, deposits and loans. It also received a huge, high-profile office campus.

TD Bank has spent $17 million to renovate the 300,000-square-foot campus, to repurpose it as a call center and for other business divisions. Now, the 67-acre campus, which sits in a very visible spot along Interstate 85 in the booming city of Greenville, S.C., is ready to reopen.

TD Bank has made significant upgrades, installing energy-efficient features throughout much of the facility, giving the buildings Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Other upgrades are more decorative — a huge sign with the TD Bank logo looms next to the bustling I-85 corridor, sitting in front of a lake with fountains.

The campus currently houses about 650 employees and TD Bank plans to hire up to 1,400 people by 2014, according to company spokeswoman Judy Rusk. In addition to the call center, the Greenville campus houses other divisions, including small business lending and operations, bank operations, technology and training.

South Financial, which had $12 billion of assets, owned Carolina First Bank, which had offices in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. South Financial had been struggling with problem real estate loans, primarily in Florida. South Financial did not fail, but the Treasury Department gave TD Bank's parent company, Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), a discount on its Troubled Asset Relief Program-related holdings to foster the deal. South Financial had been operating under an enforcement order and had posted two straight years of losses.

TD Bank had previously disclosed its plan to add jobs in South Carolina, as it makes the state a hub for its Southeastern U.S. operations. TD Bank has 81 branch offices in South Carolina, holding a total of $3.5 billion in deposits, making it the fifth-largest bank in the state, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

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