CARY, NC-To save on real-estate costs, the area's largest corporate employer is moving from 180,000 sf in Weston One, a 220,000-sf building in Weston Business Park and 141,000 sf in Research Triangle Park. The workers will be housed in nearby offices IBM either owns or leases. Cary and Research Triangle Park are 200 miles northeast of Downtown Charlotte.

HICKORY, NC-Hickory Metro Partners Inc. is putting up a $7-million structure here on Lenoir-Rhyne Boulevard, just off Interstate 40 and about 50 miles northwest of Downtown Charlotte.

CHARLOTTE-The locally-based, 50-person firm is concentrating on multifamily development here and in the Research Triangle. An 80,250-sf building went for $3.15 million. The second 60,180-sf, two-building structure sold for $4.65 million.

RALEIGH, NC-The deal ranks among the largest national office property transactions this year, according to locally-based Highwoods Properties Inc. The REIT is contributing $7.5 million of developable land to one of the ventures. GE Capital Real Estate will be funding up to $276 million for the various projects.

CHARLESTON, WV-The 380-acre park had been promoted as a dynamic addition to Kanawha Valley's economic development efforts and appeared to be off to a good start with three tenants in 1991. Part of the problem is that it's too far from Interstate interchanges.

CHARLOTTE-The Illinois owners are building a 112,000-sf addition to an existing 80,000-sf structure that will be completed in April. A 220,000-sf second expansion will follow, depending on pre-leasing activity.

CHARLESTON, SC-Bridgeside Co. paid $3.5 million or $1.66 million per acre ($38.26 per sf) for a prime 2.1-acre parcel near Patriot's Point. The four-story, 120,260-sf Bridgeside Center project, planned on the site, is 180 miles south of Downtown Charlotte.

CHARLOTTE-Capitalizing on the local labor pool, the local division of Palo Alto, CA-based Electric Power Research Institute plans to break ground in the first quarter on an addition to its 102,000-sf building from where it has operated for the past 20 years.