"The LEED Gold rating puts the office towers among Charlotte's elite green facilities," says Pam Padgett, vice president of property management with locally based Crescent Resources. The buildings were developed in 2006 by Crescent and Lincoln Harris, also based in Charlotte, and are now owned by Des Moines, IA-based Principal Real Estate Investors.

Crescent's property management team worked over the past 16 months to achieve LEED certification. Dallas-based LORD Green Real Estate Strategies Inc. served as consultant to the buildings, while Houston-based Transwestern provided commissioning services and ensured that all building systems and components were designed, installed, operated and maintained efficiently.

Located on Fairview Road in southeast Charlotte, Piedmont Town Center also includes open-air retail space mixed with stylish residences and structured parking. In addition to the office towers, which include the headquarters of Piedmont Natural Gas, there is 75,000 square feet of retail and 180 luxury living units.