FARGO — Bell Bank’s $100 million investment in downtown Fargo is rapidly nearing the time it starts paying dividends. It’s been a three-year process to get to this point, but the new Bell Tower corporate headquarters at 520 Main Ave. makes a powerful statement: We’re here, and we’re here for the long haul.
“It’s been quite a process, but we’re excited,” Chief Operating Officer Laine Brantner said. “We couldn’t be more thrilled.” Construction workers are swarming the site to get work done as plans call for Bell Bank employees to start moving into the 14-story tower and the expansive four-story addition facing Island Park by the third week of June.
By July, the majority of the 300 full-time branch bank and headquarters employees that will call the complex their work home should be moved in, said Brantner, as he led a media tour through the buildings Wednesday, May 29. With another 200 employees remaining at the bank’s offices at 15 Broadway, that will mean 500 of Bell Bank’s 900 employees in the Fargo-Moorhead area will be concentrated downtown, Brantner said. Bell Bank has more than 2,000 employees around the U.
S. and $13 billion in assets. The 105,000-square-foot tower was purchased in June 2021.
Demolition began in February 2022, and the 1973-vintage building was gutted, with all of the electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems eventually replaced. Floor-to-ceiling windows were installed throughout, filling much of the interior with natural light. Out.