Bank of America plans to vacate all 13 floors it occupies in a Charlotte, North Carolina, office tower with more than a year left on its lease in the latest case of a company in the financial services hub city scaling back on real estate.

The nation's second-largest bank will move out of Fifth Third Center at 201 N. Tryon St. at an undetermined date before its lease expires in July 2025, according to landlord Cousins Properties. Cousins plans to renovate the space to try to attract a new tenant.

Bank of America occupies 316,751 square feet at the property, located across the street from its global headquarters at 100 N. Tryon St. Bank of America didn't respond to CoStar News' multiple email requests over two days to comment.

“Charlotte's largest employers, particularly in the financial services industry, have been consolidating much of their real estate footprints, and that has often involved shedding leased space for owner-occupied space," said Chuck McShane, senior director of market analytics at CoStar Group. Duke Energy, Wells Fargo and Ally Financial have all consolidated office space in Charlotte over the past three years, McShane said.

Cities with large office holdings from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles have struggled with fewer employees coming into workplaces, leading more companies to sublease space and reduce foot traffic for surrounding businesses like restaurants and dry cleaners that had done well before the pandemic.

Bank of America told Cousins executives that it was considering leaving Fifth Third Center because it prefers to assign its Charlotte-based corporate employees to office buildings that it owns “where possible,” said Richard Hickson, Cousins executive vice president of operations, during an earnings conference call last month.

The bank already has a large office lease in Charlotte that's set to expire in September. The 242,820-square-foot lease at Hamilton Equity Partners' 901 W. Trade St. is less than a mile from the 201 N. Tryon building it's vacating. The company has five additional office leases in Charlotte that are larger than 100,000 square feet, including its headquarters.

Bank of America is also refining its retail branch network, as are most large banks, by closing underperforming locations and opening new branches. Last year it closed branches in California, Florida, New York and other states, but also said it planned to expand to new markets including Milwaukee and New Orleans.

Cousins plans to renovate the former Bank of America office space in Charlotte, Hickson said.

“We are already working to finalize plans to reenergize this property with amenities and upgrades similar to those we have successfully completed at projects across our Sun Belt portfolio,” said Hickson.

Cousins Properties, based in Atlanta, acquired Fifth Third Center in 2014 from Parmenter Realty Partners for $215 million. The second-largest tenant, Fifth Third Bank, has 101,257 square feet, according to CoStar data.

Bank of America previously owned 201 N. Tryon St. but sold it in 2012 to Parmenter Realty Partners for $163 million.

Meredith Ball and Karah Tanneberger at Foundry Commercial represent Cousins on office leasing at Fifth Third Center.