Discovery's Knoxville campus will become headquarters for a billion-dollar Tennessee brand
The sprawling Discovery headquarters, one of the largest office campuses in Knoxville, has a buyer lined up.
Apex Bank is under contract to purchase the buildings at 9721 Sherrill Blvd. for a yet undisclosed sum, ushering in a new era for the facilities that have housed Knoxville's most prominent national brand. The Discovery logo was removed from the campus as of Feb. 27.
The $1.2 billion community bank intends to move its corporate headquarters and national mortgage-servicing division to the campus, according to a press release.
The transaction is scheduled to close March 31.
The 33-acre property has 344,500 square feet of space between two structures: the 189,000-square-foot Knoxville Technical Center and 155,500-square-foot, four-story office tower. About 11 of the 33 acres are undeveloped, according to the property's offering summary.
“Apex Bank is grateful to be the future steward of this extraordinary property and investment in East Tennessee,” Apex President and CEO Matt Daniels said in a press release. “We will continue to invest in these unmatched facilities for the benefit of our team members and prospective tenants, who will enjoy state-of-the-art amenities that include indoor and outdoor recreation areas, gym and yoga studios, a restaurant, childcare, and awellness center.”
What's next for Discovery?
It's also a new era for Discovery, which in a $43 billion deal merged with Warner Brothers to form Warner Bros. Discovery in May 2021 to compete in the streaming service market.
Discovery intends to lease a smaller office space in Knoxville.
Warner Brothers Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels told employees in a June 7, 2022, email that the building is too large for the company's Knoxville workforce. After the move, he wrote, many employees will move to hybrid or remote work.
What is Apex Bank?
Apex bank was founded in 1931 in Camden as the Bank of Camden, then rebranded to Apex in 2015.
It has been operating in Knoxville since 2009 and is currently located at 430 and 435 Montbrook Lane, where all its senior management team and corporate services are based.
The bank has 19 locations across Tennessee.
Apex has been recognized by the Independent Community Bankers of America as the top performing bank in Tennessee with $300 million to $1 billion in assets three years in a row, according to a press release.
The building sale was handled by Jay Cobble, principal broker from Providence Commercial Real Estate, in partnership with global commercial real estate company JLL.
Previous owners of Discovery campus
As one of the largest commercial office spaces in the area and with some of the most advanced production studios in the region, the property has been home to entertainment companies for nearly 40 years.
Built in 1985, according to Knox County property records, Cinetel Productions was the first company to call it home before Scripps Howard Broadcasting purchased the property in 1994 for $3.4 million from Bagwell Communications.
Scripps Network Interactive was acquired by Discovery in 2018 as part of a $14.6 billion cash-and-stock deal, which also included Discovery relocating some of its operations to Knoxville. Discovery Communications merged with Scripps and rebranded to Discovery Inc.
The Warner Bros. Discovery brand now includes Discovery Channel, discovery+, CNN, DC, HBO, HBO Max, HGTV, Food Network, OWN, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Magnolia Network, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Warner Bros. and more, according to its website.
Silas Sloan covers growth and development in East Tennessee for Knox News. He can be reached at silas.sloan@knoxnews.com. You can follow his work on Twitter @silasloan, or on Instagram @knox.growth. and sign up for the free, weekly Urban Knoxville newsletter. Unlock premium perks and support strong local journalism at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Discovery Knoxville campus under contract by Apex Bank
