Raleigh to consider selling downtown convention center’s naming rights to bank
Raleigh is considering selling the naming rights to the city’s downtown convention center.
A proposal would see the convention center called the “Atlantic Union Bank Convention Center,” according to a city of Raleigh news release Friday.
In exchange, the city would get $525,000, and that annual fee would go up 2% every year during an initial 15-year agreement. The contract would have an option to extend for two further 5-year terms.
The City Council will hold a public hearing on the proposal at 1 p.m. June 16 at the Raleigh Municipal Building on West Hargett Street.
The convention center is currently undergoing a nearly $400 million expansion, which would add nearly 300,000 square feet of new space, bringing it up to almost 800,000 square feet.
Part of that project involves moving the Red Hat Amphitheater south across West Lenoir Street to accommodate the new section of the convention center.
Atlantic Union Bank is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, and has over 170 branches across North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C, according to the company’s 2025 end-of-year report. That includes Raleigh.
