As David Ergisi discusses his resolve to build his $450 million signature tower along the Downtown Northbank, he tells a story that began 40 years ago.
In it, he is an 18-year-old stepping off an airliner at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. In his pocket is $80. It is all the money he has.
He also carries the phone number of a North Carolina resident he met in Turkey, his home country. This is the only person he can turn to for help in the U.S., the nation to which he has immigrated.