The lights atop Raleigh's tallest building were turned on Thursday night, but it was more than a just a way to highlight a structure. The illumination of the RBC building is a symbol of the revitalization of Raleigh’s downtown.

Experts said that RBC’s choice of Raleigh for its headquarters will attract other big corporations to make similar moves.

The light on the building’s spire was turned on at 9 p.m.

"At the risk of sounding like I spent too much time with my 12-year-old, it's pretty awesome,” said Highwood’s property chairman Ed Fritsch. "It's a cool looking top hat. It's an exclamation point.”

But the building is more than just a pretty face on Fayetteville Street. It's a magnet for the downtown.

"It’s a great place for a company that's growing to attract and retain workers and to offer a quality of life we felt  was as good as any in the Southeast,” said RBC Bank chairman Scott Custer.

Those who watch economic development in Raleigh say the opening of the building in the downtown shows that corporations now perceive the city in a different way.

"RBC  Bank is a headquarters company and our main priority is to make downtown Raleigh ‘the’ place for headquarters companies to relocate,” said David Diaz, the  president of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance.

In addition to the RBC building, Diaz believes development of the convention center, various condo complexes and the Marriott hotel will create a critical mass for the downtown that'll propel it forward in the coming decades.

"We're growing faster than any city in this area, so I think we're going to catch up and surpass other cities, and RBC is a big signal for that,” said Diaz.

But as the downtown grows, Diaz says it will need to have a good, workable mass transit system otherwise growth will be stymied.

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