Global financial giant Morgan Stanley is deciding between Dallas and an Atlanta suburb for a new U.S. operational hub that is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and create thousands of high-paying jobs.
The city of Dallas is considering an economic incentive agreement for Morgan Stanley to invest nearly $100 million for a temporary location in downtown Dallas and then $684 million for a permanent campus in Uptown Dallas, according to public records.
In exchange for the bank’s investment and job creation, the city intends to offer $18.5 million in grants. City officials expect to consider and vote on the measure at a June 24 city council meeting, according to an agenda item.
The competition is putting a spotlight on the practice of local governments paying money in return for a company putting jobs in their area. Officials say the money is worth bringing high-paid professionals to an area to spend more on taxes and discretary items. Critics have said the benefits to the economy may not make the payments worth the investment.
New York-based Morgan Stanley would have to accept the offer — and commit to the project — with the bank also considering a site in Alpharetta, Georgia, according to the Dallas economic incentive agreement.
Morgan Stanley is focused on “establishing a new U.S. operational hub to continue to grow its services” and has been “looking across the United States for a location for a new large-scale operational hub” over the past few months, according to the agreement.
Morgan Stanley declined to comment when reached by email by CoStar News.
Competition from Georgia
Morgan Stanley has a major employment hub in Alpharetta, a suburb about 30 miles north of downtown Atlanta. The bank is the city’s largest employer as of October 2024 with about 2,500 workers, according to local media reports.
Morgan Stanley’s head of North America global centers is based in Alpharetta, per his LinkedIn page. Alpharetta has yet to announce if it is offering economic incentives tied to Morgan Stanley’s proposed expansion as of Thursday midafternoon.
Dallas has been on a roll lately for office hubs tied to financial services firms.
From the upcoming launch of the Texas Stock Exchange, the expansions of the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, and its being a major U.S. hub for industry giants, the region is a tough contender. Locals often call Dallas “Y’all Street,” a play on words of “Wall Street,” as banks seek to expand in more affordable markets outside of New York City.
Last year, Canada’s Scotiabank was looking at Dallas and another Sun Belt city before deciding to put a regional hub in Dallas’ Victory Park. As with Morgan Stanley, the city of Dallas and the state of Texas offered the Canadian bank economic incentives for its new regional office.
If Morgan Stanley picks Dallas, city officials said the project could be considered for Texas Enterprise Zone funds and state incentives.
Two-step possibility
The potential two-step expansion in Dallas shows Morgan Stanley taking a temporary office space totaling about 255,000 square feet at Fountain Place, a skyscraper at 1445 Ross Ave. in downtown Dallas, before opening a permanent hub totaling about 708,000 square feet at 2401 McKinney Ave. in Uptown Dallas.
For the build-to-suit location along McKinney Avenue, Morgan Stanley plans to sign a long-term lease for about 16 years that begins in 2031, according to the city documents. The Uptown Dallas address is home to a Truluck’s seafood restaurant and a long-vacated Gold’s Gym that were expected to be demolished a few years ago to make way for CBRE’s new global headquarters before the project was shelved.
Morgan Stanley’s investment in the temporary Dallas office is expected to clock in at $96.9 million in real estate and business personal property in 2026 and 2027. The office will create about 1,500 jobs, according to the city.
The permanent office on McKinney Avenue is expected to cost Morgan Stanley $684.2 million in real estate and business personal property by the end of 2031. The agreement notes that the site’s developer, Trammell Crow Co., will spend an additional $650 million to build the core and shell. Trammell Crow Co. declined to comment when reached by email by CoStar News.
Morgan Stanley expects to create an additional 2,200 jobs at the permanent hub for a total of 3,800 jobs new and existing positions. Morgan Stanley is also considering an additional 1,000 jobs through either relocating workers from outside Dallas or creating positions at the permanent location by the end of 2039 for a total of 4,800 jobs, according to the city documents.