The second-largest bank in the country is bullish on Dallas. Now, Goldman Sachs is betting big on Dallas with the announcement of a massive new office, expanding its presence in the city.
The 900,000-square-foot, $500 million project is the largest in Dallas in decades. While Goldman Sachs maintains offices in Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Chicago, and other locations, the Dallas expansion will further cement the city as one of the bank’s most critical bases of operations.
Speaking to members of the Dallas Citizens Council on December 5, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said, “Dallas has become our second most significant hub.”
The investment bank is already familiar with the city, employing over 4,000 people in Dallas. The new campus, however, will allow Goldman to further tap into the talent network that exists in DFW.
“Obviously all of us at Goldman Sachs are very excited about what we have going on in Dallas and what the future holds for us in this great city,” Solomon told the council.
Roughly 10,000, or about 38%, of Goldman Sachs’ 26,000 employees work out of the bank’s New York City head office. New York, however, like California, is experiencing an exodus of young people.
In particular, Dallas has become a popular destination for motivated young Americans, the exact demographic Goldman Sachs wants.
In fact, half of Goldman Sachs’ current workforce is in their twenties according to the CEO. As a result, Dallas is an ideal location for the investment bank’s expansion.
“One of the things that makes Texas so incredible is you have an incredible secondary education system here, both public and private,” says Solomon. “It creates an enormous pipeline of talented young individuals. People come down here to go to school, and they actually want to stay,” he said.
Currently, Dallas-based employees of the bank operate out of the Trammell Crow Center skyscraper in downtown Dallas and the Galatyn Commons office campus in Richardson.
“It’s primarily about organic growth” and “hiring young people,” stressed Solomon. “It’s about hiring engineers here—about hiring all sorts of people across all of our businesses,” he said.
Solomon is encouraged by the warm Dallas welcome he has received so far. Support from the local business community has given the bank “confidence” in investing in the city, said the CEO.
As part of the incentive to expand operations in Dallas, the city provided the firm with $18 million in economic incentives.
The new skyscraper will replace an apartment community by Dallas Hunt Realty on Field Street, north of Woodall Rogers Freeway.
The investment bank’s announcement contrasts other firms that have reduced metro area footprints over the course of the pandemic. Costly underused office real estate was dropped as workers increasingly operated from home.
Goldman Sachs, however, is an old-school institution and prefers to avoid remote collaboration.
Solomon does not “believe that people should be working for Goldman Sachs and living in Jackson Hole.”
“Our strategy has always been to find places where we can build the culture of the firm and bring people together,” said Solomon. “That’s why we continue to expand our footprint.”