Investment banking giant Morgan Stanley is making its billion-dollar Dallas plans even clearer, and changes are coming to a downtown skyscraper, city and state records show.
A city building permit filed Wednesday shows Morgan Stanley plans to initially renovate 50,000 square feet of office space on floors 19 and 20 of Fountain Place, a 60-story, rocket-shaped tower at 1445 Ross Ave. The work is expected to cost $3.2 million.
Information in the city permit matches a Tuesday filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The state filing doesn’t list a tenant. It refers to the project by the code name “Project Blue.” However, the state filing provides additional details about the work planned for the 19th and 20th floors at Fountain Place.
Construction is expected to start in October and be finished by the end of November. HOK is listed as the design firm for the project’s work. Details in TDLR filings are preliminary and subject to change without notice.
Morgan Stanley declined to comment on the permits, and CBRE, the firm that handles leasing for Fountain Place, did not immediately respond to questions about the plans.
The news comes weeks after The Dallas Morning News reported that Morgan Stanley signed a lease for 123,000 square feet at Fountain Place. The lease, signed in mid-July, would cover roughly four floors and run for about five years, two people with knowledge of the deal previously said.
The downtown lease is part of a two-phase development.
Under the plan, Fountain Place would serve as a temporary base. Morgan Stanley would lease 255,000 square feet in the downtown skyscraper while it waits for the new Uptown development. In 2031, the banking giant is expected to occupy roughly 700,000 square feet at a $1.2 billion tower at 2401 McKinney Ave.
Morgan Stanley plans to invest nearly $97 million and bring 1,500 jobs to Fountain Place by 2031. The firm would invest more than $587 million in the new Uptown building by 2031, city documents show. The company would employ 3,800 people in Dallas by the end of 2035, with the possibility of additional relocations. Developer Trammell Crow Co. is expected to invest another $650 million to build Morgan Stanley’s new office, bringing the estimated value of the development to more than $1.2 billion, updated city documents show.
Dallas City Council approved an $18.5 million incentive package to support the project in June. The News reported in January that Morgan Stanley was eyeing Fountain Place and the McKinney Avenue sites for its regional hub.
Morgan Stanley has made no official announcement about its plans. But additional signs point to the financial giant bringing the regional hub to Dallas.
Construction permits were filed last week for a below-grade parking garage to serve a “future office tower” at 2401 McKinney Ave. The site is currently home to seafood restaurant Truluck’s. An additional commercial plumbing permit was filed for the neighboring parcel at 2425 McKinney Ave. Estimated project costs for the garage work total $45 million.
The Dallas City Plan and Zoning Commission recently approved a request for Morgan Stanley signage on the Fountain Place tower, and crews have torn down the former Gold’s Gym at 2425 McKinney Ave.
The Morgan Stanley hub would be yet another win for Dallas’ burgeoning Y’all Street financial district, centered around the city’s Uptown and Victory Park neighborhoods. Goldman Sachs topped out on its more than $700 million campus next door to Victory Park late last year. The campus is expected to open in 2028.
