Morgan Stanley has signed a lease for the Fountain Place skyscraper in downtown Dallas — a move that shows North Texas is poised to land the company’s new billion-dollar regional hub.
The firm signed a lease in mid-July to occupy 123,000 square feet in the green, rocket-shaped tower at 1445 Ross Ave. The deal includes an option for Morgan Stanley to increase its footprint as needed. The lease will run for about five years, two people with knowledge of the deal told The Dallas Morning News.
JLL, the firm representing Morgan Stanley, did not immediately respond to questions about the lease. City of Dallas representatives did not respond to multiple calls and text messages regarding the deal. Morgan Stanley and CBRE, the firm that handles leasing for Fountain Place, declined to comment.
The lease is part of a two-pronged development process outlined in city documents.
Under the plan, Fountain Place would serve as a temporary base while Morgan Stanley waits for its new Uptown tower. Morgan Stanley would lease about 255,000 square feet at Fountain Place, for just over four years. Around 2031, the banking giant would then occupy its new hub at 2401 McKinney Ave. for 16 years.
Morgan Stanley plans to invest nearly $97 million and bring 1,500 jobs to Fountain Place by 2031. The firm will invest more than $587 million in the new Uptown building by 2031, city documents show, and it will employ 3,800 people at the site by the end of 2035 with the possibility of additional relocations. The developer 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, city documents show.
The bank is also seeking state-level incentives. Morgan Stanley wants the Uptown site designated as a “triple jumbo” enterprise zone — a distinction saved for megaprojects that create at least 500 jobs. The average annual wage for the jobs is expected to be $128,000.
Morgan Stanley narrowed its search for an operational hub to two cities — Dallas and Alpharetta, Ga. Morgan Stanley has more than 3,000 employees in Alpharetta, making it one of the Atlanta suburb’s largest employers.
The News first reported in January that Morgan Stanley would lease space in the downtown tower as it waited on a new McKinney Avenue campus.
Morgan Stanley’s preference for Dallas has become even more apparent in recent months. Earlier this month, the Dallas City Plan and Zoning Commission approved a request for Morgan Stanley’s signage on the Fountain Place tower.
Construction crews began tearing down the former Gold’s Gym at 2425 McKinney Ave. The site is part of the planned Morgan Stanley campus.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
