Dallas Looks To Seal the Deal on Downtown, Uptown Morgan Stanley Project
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Dallas could soon land another major piece of the Y’all Street movement.
On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council will consider an incentive package worth up to $18.5 million to attract Morgan Stanley to Dallas. If approved and accepted by the company, the deal could bring approximately $800 million in investment and as many as 3,800 jobs to Uptown and downtown Dallas. In exchange, the global financial firm will temporarily set up shop in downtown’s iconic Fountain Place tower while awaiting construction of a new skyscraper at McKinney Avenue and Fairmount Street in Uptown, where it will maintain a new regional headquarters.
While some reports indicate Morgan Stanley might select the Atlanta suburb Alpharetta to plant a new hub, Dallas has all the Y’all Street hype going for it. As far as branding goes, Mayor Eric Johnson and other city boosters have taken the show on the road, promoting Dallas as a business-friendly city with a swelling financial services industry.
If the incentive package is approved and Morgan Stanley picks Dallas, the company would commit to creating or relocating 3,800 full-time jobs to the permanent location at 2401 McKinney Ave. by the end of 2035, with the possibility of adding another 1,000 positions by 2039. The relocations would come from the temporary downtown office and a larger consolidation of its offices around the Metroplex.
The city agreement would require the average annual salary for the jobs to be $110,000. The company would also be required to maintain at least 25% Dallas-resident hiring and develop workforce partnerships with Dallas College and other local educational institutions.
If approved, the incentive package would designate both the Fountain Place and Uptown locations as neighborhood empowerment zones and support state enterprise zone applications for the project.
As it stands, the deal has Morgan Stanley executing a short-term lease of roughly 52 months for 255,000 square feet of space at Fountain Place, one of downtown’s most recognizable skyscrapers. Designed by I.M. Pei, the distinct prism-shaped tower was completed in 1986. Glass-clad and comprising 58 stories, Fountain Place is located at 1445 Ross Ave. The temporary lease would bring with it just under $97 million in real estate and business personal property improvements in 2026 and 2027.
The second phase of the deal calls for Morgan Stanley to become the anchor tenant of the planned office tower at the corner of McKinney Avenue and Fairmount Street. The company plans to lease roughly 700,000 square feet in the building for at least 16 years, with occupancy anticipated to begin in 2031. City documents indicate Morgan Stanley would invest approximately $684 million in real estate and business personal property improvements, while the building’s developer, Trammel Crow Co., is expected to spend an additional $650 million constructing the tower.
2401 McKinney Ave. was previously slated to become CBRE’s headquarters after receiving zoning approvals and economic incentives, but those plans were ultimately shelved, according to The Dallas Morning News.
With Morgan Stanley firmly planted on McKinney Avenue, Uptown would have another notch in its belt as the district’s reputation for attracting big-ticket office footprints grows stronger. A flight-to-quality in the office sector, and the neighborhood’s own work-play-live branding, have hinted at a new center of gravity in Dallas when it comes to commercial real estate.
The Y’all Street brand is physically diffuse and not even contained to Dallas proper, but Uptown is a significant attraction. Morgan Stanley would join the likes of the Texas Stock Exchange, Scotiabank, New York Stock Exchange Texas, and Texas Capital Bank, among other financial institutions.
