Morgan Stanley chose Dallas over Alpharetta for a $684 million regional hub that will bring more than 3,800 jobs to Texas instead of the GA-400 corridor.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the deal Monday, Sept. 28. The North Atlanta Star first reported that Alpharetta lost the competition.
The state of Texas is backing the project with a $43.85 million grant from the Texas Enterprise Fund. Dallas approved a separate $18.5 million incentive package. Morgan Stanley will occupy temporary space at Fountain Place in downtown Dallas while a permanent 709,000-square-foot tower is built at 2401 McKinney Avenue in the city's Uptown district.
The investment breaks into two phases: roughly $97 million at the temporary site and $587 million at the permanent campus. Morgan Stanley has committed to 1,500 Dallas jobs by 2031, with the full workforce reaching approximately 3,800 by the end of 2035, according to CBS News Texas.
Eric Grossman, Morgan Stanley's executive vice president and chief legal officer, said the Dallas expansion "reflects our commitment to investing in markets that offer exceptional opportunities for growth, innovation, and talent."
What Alpharetta was up against
Dallas government documents identified Alpharetta as the principal out-of-state rival for the hub, the North Atlanta Star reported in June. The project required at least 700,000 square feet of premium office space. No single block that large existed north of Midtown Atlanta at the time, meaning any Alpharetta bid would have required new construction.
Morgan Stanley already occupies the full 216,000-square-foot Edison Alpharetta campus on Edison Drive, after expanding its lease by 100,000 square feet. The Dallas tower would be more than three times that size.
Whether Alpharetta or the state of Georgia offered a formal incentive package has not been publicly disclosed. As of the North Atlanta Star's June report, local officials had not confirmed any offer.
Existing Alpharetta jobs not affected
The Dallas announcement does not call for closing Morgan Stanley's Alpharetta operation or transferring Georgia employees to Texas.
Morgan Stanley employs more than 3,000 professionals locally across 13 business divisions, according to the North Atlanta Star's June report, making it one of Alpharetta's largest employers. Its local operations include technology, research, human resources and support for Morgan Stanley at Work and E*TRADE. The company's 2020 acquisition of E*TRADE had deepened its Georgia footprint.
Dallas is now drawing multiple major financial firms to its Uptown district. Goldman Sachs is building a $500 million office complex less than a mile from the Morgan Stanley site, and Bank of America will anchor another Uptown tower, AdvisorHub reported.
No public comment from Alpharetta city officials or the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce on the Dallas decision has surfaced. Morgan Stanley's first Dallas milestone is 1,500 jobs by 2031.
