Goldman Sachs’ Aasem Khalil calls Dallas the NYC of the South

Firm touts massive new digs in The Big D at groundbreaking

Goldman Sachs Hosts Groundbreaking for New Dallas Office

Goldman Sachs partner Aasem Khalil and rendering of Goldman Sachs Dallas (Goldman Sachs, Getty)

Rachel Stone

Oct 12, 2023, 12:25 PM

The cutthroat rules of Wall Street don’t always apply on the clean streets of Dallas, where Goldman Sachs is building a $500 million office campus.

“People are competitive, no question, but that competition is done in a very healthy way,” said Goldman Sachs partner Aasem Khalil, who is head of the firm’s Dallas office, during Goldman Sachs’ star-studded groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday.

“People here have the mentality that the better you do, the better I do.”

Goldman is developing its three-building campus with the Hunt Development Corporation and Hillwood. It’s part of Hunt’s planned NorthEnd mixed-use development, which will span 3.8 million square feet at 2323 Field Street, adjacent to Victory Park and the Perot Museum of History and Science.

While Wells Fargo chose Las Colinas for its $455 million regional hub, which is under construction, Goldman sees itself as an urban firm, and it wanted to be in the city. Being near the Katy Trail could help the firm’s appeal to young employees living in Uptown and Highland Park, Khalil said.

The firm will remain committed to keeping New York as its headquarters, Khalil said. But the Dallas campus will be its second-largest location. It will join New York and London as the only full-service Goldman locations.

Goldman has had offices in Dallas since 1968, but the firm made a more substantial investment here because of the business-friendly environment.

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport makes travel convenient, whether to Tulsa or Tunisia. It’s a few hours by plane to anywhere in the continental United States. It’s culturally diverse and has great restaurants and all the major-league sports.

Besides that, the region is full of young talent.

“There’s an enormous depth of educational institutions in this state,” Khalil said.

And graduates want to work in Dallas.

“People who live in the southern U.S., a lot of them view Dallas as their New York,” he said. “So they want to be here.”