Goldman Sachs is advancing construction of its new 800,000-square-foot campus in Dallas, deepening its footprint in a city that has emerged as a key regional financial hub. The project is part of a broader wave of major financial firms expanding in Texas, where companies have cited factors including business costs, taxes, and available talent as reasons for growing outside traditional coastal centers.

The firm has long maintained a presence in the Dallas metro area, where it operates its second-largest U.S. employee base behind only its New York City headquarters. The new campus will consolidate two existing offices into a single facility where all of the firm's business units can be co-located and collaborate.

Ericka Leslie, chief administrative officer at Goldman Sachs, told FOX Business in an interview after visiting the site as construction continues: "I can't say it enough, I think Dallas is a great place to do business, it really is. The building is beautiful."

"We're in two buildings now, we're going to be able to combine everybody into this state-of-the-art space, and it's right next to the Perot museum, and the city itself is very vibrant. So we're looking forward to it, and we're going to grow there," Leslie said. "It's a growth opportunity for us inside of the United States, and it's a really vibrant place to do business."

The campus will feature an auditorium and a wide range of amenities, including a wellness center, a fitness facility, a backup daycare, multiple cafeteria or cafeteria-like spaces, a coffee bar, and outdoor areas with trees and shade. Employees will be able to park beneath the building, and a retail space is planned across the street to provide additional options for those working on site. Such amenity-rich office projects reflect a wider trend among large employers of using workplace design to attract and retain staff as return-to-office expectations have risen.

"I find people want to leave their desk, so to speak, and go to another place, but maybe they only have 30 minutes free, and they want to grab a coffee or have a conversation with people," Leslie said.

"There are a lot of places where you can meet up and sit down and be outside or be inside. And I think that's really important to people because it gets hot there in the summer, people don't want to have to walk around outside, it's completely air-conditioned."

The campus will also include an outdoor park of roughly an acre and a half, which Leslie said crews were working on during her visit.

"The outside of the building is mostly complete, and they have to do that in order to start fitting out the inside of the building and air conditioning it, so that will begin fairly shortly. We're looking for a launch around January 2028," Leslie said.

She noted that stiff competition for work crews amid the Dallas area's construction boom has contributed to some delays, though the campus is still expected to open on schedule.

"The project is mostly on time. It's slightly delayed, there's quite a bit of development going on in Dallas right now, and so we're seeing small delays," she said, adding that the company expects to occupy the space in January 2028.

Goldman Sachs was among the firms that contributed to the launch of the Texas Stock Exchange in Dallas, which went fully live for the first time in late July, while other companies are looking to move into the area or considering doing so, Leslie noted. The exchange's debut marked a milestone in Texas' push to establish itself as a financial-services hub, coming as the state has courted banks, asset managers, and exchange operators to relocate or expand operations there. She added that as more companies are drawn to downtown Dallas, she sees the city becoming more of an urban center where people choose to live within the city rather than commuting from the suburbs.

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon told CNBC in an interview this week that the firm's New York City headcount has held at a little less than 10,000 and hasn't grown in about 20 years, while overall U.S. headcount has expanded through growth in locations such as Dallas and Salt Lake City. "Talent plays a role in it – where is talent available – but also policy, taxes, environment," Solomon said. The pattern mirrors moves by other Wall Street firms that have shifted headcount growth to lower-cost U.S. cities in recent years.

Leslie echoed that view, telling FOX Business: "We like to go to places where you can attract young talent, and New York has always been a place where people want to work when they first get out of college."

"But I was really surprised walking the Katy Trail [in Dallas] and seeing the number of people that are just starting out in their careers and out walking, getting exercise. I can't emphasize this enough, there were thousands of people – I almost couldn't make my way, I had to keep going around people," she said. "It was a really nice thing to see."

"I think more and more you're going to end up seeing places where you've got really robust talent pools, you have a lot of universities, and it's going to be a place where we're going to attract young people," Leslie added. "I think Dallas has a really bright future."