JPMorgan Chase’s six-year process to deconstruct its Midtown Manhattan headquarters and build a new $3 billion skyscraper from its foundation is nearly complete, with Jamie Dimon and other executives taking an active part in its design.
Architect Norman Foster, responsible for Apple’s California headquarters and the Hearst Tower in Manhattan, said the project could surpass his previous work.
“In terms of leisure, entertainment, lifestyle, I would say every level of this tower pushes those boundaries further than anything we’ve done before,” he said. The Wall Street Journal Friday.
But Dimon essentially acted as the building’s “master architect,” said David Arena, head of real estate at the bank. The Review.
Other JPMorgan executives were intimately involved in the design process, Dimon said. The Review.
Doug Petno, co-head of commercial and investment banking, was tasked with reviewing the ground floor and lobby. Mary Erdoes, head of asset and wealth management, and Marianne Lake, head of consumer affairs, planned the office floors and client areas. And Erdoes joined former president Daniel Pinto to review the leadership.
The 60-story building at 270 Park Avenue also houses 19 restaurants, as well as cafes, a company store, a gym and Morgan’s, an English pub, The Review reported.
Some executives were concerned that the headquarters lobby would look more like a shopping mall than an office building. So Dimon sought advice from Rick Caruso, a billionaire developer of high-end shopping centers in Los Angeles, on how to make the space lined with retail and restaurants more professional, according to The Review.
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For almost 20 years, Dimon has been the CEO of the country’s largest bank. He recently stressed the importance of in-person work during an expletive-filled rant to employees. His answer to workers hesitant to work in the office? Build one they can hardly refuse.
The building, which spans a city block and plans to house 10,000 employees at full capacity, opened in late August, and designer Foster + Partners announced Sept. 10 that construction was complete.
But it won’t be finished until next year. Dimon and other executives don’t expect the upper floor offices to be ready before Christmas, The Journal reported. A trading floor that is not yet open features rows of wooden desks still covered in blue tape, according to Friday’s report.
As more employees arrive in the building next year, the $3 billion investment reflects Dimon’s broader bet on the future of office life, grounded in the belief that true culture and creativity only thrive when people work side by side.
