JPMorgan Chase & Co is expanding across Miami and Palm Beach in a bid to seize South Florida’s booming wealth.
The bank plans to double the size of its offices in Brickell, Miami’s financial district, to a total of 160,000 square feet (14,864 square meters). The expansion will allow for an extra 400 employees, according to a statement.
“Miami and South Florida are home to an increasing number of our clients, customers, community partners and employees, and a strategic location for our operations in Latin America as well,” said Jonathan Bello, co-chair of the firm’s South Florida market leadership team.
JPMorgan also leased 13,000 square feet for an office in West Palm Beach and plans to open three financial centers across South Florida early next year.
JPMorgan’s South Florida expansion will add an average of $151 million in economic activity to the region as well as 380 construction jobs, the bank estimates. The Miami offices are home to one of JPMorgan’s largest international private banking operations, serving mostly Latin American clients, a spokesperson said.
In April, CEO Jamie Dimon said the bank was renovating its offices in Tampa, a Florida city where it has more than 6,000 employees. The firm also signed a deal this year for the naming rights to the soccer stadium where Lionel Messi plays in Fort Lauderdale. JPMorgan says it contributes over $1.93 billion to the Florida economy every year.
The New York-based bank is in the midst of building a new headquarters in Manhattan, but Dimon has long contrasted the business-friendly approaches of Florida and Texas with what he sees from his company’s home state. Roughly a decade ago, he joked that he sometimes wonders why JPMorgan doesn’t relocate to Miami.