Deutsche Bank ditches Wall Street for view of Central Park

Deutsche Bank is literally leaving Wall Street, moving its New York headquarters to midtown Manhattan as the German investment bank embarks on a broad shakeup of its US operations.

The company will lease 1.1 million sqft of office space at Columbus Circle, slashing its footprint in the city by 30 per cent, the head of Deutsche Bank’s Americas business, Tom Patrick, wrote in a memo to staff. The firm, which has been leasing offices at 60 Wall Street, will begin the move in the third quarter of 2021.

One mock-up of the bank’s new trading floor shows an expansive view of Central Park.

The departure from Wall Street is a milestone for the historic financial district in lower Manhattan, following a long exodus of major firms to other parts of the city. Banks remaining closest now include Goldman Sachs Group, headquartered near the site of the original World Trade Center at 200 West Street, while Citigroup is a stone’s throw away in Tribeca. More of the industry is further uptown.

“The relocation is an investment in our clients, in our employees and in our future long-term presence in the US,” Patrick wrote in the memo. “The new location will result in

The new location will result in closer proximity to key clients, consolidate New York activities and provide employees with access to modern, stateof-the-art facilities Tom Patrick, Head of Deutsche Bank’s Americas unit

closer proximity to key clients, consolidate New York activities and provide employees with access to modern, state-of-the-art facilities, technology and amenities while retaining access to critical transportation links.”

The decision followed a 16-month review, according to the memo. Yet it comes just as new Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing sets out to restructure the investment bank, including scaling back operations in the U.S. That overhaul may eliminate more than 10 percent of its workforce there, a person briefed on the matter said last week.

In 2001, Deutsche Bank bought 60 Wall Street from JPMorgan Chase & Co as the Frankfurt-based company sought to house the workers and the staff it had added in the purchase of Bankers Trust two years earlier. In 2007, Deutsche Bank sold the building for $1.2 billion and agreed to lease the office space back from the new owners for 15 years. — Bloomberg