BBVA will turn its Austin headquarters into a multipurpose building and build another

BBVA has decided to move its headquarters in Austin (Texas). The entity will convert its current headquarters in the capital of the US state, capital of its largest market in the US, into a multipurpose complex and will build a new property to install its central services.

The building, according to the ongoing project that has been presented to local authorities at the end of last year, will be completely renovated by the specialized firm Ryan Companies and will, once the works are finished, with apartments, a leisure club, swimming pools , gyms, meeting spaces, press rooms, pet park and business premises. The latter will be located on the lower floors of the tower, which is 60 stories high.

BBVA has reserved a part of these stores to open a mega-office equipped with high technology and aligned with the new brand and image launched by the Spanish group worldwide last year.

The headquarters remodeling project contemplates that forty of the sixty floors are dedicated to residential housing (more than 350), of which 75% will be one-bedroom apartments. The plan will include the reform of 530,371 square feet. The architect will be Page and the person in charge of civil design will be Kimley-Horn. BBVA counts as an advisor to CBRE.

Transfer

The transfer of workers is not yet dated, as it is a preliminary project. It will affect a maximum of 245 employees assigned to central services from Austin and the municipalities in the area.

The current headquarters are located in the financial heart of the capital of Texas, a state that contributes half of the business generated by the bank in the US. That is, it is essential for the profits you get on the other side of the Atlantic. A few weeks ago, BBVA had to carry out an adjustment of the goodwill of its North American subsidiary by 1,350 million, which will ballast its 2019 accounts, due to lower expectations of the activity and income as a result of the economic slowdown and the drop in interest rates applied by the Federal Reserve.

Despite this adjustment, The US franchise is key for the entity for the current and future contribution to the benefits of the group and for the support for linking business with the Mexican subsidiary, the real barn for the bank chaired by Carlos Torres.

The old Compass, commanded by Javier Rodríguez Soler contributes with 13% of the results (10.5% if the losses of the area that includes the corporate center are not included. Until September, it obtained a profit of 478 million euros.

Sign a Bush employee

The entity has reinforced the management team with the signing of Carin Marcy Barth for the US subsidiary. This executive, with more than thirty years of professional career, worked for the administration of the Government of George Bush. In 2004, she was the financial director of the US Department of Housing and Development.

Barth has been co-founder and president of LB Capital, a provider of funds with investments in the energy, manufacturing and banking sectors, to which he has earmarked most of his work. He is currently a member of the board of directors of Automotive, Enterprise Products Holdings and Black Stone Minerals. Previously, she was a director of Halcón Resources or Strategic Growth Bank.

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