Comerica HQ's Dallas Bound, Exiting Detroit

In this morning's press release, Comerica says it will retain a 7,300-employee workforce in southeastern Michigan, but the headquarters is going south. Local brokers, except for those on the inside, were scrambling to find out how much space and where in Dallas that Comerica plans to land.

The gist of the news is Dallas won the nod for its Central US positioning "with greater accessibility to all of its markets," the release says. The relo is penciled to be done by the end of the third quarter.

Ralph W. Babb Jr., Comerica's chairman and CEO, says the relocation is directly tied to a plan put into play three years ago to diversify and extend the financial institution's reach into high-growth markets. "Today, a significant percentage of Comerica's earnings is generated in Texas, Arizona, California and Florida," he says in the release.

Babb also says the availability of skilled employees in Dallas, Austin and Houston further underwrites the decision. Comerica's decision cites US Census Bureau stats that project two-thirds of all Americans will live in the southern and western US by 2030, with 30% choosing California, Florida and Texas. Furthermore, the International Monetary Fund ranks Texas as the 10th largest economy in the world: nearly $1 trillion in gross state product and highest growth population counts in the nation.

Comerica has 71 branches in Dallas, Houston and Austin, with 1,351 employees now on its payroll book. Comerica has added three centers to date this year and will open six before the calendar turns. In 2008, the pace will pick up. From 2004-06, it opened 17 bank branches. Charles L. Gummer will continue to be president of the Texas market. When the shift is done, Comerica will be the largest bank holding company headquartered in Texas. As always, the state and Dallas have provided incentives to help offset relo costs.

Comerica plans to bring at least 170 jobs to the region with the move. "This announcement illustrates, once again, our region's merits as a location for corporate America," Ron Gafford, chairman of the Greater Dallas Chamber and president and CEO of Austin Industries Inc., says in a local release about the relocation win.

In Michigan, Thomas Ogden has been named president of the 7,300-employee market. He has been with the company since 1971, most recently as overseer for the Global Corporate Banking group. The release says about 200 Michigan employees will be affected over the next three years due to the relocation.