(Bloomberg) -- The Texas Stock Exchange is getting ready to plant its flag in the Dallas real estate market.
The upstart bourse backed by investors including BlackRock Inc. and Citadel Securities will open a temporary headquarters this spring at the Weir’s Plaza building, just north of downtown Dallas. The search is on for a permanent home, to be called the Texas Market Center, the company said in an emailed statement.
Once built, the headquarters will house executive offices, a conference center and a television studio complete with an opening bell as the the TXSE seeks to take on established markets such as the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. A museum meant to showcase the history of modern business in Texas will also sit in the market center.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area now has more finance workers than Chicago or Los Angeles, trailing only New York, as companies from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Charles Schwab Corp. expand operations. The TXSE is aiming to build on the state’s reputation for low taxes and a lighter regulatory touch, saying that companies that list on the market won’t need to meet environmental, social and governance thresholds beyond standard regulatory requirements.
“The Texas Market Center will add to the vibrancy of Dallas’ thriving business community, and we believe it will drive further investment and corporate interest in the city and surrounding region,” James Lee, chief executive officer and founder of TXSE Group Inc., said in the statement.
Texas has also increasingly lured corporations and financial firms from blue states such as New York and California. Texas is also developing a business-court system with an eye to handling more of the complex corporate litigation that Delaware is known for.
The TXSE said earlier this year that it expects to handle its first trades in 2025 and host its first listing in 2026. The Texas venture is trying to muscle in on a business that consists of about 16 equities exchanges with widely varying trading volumes.
Elsewhere in Dallas, the exchange plans to operate a data center to go with facilities in New Jersey and Chicago. Earlier this year, it hired executives from Charles Schwab, Nasdaq and the NYSE.
--With assistance from Julie Fine.
(Updates with corporate relocations, court system in sixth paragraph.)
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