Chicago-headquartered group will combine two existing offices in Altitude development south-west of Luxembourg City.
US bank Northern Trust has agreed to take a substantial new office to the south of Luxembourg city, amid plans to move its European headquarters to the Grand Duchy.
The Luxembourg Times can reveal the Chicago-headquartered banking group will combine its two existing offices in Luxembourg into a single location in the Altitude development in Leudelange.
The move comes after Northern Trust acquired UBS' fund administration arm in the Grand Duchy in 2017 – almost doubling its headcount to around 300 employees.
As part of its preparations for Britain's departure from the European Union, Northern Trust also decided to re-domicile its EU bank from London to Luxembourg.
A spokeswoman for the bank confirmed the move to Leudelange would take place next year.
"Luxembourg is at the centre of Northern Trust's European growth strategy,” she said. "We continue to invest in growing our Luxembourg business, which will be the location of our EU bank in 2019.
"In order to ensure maximum efficiencies, Northern Trust will combine its two Luxembourg offices into one location in 2020 in Leudelange."
Southern bound
The decision to take space in Leudelange is a significant move to the commune, located just outside of the city's limits, by a major player in financial services.
It is also an indication of the lack of high-quality large offices currently available in the city amid a supply crunch – although there are signs the development pipeline is beginning to pick up.
Italian bank Intesa SanPaolo also chose to head south to the Cloche D'Or area, agreeing a deal in September to secure space in a sleek new office.
Northern Trust's move to Leudelange will combine its existing office, located near Findel Airport, with the former UBS office, currently in Kirchberg.
The Luxembourg Times understands Northern Trust will take around 6,000 square metres in the five-storey Lhassa building in the Altitude scheme, which is being developed by Codic and Tralux.
The US financial services giant, which first opened an office in Luxembourg in 2004, will join local insurance companies Foyer and LaLux in the Leudelange commune.
Agents CBRE, which advised Northern Trust, and JLL, which advised Codic and Tralux, both declined to comment.
Codic and Tralux could not immediately be reached for comment, but in its latest results in December Codic said a lease had been signed for 85% of the space in the second Altitude building, without disclosing the tenant.
https://luxtimes.lu/luxembourg/36110-us-bank-northern-trust-plots-major-office-move-to-leudelange