Salt Lake City - Gathered on the 14th floor of the new 222 Main building, people await the announcement of a new tennant

Goldman Sachs officials say their commitment to downtown Salt Lake City was based on two things: the desire to replicate the quality of their offices around the globe and the vision for the area's future.

Executives of the giant financial company, along with local and state officials, confirmed months of rumors Thursday by announcing that Goldman Sachs offices and more than 1,000 employees will be moving to Main Street in 2011. They will leave current offices in Research Park at the University of Utah.

The company will be occupying seven of the 22 floors -- there is no 13th floor -- of the new 222 Main building next to Hotel Monaco. By the time of the move, the company is hoping to expand from about 720 employees to 1,150.

Jeff Schroeder, chief administrative officer for Goldman Sachs, said the company wants the new office to have the feel of its other facilities.

"We want our people and our clients, when they come and visit Salt Lake, to feel like you're visiting New York or London or Hong Kong, [that] it's every bit the fabric of Goldman Sachs as any of our other cities," he said.

David Lang, managing director of the Salt Lake office, said advocates, such as Mayor Ralph Becker and Lane Beattie, head of the Salt Lake Chamber, presented a "compelling" vision when they pitched downtown to Goldman Sachs officials.

"This is a global investment bank so we want to ensure the atmosphere reflects that," he said. "So ultimately that's one of the reasons we decided to be downtown."

The move is a huge coup for city boosters because of the prestige of the financial giant and the high-paying jobs it brings to the area that is suffering through the massive rebuilding where the downtown malls once were and the Great Recession. Many of the jobs moving into 222 Main pay 150 percent of the Salt Lake County average wage, the city said.

That county average wage is $41,000; 150 percent of that number is 61,500.

"For many small business, restaurants, art groups and shops, this move brings a 1,000 well-paid professionals to the heart of our downtown," said Becker.

The two Goldman Sachs officials emphasized the quality of the area work force in their remarks and praised the state's system of higher education.

"About half the people we've hired out here have been local, lateral hires from the Salt Lake business community," said Schroeder. "But about half have been directly from universities, and the kids have been outstanding. "

The Goldman Sachs office, which opened in 2000, performs a variety of functions for the company. It creates computer software applications, performs investment management, makes loans, does regulatory reporting for the bank-holding division and also provides support services for other company offices.

"So there's a tremendous demand and need for highly skilled people across a multitude of functions here," said Lang.

Bruce Bingham, a principal of the Chicago-area Hamilton Partners that built 222 Main, said about 55 percent of the 425,000 square feet are now leased, and talks are continuing with other possible tenants. "We think the Goldman Sachs announcement will spark recruitment," said Bingham.

The recession that has left a lot of office space vacant has meant that rents are about 90 percent of what they were two years ago, a substantial amount for the company, he said.

Hamilton Partners would like a "white table cloth restaurant" and perhaps a deli to occupy street-level spaces, Bingham said.

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