Financial services firm TIAA will close its downtown Denver office in 2026 and relocate 1,000 positions to Texas, the company confirmed Tuesday.

The closure will happen three years before TIAA’s lease expires in 2029.

The move will “provide substantial savings in rent and operational costs – savings which TIAA can then invest in business needs and serve the best interests of clients,” according to a company statement emailed to The Denver Gazette.

TIAA plans to move most of its Denver positions from its office on 1670 Broadway to Frisco, Texas — where the company built a new 15-story corporate center next to the Dallas Cowboys headquarters and practice facility. Workers will have the option to relocate.

“We made this announcement now to give our associates as much notice as we could,” the statement said.

Denver mayor's push to revitalize downtown runs into difficult realities on the ground

The news comes as downtown Denver continues to recover from the pandemic and a surge of office vacancies as corporations downsized or left downtown altogether when their leases were up.

More than a third of downtown Denver’s office were empty in the second quarter and had the lowest office absorption in the metro region (-74,000 square feet), according to real estate firm CBRE.

TIAA’s decision to relocate more than 1,000 jobs to Texas should be a reminder for the state to do what it can to be competitive in keeping major companies, Colorado Business Roundtable President Debbie Brown said in a statement.

Brown said Colorado is facing increasing competition from more business-friendly states, adding the nonprofit representing executives from Colorado’s largest employers on statewide and national policy issues is concerned about Colorado’s “regulation reputation.”

“The cost of doing business is a critical consideration for companies, and we must do everything in our power to ensure that Colorado remains an attractive place for businesses to grow and thrive,” Brown said.