Uber new offices in Chicago, Dallas will dwarf San Francisco HQ

Uber is still losing massive amounts of money, but it’s not letting recent cost cutting moves get in the way of continued expansion.

The company this month inked deals for massive new offices in Chicago and Dallas as it continues to staff up growing business areas like freight

In Texas, where Uber already has a sizable presence in Austin, the company will open a new office in Dallas capable of supporting up to 3,000 workers. When fully operational, the hub will be the largest Uber office outside of San Francisco, the company said, surpassing Chicago. 400 of those employees will be hired or relocated by the end of the year, local news reports said.

For now, Uber’s employees in the Metroplex will be mainly focused on finance, human resources, and sales, the company’s senior manager of public policy, Chris Miller, told the Dallas Morning News. But in coming years, that could shift, as the company ramps up air taxi services, where Dallas is set to be one of the first markets.

“Dallas became the first city in Texas where the Uber app was available in 2012, and since then Texas has been a hub of innovation for our platform,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a press release distributed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

“Uber is excited to bring this major investment to Texas and to increase our commitment to the City of Dallas. We are grateful for our partnership with Governor Abbott, Mayor Johnson and Judge Jenkins and their leadership in making this a reality.”

In Chicago, Uber’s expansion is a little more on the nose.

The company this week confirmed plans for a ten-year lease for nearly half a million square feet in the city’s old Post Office with construction beginning in the spring of 2020. The massive, 2.8-million-square-foot building has been sitting mostly empty for two decades, and is now in the midst of a massive redevelopment by the architecture firm Gensler.

In a press release on September 9, Uber said it plans to invest $200 million each year in the Chicago area, including 2,000 new employees, most of which will be working on the company’s fledgling freight division. It’s a fitting division for Chicago, which has a storied history as the center of the US’ freight and shipping network.

“Since the beginning, the team at Uber Freight has been made up of the best and brightest minds in technology and logistics, with major talent hubs in San Francisco and Chicago,” Lior Ron, head of Uber Freight, said in a press release. “We are thrilled to deepen our investment in Chicago, which is known for its logistics expertise. We are excited to bring on board thousands of team members to help build the future of logistics together with our growing list of customers and to support the massive growth trajectory we see for Uber Freight in this industry.”

Other confirmed tenants also leasing space in the building include Walgreens, the Chicago Tribune reported, as well as Ferrara Candy, and Home Chef. Uber’s lease is the largest office deal in downtown Chicago this year.