eXputer
Subscribe

Locationmajor

Union Depository

The Union Depository is Los Santos’s heavily secured central bank and the target of Grand Theft Auto V’s final major heist, The Big Score.

Importancemajor

Key takeaways

  • Location The Union Depository stands in Pillbox Hill, on or immediately around Power Street in Downtown Los Santos.
  • Story importance It is the target of The Big Score, GTA V’s final major heist.
  • Interior access Ordinary free-roam access is limited. Most meaningful interior areas are visited during missions.
  • Two approaches The Subtle approach uses Gruppe 6 disguises, Securicars and modified Gauntlets. The Obvious approach uses a tunnel-boring cutter, a freight train and heavy firepower.
  • Security The building is protected by private guards and a dedicated LSPD tactical response.
  • GTA Online The Union Depository Contract is a separate Auto Shop activity, not the same event as Michael, Franklin and Trevor’s Story Mode robbery.

About this guide

Scope: Grand Theft Auto V Story Mode, with GTA Online differences clearly separated. Spoiler warning: This guide discusses The Big Score, its preparation missions, payouts, approaches and the ending choices that follow it.

Overview

The Union Depository is Los Santos’ most important financial landmark and the setting of Grand Theft Auto V’s climactic robbery. It is a high-security bank and bullion reserve in Pillbox Hill, centred on Power Street in Downtown Los Santos. The building is not simply a decorative skyscraper. Its public frontage, lower road levels, underground access routes, vault complex and surrounding streets all become important during missions and free-roam exploration.

In Story Mode, the Union Depository is the target of The Big Score, the final major heist planned by Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton, Trevor Philips and Lester Crest. Depending on the selected approach, the crew either enters under the cover of a security company or breaches the vault from below with industrial equipment. The heist can gross approximately $201.3 million through the Subtle approach or $201.6 million through the Obvious approach, before crew cuts and other deductions.

The location is also connected with smaller encounters and GTA Online content, but these should not be confused with the Story Mode finale. In GTA Online, the Union Depository appears in armoured-truck activities and in the Union Depository Contract, an Auto Shop Contract with its own mission layout and reward structure.

---

Position within Los Santos

The Union Depository is in Pillbox Hill, the financial and commercial core of Downtown Los Santos. Pillbox Hill contains many of Los Santos’ tallest buildings and corporate headquarters, including the Union Depository, Maze Bank, Lombank, Penris and other major offices. The district occupies much of the western part of Downtown Los Santos and is served by major north-south and east-west roads.

The building should not be treated as synonymous with the whole Pillbox Hill district. Pillbox Hill is the wider neighbourhood, while the Union Depository is one specific bank complex within it. Likewise, Power Street is a road running through the district, not the name of the bank or its entire surroundings.

The most useful approach for navigation is to identify the Union Depository by its large tower and the road network around its lower levels. The building sits among downtown skyscrapers, elevated road sections, parking areas and underground routes. In missions, these lower routes are more important than the tower’s upper floors.

Named geographical scope

Union Depository complex

The location’s practical scope includes the following mission-relevant areas:

The game does not provide a complete freely explorable bank interior in ordinary Story Mode. Some spaces are rendered or used only for particular missions, while other portions of the visible building remain inaccessible.

Wider neighbouring district

The wider surrounding area belongs to Pillbox Hill. Relevant neighbouring connections include:

Low Power Street is particularly significant because it passes through the lower levels around the Union Depository. Franklin and Lamar also drive through lower Union Depository structures during the early mission Franklin and Lamar.

What is not part of the Union Depository

These locations may be nearby or visually connected, but they are not subareas of the Union Depository itself.

---

What is not part of the Union Depository: The following should be kept separate

Union Depository Tower

The tower is the most recognisable part of the complex. It is a large financial skyscraper with a prominent corporate façade and a secure lower section. Although the tower dominates the skyline, the main Story Mode heist focuses on the bank’s lower and underground facilities, particularly the vault and routes used to move bullion.

The building’s design is not a direct copy of one Los Angeles skyscraper. Its height, setbacks and footprint have been associated with a mixture of real-world inspirations, including Los Angeles and American financial buildings. The Union Depository’s fictional identity is more important to the game than any one-to-one real-world counterpart.

Main entrance and lobby

The main entrance is used most clearly during the Obvious approach. Michael’s team creates a public distraction while the robbery develops elsewhere in the building. This makes the lobby a staging area rather than the primary vault route.

In free roam, the entrance is primarily scenery. It does not function as a normal bank where the player can deposit money, withdraw cash or begin a heist at will.

Underground levels

The lower levels are among the most important parts of the location. They include roadways, ramps and underground access points that are used by vehicles and mission characters.

The underground environment is also connected to the broader downtown road network. Low Power Street and the lower Union Depository structures are particularly useful landmarks when following the routes used by Franklin and Lamar or when navigating the finale’s escape sequences.

Vault and bullion reserve

The vault is the narrative centre of the Union Depository. It contains the government’s gold bullion reserve, described in the story as being worth more than $200 million. The vault is not available as a normal free-roam interior. It is accessed through the heist missions and, in GTA Online, through the separate Union Depository Contract.

The vault’s approach changes according to the player’s planning choice:

---

Reaching the location in free roam

The easiest way to find the Union Depository is:

Alta Street is another useful north-south reference road. It connects with Power Street and several other major Los Santos roads. Adam’s Apple Boulevard also connects with Power Street and nearby downtown routes.

Reaching the location in free roam: steps

  1. 01
    Travel into Downtown Los Santos.
  2. 02
    Enter Pillbox Hill.
  3. 03
    Follow Power Street through the high-rise financial district.
  4. 04
    Look for the large Union Depository tower and its substantial lower-level road structures.
  5. 05
    Use Low Power Street and the connected ramps if approaching from below.

Story Mode access

The bank does not become a normal enterable business after the player reaches it. Meaningful access is tied mainly to:

The player cannot simply walk into the Union Depository, open an account or start the final heist early.

Story Mode access

Practical exploration route

This route shows the relationship between the tower, the lower-level road system and the surrounding financial district without confusing the wider Pillbox Hill neighbourhood with the bank itself.

---

For a sightseeing route in free roam

  1. 01
    Start at Pillbox Hill’s main roads.
  2. 02
    Drive along Power Street and identify the tower.
  3. 03
    Circle the exterior to locate the lower road levels.
  4. 04
    Follow Low Power Street through the lower structures.
  5. 05
    Continue towards the surrounding downtown roads rather than trying to force entry through locked doors.
  6. 06
    If exploring with a helicopter, view the tower and nearby skyscrapers from above, but do not expect rooftop access to reproduce the heist interiors.

Story-associated characters

The following characters are directly associated with the Story Mode Union Depository plot:

Lester plans the operation, while Michael, Franklin and Trevor carry it out. The final heist follows the group’s reconciliation and the resolution of several conflicts involving the FIB, Merryweather and Devin Weston.

Story-associated characters

Ordinary NPCs

Outside missions, the area contains ordinary downtown pedestrians, office workers, motorists, security personnel and police units appropriate to Los Santos’ financial district. These NPCs are not named residents of the Union Depository and should not be treated as permanent bank employees unless a mission identifies them as such.

During the heist, some apparently ordinary security and transport personnel become mission-specific actors, including:

Their behaviour is scripted for the mission and does not represent a persistent faction system in free roam.

---

The Union Depository has unusually strong security because it stores government bullion. The location is protected by both internal guards and a dedicated police response. The bank’s security is therefore different from a normal Fleeca or convenience-store robbery.

Internal security

The Subtle approach depends on disguises and controlling the bank’s security process. The Obvious approach accepts that the robbery will become a public armed confrontation.

LSPD response

Once the robbery escalates, the player faces armed LSPD units and increasingly serious pursuit. The Obvious approach is especially combat-heavy, with police and military-style resistance forming around the bank and escape route.

The precise enemy sequence depends on the mission approach and the player’s crew choices. It is safer to regard enemy placement as mission-scripted, not as a permanent set of enemies waiting in the building.

Merryweather involvement

Merryweather appears in the wider endgame conflict connected with the protagonists and the Union Depository robbery. Their appearance is not evidence that Merryweather normally operates the bank. They are a separate private military organisation drawn into the story’s final confrontations.

---

Surveying the Score

Surveying the Score is the reconnaissance mission for the Union Depository. Michael, Franklin, Trevor and Lester examine the tower and its surroundings while planning the final robbery. It establishes the building as a major target and allows the crew to study access, security and escape considerations.

The mission is important because the final heist is not an isolated event. It is the result of the protagonists’ earlier work, Lester’s planning and the political pressure placed on Michael and Trevor.

Planning the Big Score

At the planning stage, the player chooses between two approaches:

The Subtle approach involves intercepting Securicars, taking their occupants hostage and using the vehicles to enter the bank under the appearance of legitimate security work. The gold is then transferred to modified Gauntlet muscle cars.

The Obvious approach uses an industrial cutter to reach the vault from underground. Trevor’s helicopter and a train are used in the extraction plan, while Michael provides the diversion at the front of the bank.

Planning the Big Score

ApproachMain ideaPreparation
SubtleImpersonate security personnel and remove the gold through controlled transportStingers and three Gauntlet preparation missions
ObviousDistract the bank, breach the vault from below and fight outDriller, Sidetracked and Getaway Vehicle

Preparation missions

Subtle approach

The three Gauntlet missions involve locating and modifying getaway muscle cars. The cars are not random replacements for the named mission vehicles. They are specific preparation objectives required for the approach.

Obvious approach

Driller obtains the industrial cutter. Sidetracked deals with the train required for the extraction plan. Getaway Vehicle prepares the vehicle that must be placed for the finale.

Subtle approach

Obvious approach

The Big Score

The Big Score is the Union Depository finale and the final major heist of GTA V. Both approaches aim to steal the bank’s gold reserve, but the missions play very differently.

Subtle approach walkthrough

The Subtle route is not completely peaceful. Once the operation is compromised, the crew must fight through police resistance and protect the bullion. Its advantage is that the initial entry and removal of the gold are controlled rather than openly explosive.

Obvious approach walkthrough

The Obvious approach is more openly violent and places greater emphasis on firefights, vehicle survival and maintaining control during the escape. IGN’s walkthrough describes Michael’s diversion at the bank while Franklin drills through the vault wall and Trevor handles the airlift element.

---

Subtle approach walkthrough

  1. 01
    Complete the Stingers preparation mission.
  2. 02
    Locate and modify all three required Gauntlets.
  3. 03
    Choose the crew carefully, especially the driver.
  4. 04
    Intercept the Securicars.
  5. 05
    Control or remove the guards and enter the Union Depository under the disguise plan.
  6. 06
    Move the bullion into the prepared getaway cars.
  7. 07
    Use the planned escape route.
  8. 08
    Deploy the stingers when necessary to control the police pursuit.
  9. 09
    Transfer or protect the gold until the final hand-off.

Obvious approach walkthrough

  1. 01
    Complete Driller, Sidetracked and Getaway Vehicle.
  2. 02
    Arrive at the Union Depository with the selected crew.
  3. 03
    Take control of Michael’s diversion at the bank frontage.
  4. 04
    Use the underground cutter route to breach the vault.
  5. 05
    Load the gold while the alarm and police response escalate.
  6. 06
    Switch between the protagonists as the game directs.
  7. 07
    Protect the transport vehicles and extraction route.
  8. 08
    Fight through the LSPD and other hostile forces.
  9. 09
    Reach the final escape sequence and complete the hand-off.

Gross take

These are not the amount each protagonist receives. Crew cuts, preparation costs and losses affect the final individual payouts. Poor crew choices can reduce the take substantially, particularly if an inexperienced gunman drops part of the gold or a driver performs badly.

Crew selection

Crew quality matters more in The Big Score than in most earlier heists because the total value is so high.

Taliana Martinez is commonly recommended as a strong driver when available, but her availability depends on completing her roadside random event earlier in the game. Do not assume she is available if that event has not been completed.

Missability

The Union Depository itself is not permanently lost before the finale, but supporting opportunities can be:

Make a manual save before Planning the Big Score if you want to compare both approaches without replaying a large section of the campaign.

---

Union Depository Contract

GTA Online includes a separate activity called the Union Depository Contract. It is accessed through an Auto Shop and belongs to the Contracts mission series. It is not the Story Mode finale and does not involve the original three-protagonist plan in the same way. The Contract is structured as a smaller operation with preparation work and a finale, rather than as the concluding mission of GTA V’s single-player campaign.

Armoured-truck activities

The Union Depository can also appear as a destination or associated location in GTA Online armoured-truck activities. These events are separate from The Big Score and should not be used as evidence that the Story Mode heist is repeatable in ordinary free roam.

Continuity warning

GTA Online’s chronology and later dialogue create continuity complications around whether the Union Depository has already been robbed. Some Online content refers to the building being targeted or robbed in contexts that do not line up neatly with Trevor’s Story Mode comments. For a clean guide, treat:

---

The Union Depository does not have one confirmed one-to-one real-world counterpart. Its overall appearance combines elements associated with American financial skyscrapers. The tower’s height, setbacks and hexagonal footprint have been compared with buildings such as the Gas Company Tower and Mellon Bank Center, while parts of its design have also been likened to other large American office towers. These are design inspirations, not in-game identities.

Real-world references kept separate

These should not be listed as buildings inside Los Santos. They are real-world references used to discuss the design.

---

For a complete Story Mode visit, check the following:

---

Can the Union Depository be robbed outside The Big Score?

Not as a normal, player-initiated Story Mode activity. The main robbery is tied to The Big Score. The building can be visited and examined in free roam, but its meaningful interior and vault access are mission-controlled.

Is the Union Depository in Pillbox Hill or Downtown Los Santos?

Both descriptions can be correct at different levels. Pillbox Hill is the immediate named neighbourhood, while Downtown Los Santos is the broader central-city area.

Is Power Street the Union Depository’s full location?

No. Power Street is the most useful road reference, but the bank occupies a larger complex of tower, lower levels, underground routes and surrounding streets.

Which approach pays more?

The Obvious approach has the slightly higher gross figure in the commonly documented mission values, at approximately $201.6 million compared with approximately $201.3 million for Subtle. The final personal payout still depends on crew costs and losses.

Which approach is easier?

The answer depends on preference. Subtle has more preparation work and requires careful control of the security operation. Obvious is more direct but creates a larger firefight and a more dangerous escape.

Can Franklin, Michael or Trevor buy the building?

No. The Union Depository is not a purchasable property or usable financial service in Story Mode.

Is the GTA Online Union Depository Contract the same heist?

No. It is a separate Online Contract associated with the Auto Shop system. It reuses the location and theme but does not replace or replay the Story Mode finale.

---

The Union Depository is well documented as a Story Mode landmark, Pillbox Hill building and heist target. However, the game does not expose a complete official architectural floor plan or a definitive list of every internal room. Names such as “vault”, “lobby”, “underground levels” and “garage approaches” are therefore used only where they are supported by mission play or location documentation.

The exact placement of every background storefront, decorative office and non-enterable façade element around the tower is not consistently catalogued in the available sources. This guide does not claim an exhaustive directory of every unnamed or decorative object in the wider Pillbox Hill district. It separates the verified Union Depository complex from neighbouring Pillbox Hill landmarks rather than treating the whole neighbourhood as part of the bank.

Sources