NEWARK, NJ—City National Bank, one of the ten largest African-American-owned banks in the country and a Newark-born institution, has leased a new 13,000-square-foot location in Newark's historic Hahne & Co. Department Store redevelopment project.

The bank's decision to house its headquarters at Hahne & Co. adds support for efforts to revive downtown Newark and indicates a further commitment from Newark-based companies to support the city, according to L+M Development Partners, which has been redeveloping the complex in a partnership with Prudential Financial and Goldman Sachs.

"We are proud to welcome City National to the mix," says Jon Cortell, vice president of development, L+M Development Partners.  "It is appropriate that this iconic building will now include a local banking institution that has been, and will remain, a vital part of the Newark community."

L+M, Prudential, Goldman Sachs and Citi broke ground on the $174 million renovation of the Hahne & Co. building in downtown Newark in June 2015. As previously reported by GlobeSt.com, in addition to City National Bank, the 400,000-square-foot building will feature 160 mixed-income residential units, a 30,000-square-foot flagship Whole Foods Market, the new home of the Rutgers University Department of Arts, Culture and Media and tens of thousands of square feet in other retail and commercial space. The bank is scheduled to open in 2017.

"City National Bank is proud to be a Newark institution, established and headquartered here in 1973," says Preston Pinkett III, chairman and CEO of City National Bank. "With this move, we are able to reaffirm our commitment to mission and place, as well as, support significant redevelopment efforts in our city."

The bank recently completed a $20 million recapitalization, an important step in the bank's turnaround following difficulties it encountered during the 2008 economic downturn. Support from several of the Hahne & Co. redevelopment partners will enable City National — one of the ten largest African-American-owned banks in the country — to remain the only regulated community development financial institution (CDFI) headquartered in New Jersey.    

"We have been a proud partner in the transformation of the Hahne & Co. building, which will bring new life to Newark's downtown and new jobs, housing, and opportunities for the entire community," says Lata Reddy, vice president of corporate social responsibility at Prudential Financial and president of The Prudential Foundation. "Prudential has called Newark home for 140 years, and we recently opened a 20-story office tower across the street from the Hahne & Co. building. We welcome City National Bank as a neighbor providing critical banking services to the Newark community."

"We are thrilled to welcome City National Bank to Hahne & Co.," said Margaret Anadu, managing director in the Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group. "We believe that successful economic development begins with local institutions like City National Bank, an organization that is committed to financial inclusion and community revitalization in Newark."

"City National Bank will be an ideal neighbor for us in the Hahne & Co. building," said Nancy Cantor, chancellor of Rutgers University – Newark, whose university-community arts incubator, Express Newark, will occupy approximately 50,000 square feet in the iconic downtown Newark facility.  "Express Newark is all about leveraging the arts and humanities for community capacity building, which aligns perfectly with City National's long history and ongoing mission of investing in the diverse talent of Greater Newark.  We can't wait to see what kinds of great things this new proximity between us will enable us to do in collaboration with cross-sector partners and Newark residents to tap that vast talent pool."

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