The Trenton Times published the following article on January 29, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Wells Fargo cites ‘space issue’ for ending 10-year Trenton lease early, moving regional HQ

By Erin Duffy/The Times of Trenton 
on January 29, 2013 at 10:11 AM

TRENTON — Six years ago, the arrival of banking giant Wachovia was considered a coup for Trenton.

The company agreed to relocate its southern New Jersey regional headquarters from Ewing to Trenton, signing a 10-year lease for three floors in a brand-new, if star-crossed, building on East Front Street next to a new parking garage. Officials said the bank wanted to help blaze a path for Trenton’s revitalization, and the hope was more corporate business would follow Wachovia’s lead.

But there was no such corporate sector groundswell and the bank, acquired by Wells Fargo in 2008, is now on the move again.

Company spokesman Kevin Friedlander said the company will move its regional headquarters from Trenton to West Windsor in mid-July, leaving the city’s downtown and its 46,000-square-foot space there for smaller digs at the Carnegie Center office park off Route 1.

Friedlander said the Trenton office employed 60 office and administrative staff, down from the 125 employees who first moved there in 2006. Wells Fargo now uses only half the space it leases in the East Front Street building, Friedlander said.

“It’s a business decision,” he said. “We’re always reviewing our options and once again we’re not leaving the city as far as our presence is concerned. Our main concern is our customers and that they have access to banking products and services. That has not changed at all.”

The company signed a 10-year lease for the Trenton office building in 2006 but exercised an early termination option with Matrix Development Group., the building’s owner, he said. Wells Fargo signed a new lease in December for a 20,000-square-foot office at 302 Carnegie Center.

“Once again, it’s just a space issue and we’re always reviewing our business operations and looking for ways to make the most effective use of our properties so we can operate efficiently,” Friedlander said.

The bank’s four Trenton branches and the 40 employees will not be affected by the change, he said. The decision to relocate to Trenton in 2006 was heralded by city officials and boosters who claimed Trenton’s downtown — nearly deserted after state workers leave at 5 p.m. — was in need of an injection of private business. At the time, Wachovia was the first major corporate headquarters to settle in the city in decades.

The company became the big-name tenant for the 32 E. Front Street building, which faced construction delays and lost its former anchor tenant, law firm Hill-Wallack, before Matrix took over and finished the $14 million construction job.

Former Mayor Doug Palmer, who helped broker the original Wachovia relocation, said the move was disappointing.

“I’m very sad to hear that,” he said. “Trenton Economic Development Corp., our administration and a lot of people in Matrix and Wachovia worked hard to make this happen. I don’t know the reasons but it’s my hope Matrix will be able to find a tenant because that is certainly in a very prime location for the city and can help anchor other developments in that area if marketed properly.”

The state Schools Development Authority shares office space in the building. Anne LaBate, the building’s realtor, did not return calls for comment.

J.R. Capasso, the city’s acting economic development director, said last week that he’d been hearing rumors about a Wells Fargo departure for a year but wasn’t too concerned, despite the glut of vacant office space in Central Jersey.

“The office market is flat all over, but if they go, it presents another opportunity,” he said in an e-mail. “The important thing is to try to get other private sector organizations in there who work late — to help get us off of “state time” downtown. It’s a good location, with adjacent parking garage, so I’m not too worried about that site.”

“We’ll find another tenant for that building,” Trenton Downtown Association Director Christian Martin said. “I would say it’s an opportunity to bring another corporate partner into the downtown.”

Contact Erin Duffy at (609) 989-5723 or eduffy@njtimes.com.