The entire building at the corner of Broad Street and East Bergen Place is for lease, according to broker CBRE. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Wells Fargo is shutting down its business in Red Bank, vacating one of the town’s most visible commercial properties.
The company will close its consumer banking operations at 303 Broad Street at the end of August, according to a notice sent to customers.
The bank’s drive-thru ATM Tuesday morning. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
The branch and ATM at the corner of East Bergen Place “will permanently close August 28,” the May 17 notice said. No explanation was given.
A company spokesman did not immediately respond to a redbankgreen request for additional information.
In December, 2022, Wells Fargo announced that it would consolidate its operations into a portion of the 26,000-square-foot building while retaining the drive-thru service lanes and drive-thru ATM.
According to the website of commercial real broker CBRE, the “full building” is now available for lease through senior vice president Suzanne Macnow.
The building, which sits on a 3.5-acre property, is owned by Grace Acquisitions NJ LLC, in Lakewood and is assessed at $3.89 million.
The Colonial Revival-style structure was erected as a banking operation in 1965 and has been home to a succession of industry players since then. Wells Fargo has leased the property since 2004.
Wells Fargo obtained borough planning board approval in March, 2021, for a new plan to light the sprawling site, which wraps around three houses on East Bergen Place. The changes were needed in order to meet state regulations for security lighting, a manager testified.
At the time, there was buzz about the possibility that the property might someday become a new home to the municipal government, replacing 90 Monmouth Street as borough hall. As reported by redbankgreen, the Redevelopment Agency had authorized an architect to “do a concept design” to see if the site could accommodate borough offices, the police department and municipal court.
But the idea, like everything else the agency was working on, was mothballed when the borough council dissolved the agency in 2022.
Wells Fargo has another branch one mile away, on Prospect Avenue in Little Silver.
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