Citizens Bank plans to build Johnston campus

Citizens Bank plans to consolidate several Rhode Island offices at a multi-million dollar campus in Johnston, officials announced Wednesday, with the new facility’s opening slated for 2018.

During a press conference at the Johnston Senior Center, representatives of the bank, town, and state revealed designs for the campus to be built on the west side of Route 295, near the Greater Rhode Island Baptist Temple on Greenville Avenue. Officials did not disclose the project’s specific price tag.

“I’m pleased to announce that later this year we will break ground on a new, 420,000-square-foot corporate campus right here in Johnston,” said Bruce Van Saun, Citizens chairman and CEO.

“The doors will open on the new campus in 2018. It will house more than 3,200 colleagues who serve a wide range of activities,” he added. “It will include a call center, operations and technology group, and various corporate functions. The Johnston campus will be just off I-295, very convenient to One Citizens Plaza [in Providence], which will remain our headquarters building, and it’s also very convenient for many of our colleagues who live up and down the I-95 corridor.”

Citizens has a long history in Rhode Island, dating back to the founding of High Street Bank in 1828, which went on to establish Citizens Savings Bank in 1871. In November 2015, Citizens Financial Group became an independent, publicly traded company, separating from its parent company, the Royal Bank of Scotland, to become a top-performing regional bank.

With $138.2 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2015, the bank has 17,700 employees, 3,200 ATMs, and approximately 1,200 branches in 11 states in the New England and the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. Citizens offers mortgage lending, auto lending, student lending and commercial banking services.

“With the Citizens Bank project coming to Johnston, it becomes a real game changer for our town,” Mayor Joseph Polisena said. “I, along with the Johnston Town Council and state delegation, worked very hard to ensure that this much sought after project will land in [Johnston]. Citizens is our latest new company to invest their dollars and their future in our great town.”

“We set our foundation here in Rhode Island, we’ve launched what has become one of the nation’s largest commercial and retail banks out of Rhode Island, and we service, in some way or another, almost five million of our customer base right here in Rhode Island,” Van Saun said. “We’re also honored to employ more than 5,000 of our almost 18,000 employees in Rhode Island, and all of those colleagues are deeply committed to taking care of all those that we serve. So all in all, I’d say that Citizens and Rhode Island combination has been mutually beneficial. Therefore, it’s only natural that we want to recommit to Rhode Island and all that it has to offer.”

Van Saun provided a background on Citizens’ decision to move to Johnston in an effort to highlight the benefits that the new campus will provide his company, clients, and the community. Stating that Citizens’ lease for its large facility on Sockanosset Cross Road in Cranston is set to expire in 2018, the company explored options, from staying in Cranston and moving to another building to building their own, new facility.

“As we moved through the decision making process, we had great input from many local leaders and business partners,” Van Saun said. “In the end, it became increasingly clear that the best option was to build a campus that suits all of our needs, that suits our culture, is very cost effective, and puts us in a better position to establish Citizens as a top performing regional bank over the long term.”

Citizens associates who currently work at the Cranston facility will move to the new campus upon completion, as will certain groups who now work in East Providence, Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick, and at the bank’s Smithfield location. Citizens’ Providence location will remain as its headquarters, although some teams currently located there will also move to the Johnston campus.

“It’s a great day for Rhode Island and it’s a great day for Citizens,” Gov. Gina Raimondo said. “Thank you to Citizens for doubling down on Rhode Island and choosing Johnston as a place for what will be such a magnificent facility. This was a team effort we all had to pull together here – the company, the town, the state, private developers, coming together to get something great done. Today we’re celebrating a real Rhode Island success story. Citizens belongs in Rhode Island. Citizens is part of who we are, it’s a great brand. I couldn’t be more grateful and proud that you’ve chosen to continue to invest in Rhode Island.”

Van Saun said the move will allow the company to serve customers more efficiently, as the planned technology and infrastructure installations will be state of the art, and the new facility’s space will allow employees to work more collaboratively.

“The colleagues themselves are going to really like the features. We’re in the early stages of planning, but we’re confident there will be a wide range of appealing amenities-a fitness center, a central cafeteria, flexible work spaces, green space and lots more,” Van Saun said.

Plans for construction of a new exit off of Route 295 are progressing, with expenses being shared between the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and Citizens.

“This is a great company, and with great leadership by the governor and leadership by the town to use the economic tools just to bring everything together,” state Rep. Stephen Ucci said. “The concept of building these ramps, getting it done in order to take that land locked piece of property and give it such a high use to the town is a testament of what happens when people work together.

The new facility will also come with outdoor recreational areas that will be open to the public.

“Our commitment to the community will shine through as well. In addition to the economic benefits, we plan to include trails and ball fields that will be open to the citizens of Rhode Island. We’ll also take advantage of new building practices to make the campus energy efficient. The building will help us increase productivity while minimizing additional run rate costs, with benefits to our shareholders and everyone we serve,” Van Saun said.

The projected improvements are seen as adding economic value for Johnston’s residents.

“This new facility will be state of the art, with millions invested in our town along with the infrastructure improvements that will benefit all of the residents in that area, not to mention that property values will increase,” Polisena said. “Construction of this huge endeavor will bring hundreds of construction jobs to our state and to our town, and will allow for improvements of our state roads and highways. We will continue to be known nationwide as Johnston being the best place to live, work and play.”

Other local leaders echoed the mayor’s sentiment.

“We are thrilled with this announcement,” U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin said. “Citizens clearly isn’t just a business in Rhode Island, they’re part of our fabric here, they’re part of our community. We’re just so thrilled that Citizens has doubled down and further invested its presence here in our state, both for the jobs that will remain here and the great things that they will do in our community.”

The Citizens campus was made possible in part by infrastructure improvements, such as the extension of sewer lines into the area by the Narragansett Bay Commission. A 20-year property tax agreement is pending approval from the Town Council.

“This is a good day for Johnston. We have this incredible, nationwide company that wants to locate a significant portion of there business here in town, and obviously we want to be sure it’s done properly,” said Town Council President Robert Russo, who represents the district where construction will take place. “They are going through different scenarios, and we want to be sure that the planning is done properly and has the least disturbance on the residents. Hopefully the town will benefit economically with jobs and economic development in the surrounding areas.”