M&T Bank nearing selection of site for its new Syracuse office

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — M&T Bank is getting close to selecting the new site of its Central New York regional headquarters office and main local branch to replace its current historic home overlooking Clinton Square, which it is selling.

Allen Naples, M&T Bank’s Central New York regional president, tells CNYBJ that the bank has narrowed the search down to three sites in the city of Syracuse after looking at a total of 12 locations. The bank is negotiating with all three building owners. Naples declined to name any of the sites.

M&T Bank is looking for about 30,000 square feet of space and hopes to consolidate its staff of about 130 employees onto a single floor. Its current office has staff spread across different floors.

“Having everybody on one floor is really what we’re looking for,” Naples says. The bank wants an open-floor design with “a lot of ambient light.”

Whichever site M&T Bank picks, the bank expects there will be renovation work or a construction build-out required. The bank hopes to be in its new home by the end of the first quarter of 2020, according to Naples.

M&T Bank is “down to the finals” on the process of finding a buyer for its current, regional headquarters office at 101 S. Salina St. The building has about 120,000 square feet of space in total. The bank is also selling the attached parking garage that has more than 500 parking spaces.

“We’ve had quite a few bidders and are analyzing that right now,” Naples says. He declined to disclose the price or the bidders, but says, “We are satisfied with the prices that came back.”

Naples says bidders were required to disclose their plans for the building and their experience and expertise in renovating historic buildings like this. The buyers also “have to be committed to the city of Syracuse and everything that’s going on in the city,” he adds.

M&T Bank may lease back its current office for a period of time until its new location is ready, according to Naples.

 M&T Bank is working with Cushman & Wakefield/Pyramid Brokerage Co. on the building sale.

Buffalo–based M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) operates branches in New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. M&T Bank ranks number one in deposit market share in the 16-county Central New York region.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com