CFG Bank finalizes deal to move headquarters to Baltimore Peninsula
The long-anticipated deal to move CFG Bank’s headquarters to Baltimore Peninsula has been finalized.
The bank will move into 97,000 square feet of space at 2455 House St. by the end of the year, officials said Wednesday morning. Details of the CFG lease deal first surfaced in mid-September, even as negotiations remained ongoing for the anchor tenant of the seven-story, red-brick tower. House Street will be the new name for the street formerly known as Banner Street, a spokesperson for the development said.
The 15-year lease is the largest to be signed to date at the 235-acre project formerly known as Port Covington. The redevelopment of the former industrial peninsula off Hanover Street was envisioned nearly a decade ago by Under Armour founder Kevin Plank whose Sagamore Ventures is a major investor along with master developers MAG Partners and MacFarlane Partners.
“It speaks volumes that a company like CFG Bank, a pillar of the Baltimore business community, has selected Baltimore Peninsula for its future home,” Plank said, in a statement.
Bill Wiedel, CEO of CFG Bank, said the move to South Baltimore from the current HQ near Mt. Washington and the city-Baltimore County line would allow the bank to expand in the coming years including a foray into consumer lending. The bank has only two branches, in Fells Point and Timonium, and is currently headquartered in a large building just over the line in Baltimore County near Lake Roland.
CFG’s move to Baltimore Peninsula comes as the bank is also raising its local profile with the sponsorship of Baltimore Arena downtown. The arena is expected to reopen in February after a $200 million overhaul by Oak View Group.
“As our businesses continued to grow, we were in search of a new location that could accommodate our current and future expansion, provide an environment to foster our team’s entrepreneurial spirit, and support the reinvigoration of Baltimore,” Wiedel said. “As we design and build our new headquarters, we are creating a truly unique space where all our employees will thrive and work together, grow, and achieve our own goals and those of our clients.”
Wiedel said in an interview with the Baltimore Business Journal last month the space at Baltimore Peninsula is being designed to entice most of its 240 employees to come into the office at least three days a week. Amenities and incentives will include a large kitchen space, rooftop deck access, 5,000-square-foot employee lounge and golf, soccer and baseball simulators as well as collaborative work stations.
“We are thinking of every detail down to the colors, fragrance and acoustics,” Wiedel said.
In addition to CFG Bank’s new headquarters, the new office space will also hold the headquarters for the Capital Funding Group and the Jack and Nancy Dwyer Workforce Development Center, Inc.
CFG Bank is among the largest commercial lenders and private companies in Greater Baltimore with $2 billion in real estate loans and $2.5 billion in commercial and industrial loans as of June 30, 2022, according to Baltimore Business Journal research. CFG is part of Capital Funding Group, an umbrella corporation owned by local businessman Jack Dwyer.
Scooter Monroe, vice president of office leasing at MAG Partners, and real estate advisor Ed Guiltinan helped to close the CFG lease with brokers Antony Gross and Anne Marie Paintsil of JLL. Kevin Haus and Matt Haas, also with JLL, represented CFG Bank. Design firm NewGround is working with CFG to create its new space.
Another office tenant, Chambers Co., signed a lease at the Baltimore Peninsula last year for 9,000 square feet of space at Rye Street Market.
BBJ reporter Garrett Dvorkin contributed reporting to this article.
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