The Fox Theatre and Comerica Park will be getting a new neighbor. Chemical Financial Corporation, Michigan’s largest headquartered bank and the holding company for Chemical Bank, announced plans to move to the heart of the Motor City in a new 20-story building that will be built at the corner of Woodward Avenue and Elizabeth Street. The move is expected to bring 500 jobs to the city.
Chemical Bank will immediately relocate its headquarters to its current location in downtown Detroit on West Fort Street. Detroit has not had a major bank headquarters since Comerica Inc. moved its home base to Dallas more than a decade ago.
Chairman of Chemical Financial Corporation Gary Torgow, Chemical Bank CEO Thomas Shafer, Chemical Bank Chief Diversity Officer and Director of Strategic Partnerships Donnell R. White, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Detroit Council President Brenda Jones, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, Rev. Wendell Anthony, President of the Detroit Branch of the NAACP, and a host of other dignitaries and Chemical Bank employees gathered under a tent at the future site of the headquarters Wednesday morning for the official announcement.
“Chemical Bank, Michigan’s largest headquartered bank, is excited and pleased to be a part of the dynamic growth and success of Detroit,” said Torgow, a long time native Detroiter. “We are honored to be in a position to bring a bank headquarters back to the city of Detroit and become Detroit’s hometown bank.”
The new building is slated to have not only office space, but also retail, parking and luxury condominiums. The 400,00 square feet building is expected to be completed by early 2021.
“Chemical Bank is a great banking partner for the city’s finances and a great community partner, now headquartered in the City of Detroit,” said Mayor Mike Duggan. “I am very excited to welcome Detroit’s new hometown bank.”
Chemical Bank, which has been headquartered in Midland, Michigan since its founding in 1917, grew significantly when it joined forces with Talmer Bank and Trust in 2016, a bank founded by two Midwesterners determined to continue their grandfather’s legacies of enriching the lives of their communities by building a different kind of bank. That merger made Chemical Bank the state’s largest headquartered bank with more than $20 billion in assets, approximately 3,300 employees, and 212 banking centers across Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. The move is not expected to affect Chemical Bank’s presence in Midland. It plans to retain its current Midland workforce of over 500 and its presence in that community as it expands into Detroit. Midland will continue to be the home of its corporate operations center.
“We are excited about our continued strong ties to Midland and believe our operational infrastructure which is based there will continue to benefit from our increased transaction volumes from our growth markets,” said Shafer. “Detroit is the financial hub for advanced manufacturing and mobility as well as a growing nexus for young entrepreneurs looking to leverage the city’s rich history of innovation and hard work and Chemical Bank is excited to help them build our economy and invest in Michigan’s future. With our legacy markets as our foundation, Chemical Bank’s continued expansion into the Detroit market establishes us as a leading financial institution in the Midwest.”
Along with announcing its move to downtown Detroit, Chemical Bank was also announced as the city’s primary banking partner, due to its strong ties to Detroit. In partnership with First Independence Bank, Chemical Bank will provide banking services such as deposit, receivables and, payment solutions.
“We wanted to make sure that Detroit residents are going to have some benefit —including access to capital and opportunity,” said Detroit City Councilmember Janee Ayers, chairwoman of the Council’s Budget, Audit and Finance Committee. “These banks have shown they are dedicated to Detroit’s future and doing business equitably so that all Detroiters can share in the benefits of the city’s recovery.”
The City of Detroit will continue to do banking business with JP Morgan Chase, which started over 80 years ago, and Fifth Third Bank will provide investment custodial services.
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