Citizens Bank will bring about 250 jobs to Legacy Place, and Dedham, when it moves to the $200 million open-air mall in mid-2010, according to a bank spokesman.
The bank will take up essentially the entire inventory of office space at the high-profile project after it relocates employees from its Norwood and Westwood offices to create a “hub” for its consumer and business banking, consumer finance, and marketing departments.
With the move, the bank will close its offices at 725 Canton St. in Norwood and 315 University Ave. in Westwood, said Citizens spokesman Mike Jones. He said there would be no layoffs as a result.
“Most importantly it was bringing together colleagues who work in different locations, but whose work is connected,” Jones said of the impetus behind Citizens’ move. “Having employees from various business lines that work closely together under the same roof” will increase collaboration and productivity and promote innovation, he added.
Citizens Bank has signed leases with W/S Development Associates to occupy about 50,000 square feet of office and retail space at Legacy Place, including 37,500 square feet on the second floor of the Pavilion Building in the middle of the project, and a smaller second-floor space in the building next to the Providence Highway-Elm Street intersection that is home to P.F. Chang’s China Bistro.
As W/S Development announced Citizens Bank’s addition to its Dedham tenant roster last week, Neil Grassie, the head of property for Citizens Financial Group, cited as draws the “efficient, open-plan” office space available at Legacy Place, its convenient location, and “amenities that will provide a wonderful work-life balance.”
The 675,000-square-foot project features Whole Foods Market, a high-end movie theater, restaurants including Aquitaine and the Met Bar & Grill, and many retail outlets such as Brookstone, City Sports, Fossil, Stellabella Toys, Victoria’s Secret and Yankee Candle.
Citizens will also open a 3,000-square-foot bank branch and ATMs on the site. The jobs figure of about 250 includes people working at that branch and the relocated employees, Jones said.
Dedham’s economic development director, Karen O’Connell, said Citizens’ impending arrival is “a win-win all the way around.”
She noted that second-story office space “has a higher vacancy rate in our region, in general, than commercial retail space. In this current economic climate, it’s wonderful to have a quality tenant like that, that’s not only going to have a presence but bring in good jobs and spur the economy even more.”
And with the Citizens employees based in Dedham, Legacy Place shops and the local economy will benefit, she added: “That’s bringing a block of new customers into Dedham.”
Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
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