Citizens considering building campus for 4,000 employees in R.I.

CITIZENS FINANCIAL Group Inc. is considering building a new campus somewhere in Rhode Island.
CITIZENS FINANCIAL Group Inc. is considering building a new campus somewhere in Rhode Island.

PROVIDENCE – With its lease on its Cranston facility expiring in 2018, Citizens Financial Group Inc. is considering building a new campus somewhere in Rhode Island for approximately 4,000 employees.
The facility, if built, would encompass one or two buildings and be between 480,000 and 500,000 square feet. Employees who work at the Cranston facility, along with locations in Smithfield and Warwick, would be moved to the new site.
The company’s downtown Providence headquarters would remain.
“The lease for our service and support facility in Cranston expires in 2018. We are exploring several options ranging from renewal to potentially consolidating some of our staff and back office functions at a new location in Rhode Island,” a statement released by Jim Hughes, Citizens’ spokesman, reads.
Hughes said no timetable has been set regarding a decision to build a new campus.
WPRI-Channel 12 reported that Citizens executives held meetings in Boston recently to hear from architects interested in the project, and are expected to make a decision regarding selection of a design team by Dec. 15.
Hughes said a data operations center in East Providence would remain in its current location and would not be relocated; branches also would not be affected.
Citizens employs 5,300 employees in Rhode Island, he said.
Various media outlets have reported throughout the year that Citizens is interested in a move to the vacant “Superman” building, which lost its last tenant, Bank of America, in 2013. Hughes said the company has never commented on the Superman building, which is on Westminster Street.
Citizens spun off from Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC last year. Citizens is the largest regional bank by deposit market share and is one of the state’s largest private employers. It has approximately 1,200 Citizens Bank branches in 11 states in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions.

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