Insurance giant Prudential Financial is restructuring its office footprint in Newark, its longtime home. After more than 150 years in Brick City, the company has proposed closing two office towers, including the 24-story Prudential Plaza office complex and the building at 213 Washington Street.
According to an opinion piece in NJ.com by the firm’s CEO, Andrew Sullivan, Prudential will consolidate its global headquarters at its Prudential Tower at 655 Broad Street and lease space elsewhere in the city. He added that several of the firm’s buildings are underutilized and that consolidating its headquarters will let the company invest more resources in employees, technology, and customer infrastructure.
Sullivan reiterated many times in the opinion piece that the firm does not intend to leave Newark. However, a report from NJ.com said that the firm is slated to lay off 125 workers in Newark between November 28 and December 31. The notice to the state’s Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification system was made public the same day the proposed building sales were announced, and months after Prudential announced 89 layoffs effective September 18 and 57 layoffs effective July 17.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka told NJ.com that the company has also reiterated it does not intend to leave the city.
SJP Properties developed the 20-story Prudential tower, which opened in 2015. A report in NJBIZ says that the building spans 740,000 square feet and cost $444 million to develop. In 2012, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority granted a $210 million tax break for the building’s construction.
An archive from the Newark Archives Project states that Prudential’s first home was located at 812 Broad Street. John F. Dryden founded the Prudential Insurance Company of America in 1875, and it was named Prudential Friendly Society until 1877. When the firm first opened, it was intended to provide insurance for individuals, but group policies quickly became a major part of the business. The company now serves about 50 million customers worldwide.
Prudential’s main building, located at the corner of Broad and Bank streets, was developed in 1892. The building was torn down in 1956, and Prudential Plaza opened on the site in 1960.
The building at 213 Washington Street spans 21 stories and was erected in 1942.
