Summit’s Central Retail Business District is a tremendous draw for a community experience for many residents, businesses and visitors to the area. Five years ago, Peapack-Gladstone Bank renovated and occupied the lovely Victorian building at the corner of Woodland and DeForest Avenues and has been making a tremendous commitment to community banking in a hometown way ever since. The bank’s move into Summit was an extension of its 90-year history of consistent service to community and a foreshadowing of the post Great Recession imperative to build a solid banking presence on foundations of trust, local market knowledge and a personal approach to the convenience of branch banking. Ever since its entry into Summit, Peapack-Gladstone Bank has been a dedicated member of The Rotary Club of Summit and New Providence, The Suburban Chamber of Commerce and an active participant in many of the Summit Downtown, Inc. events.

As another example of stalwart commitment to community, Peapack-Gladstone Bank financed the purchase and renovation of the 1917 brick building, adjacent to the Summit Promenade Park, by Summit residents and bank customers, Annette and Terry Dwyer.

“It was a counter-cyclical transaction at the bottom of the economic recession when both residential and commercial real estate transactions were center stage of the economic downturn,” commented Randall Williams, vice president of  commercial lending at Peapack-Gladstone Bank, “We listened to the motivations and plans of the buyers to renovate and restore this building, and recognized their dedication to the arts of all kinds for youth, families and small business start-ups, and their desire to contribute to the fabric of the local economy.”  He continued, “The fact that the owners were counseled by the NJ Small Business Development Center at Kean University added an extra element of confidence that the transaction was well thought through. It was a perfect fit with our priorities in communities where we have a presence and we are delighted to see the building and its uses on a positive trajectory.”

“We have met all of the tenants who will occupy space in the building”, said Thomas Kasper, vice president of specialized banking for Peapack-Gladstone Bank, “and they are all connected to Summit in some way. Many are parents of children in the public school system bringing their products and services into retail space in an affordable way or who otherwise have a spouse or significant other employed in Summit; they are artisans who have long seen Summit as a “destination” for the arts of all kinds: visual arts, hand-crafted arts, music and performing arts, culinary arts and literary arts.”  He continued, “There is also a strong community spirit exemplified by each of them. It is important for us to know our customers and to strive to meet their needs.”

The building will be branded as “MONDO^© Summit…EAT.SHOP.PLAY.”, a new place to spend leisure time in Summit and will be reflective of a “world” in which industry, innovation and fun will thrive.  A Steering Committee of community stakeholders will embark on a community-wide fundraising effort to “refresh and reinvigorate” the adjacent Summit Promenade Park. This will further benefit the Central Retail Business District.

About Peapack-Gladstone Bank

Established in 1921, Peapack-Gladstone Bank is a $1.58 billion asset, wholly owned community bank that offers a full range of quality banking products and services to businesses and residents of Essex, Somerset, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Morris and Union counties in New Jersey, through 23 full-service branches, an online branch and a trust division, PGB Trust & Investments.  The bank offers a personal and business banking product line as well as consumer and commercial lending products and services.  For additional information about Peapack-Gladstone Bank or PGB Trust & Investments, or to open an account online, visit www.pgbank.com or call 908-234-0700.  Member FDIC.  Equal Housing Lender.