Chemical in for city banking; who's out?
The move of Midland-based Chemical Bank's headquarters to Detroit — and the news that the city government would move bank accounts to Chemical — brought up some memories last week of another headquarters move.
In one of the biggest corporate recruitment victories for the city in recent memory, Chemical Bank (NASDAQ: CHFC), currently based in Midland, plans to move more than 500 executives and other employees into a new high-rise at Woodward Avenue and Elizabeth Street in downtown Detroit. The building would be next to the Ilitch family's new Little Caesars Global Resource Center.
Flash back to 2007: Comerica Inc. stunned its hometown when the bank announced it would move its headquarters to Dallas.
In response, then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick decided it would be a good time to start shopping around for a better banking deal, according to his memoir. The city wound up moving about $90 million in accounts from Comerica to Detroit-based First Independence Bank.
However, the city still kept a substantial share of its accounts at Comerica.
This time around, it's a bank headquarters coming to town, and money going into that bank.
Which bank lost out on the main body of Detroit government's banking business?
According to the city, it is Comerica.