Some Chase Operations May Move to New Jersey

Chase Manhattan Corp., one of the nation’s largest bank holding companies, may move nearly a third of its 16,000 employees from its New York headquarters to New Jersey, according to a published report.

The Wall Street Journal, quoting unnamed real estate and banking sources, said Chase Chairman Willard C. Butcher favors building a 1.5-million-square-foot facility in Jersey City, N.J., to house operations and technical employees.

His recommendations are expected to be made at a Sept. 21 board meeting, the sources said.

Chase spokesman Steven Rautenberg said Wednesday that the bank “has been looking for alternate sites for our back office but we haven’t reached a decision yet.”

“We’re looking . . . in New York as well as New Jersey,” he said.

New York Deputy Mayor Alair A. Townsend said Wednesday that the city was aware of Chase’s proposals to relocate and was making a last-ditch effort to persuade them to stay.

Chase’s corporate headquarters would remain in New York’s financial district, the Journal said.

“We’ve been talking with Chase for well over a year. . . . We’re still having discussions with them,” said Townsend, the city’s deputy mayor for finance and economic development.

She said she planned to deliver some final information on possible alternative sites in Brooklyn.

But the Journal story said that Chase and lawyers from the Lefrak organization, which is developing a complex in Jersey City, have already agreed on major terms.

After J. C. Penney Co. and Mobil Oil Co. moved their respective headquarters out of New York, the city initiated an aggressive campaign, complete with tax breaks and energy savings, to halt corporate defections.

The city sued American Telephone & Telegraph Co. to keep it from moving some employees to New Jersey and persuaded NBC to remain in New York by offering an estimated $100 million tax savings over 35 years.

Chase employs 43,000 people worldwide, including 23,000 in New York state.