Mike’s Tavern site to become headquarters with branch on Chambers Street, according to investors
By: Lauren Otis
The sound of money being counted rather than the strains of jazz may be what the future holds for the site of the former Mike’s Tavern at Route 206 and Birch Avenue if the current plans of Stephen Distler and Ross Wishnick bear fruit.
Along with a group of investors, Mr. Distler and Mr. Wishnick, who both live in Princeton Township, are seeking to establish a community bank in Princeton, whose headquarters would be located at the Mike’s Tavern site.
The Bank of Princeton, as the institution is named, would be the first community bank in Princeton in recent memory.
"We have been told, although we can’t verify it, that this would be the first community bank in Princeton in more than 50 years," said Mr. Distler.
Princeton Bank and Trust, which tried to give the feel of a community bank, was actually part of a larger institution, Summit Bank, before being sold to another big bank, Chemical Bank, in 1997, said Mr. Wishnick.
An application for a bank charter has been filed with the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance and The Bank of Princeton’s founders hope to open their door to the public early next year.
The bank would initially have two locations a satellite branch at 21 Chambers St. at the old H&R Block site, and its headquarters, including a drive-through banking branch, at the Mike’s Tavern site, said Mr. Distler.
Mr. Distler, who owns the Mike’s Tavern site, had tried to seek municipal approvals over a year ago to establish a jazz club and restaurant, but ran into sustained community opposition, with neighbors citing fears of excessive noise and traffic emanating from such a club.
"I’ve pushed back on plans on doing the jazz club at that site," said Mr. Distler. "I’m rethinking that proposal. I’d like to do it someplace else," he added.
A site plan has been filed with the township as part of the bank’s application for approval of its headquarters at the 181 Bayard Lane site, Mr. Distler said. A lease for the 21 Chambers St. location has already been signed, he said.
Mr. Wishnick, a real estate developer who was a founding director of the Windsor-based community bank First Washington State Bank, will serve as vice chairman of the Princeton bank. He said about a year ago he and Mr. Distler, a former investment banker who will be the bank’s chairman, began discussing the idea of bringing a community bank to Princeton. Seeing the opportunity to establish an institution that would both serve a need in Princeton and enhance the community, "we got serious about it very quickly," he said.
Four months ago, Peter M. Crowley, then a senior vice president of Bank of America and a 25-year veteran of the commercial retail banking business, was hired as the new bank’s president and CEO. Mr. Crowley said he signed on because "the ability to build a community bank in Princeton, which hasn’t had one in many years, was thrilling."
"I think that one of our strengths is that all of us come from different points on the financial compass," Mr. Wishnick said of The Bank of Princeton’s senior management team.
Those managers say they are not daunted by the prospect of competition from the region’s many community banks, including another startup, Lawrence Township-based First Choice Bank, as well as the big presence of large national banks here. "There is going to be a community bank in Lawrenceville, there is a community bank in Hopewell, but there is no bank here. There is no community bank here," Mr. Wishnick said.
"We think there is a huge hole in the market," for personal service to Princeton consumers and small businesses by a bank that knows their community, said Mr. Wishnick. "We are their size, we talk their language, and we intend to grow with them," he said.
"The decision-makers will be in the community," Mr. Crowley emphasized.
"We actually take this idea of being the first community bank in this area very seriously," said Mr. Distler, adding, "We want to become a community gathering point."
Mr. Distler said that he, Mr. Wishnick, Mr. Crowley and the bank’s 17 other founding investors, many of whom are well known in the Princeton business community, have already collectively committed to invest $6.5 million in the venture. They are currently gearing up to raise an additional $12 million to $25 million from other interested investors in the community individual investments can range from $10,000 to $1 million, according to Mr. Distler.
On Oct. 1, the bank’s Web site www.thebankofprinceton.com will be operational, say the founders. Those interested in obtaining information on the bank, or investing in it, can contact Mr. Crowley at (609) 462-6717.