Jessup is making its final withdrawal from a former bank on Church Street.
Borough council will accept bids until Feb. 3 at 3 p.m. as it looks for a potential buyer of the former Community Bank NA building at 210 Church St., concluding a nearly three-year saga after the town unsuccessfully explored converting the former financial institution into a new municipal headquarters, according to public notices published in The Times-Tribune on Jan. 11, 14 and 21. Council will open the bids during its next meeting on Feb. 4 at 7 p.m.
Jessup acquired the shuttered, 32,348-square-foot bank in March 2023 for $230,000 after Community Bank closed its Jessup branch in September 2021, with officials at the time hoping to turn it into a new Borough Building to replace Jessup’s existing, cramped headquarters at 395 Lane St.
However, a feasibility study showed remodeling the bank to meet Jessup’s needs would cost an estimated $5 million, at minimum, council President Gregg Betti said. As a result, council voted during its Jan. 5 meeting to put the property out to bid.
“It’s obviously a good thing to finally move forward because the building has been sitting there almost three years, and we’ve done nothing with it,” Betti said. “We needed to make a move, and we’re finally doing that.”
The former Community Bank N.A. building on Church St. in Jessup Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The former Community Bank N.A. building on Church St. in Jessup Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The former Community Bank N.A. building on Church St. in Jessup Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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The former Community Bank N.A. building on Church St. in Jessup Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The bank was well maintained over the years and is a solid building, but it was too small for Jessup’s needs, Betti said. Adding on would’ve been costly, and while the town could’ve crammed everything into the building, they would’ve outgrown the space in five years, Betti said.
Council Vice President Curt Camoni echoed Betti, calling the decision to sell it long overdue.
“It just was never realistic,” he said, pointing to an early figure that it would only cost $250,000 to move Jessup’s police and borough operations into the bank. “As soon as a feasibility study was actually done, it was made painfully obvious that $250,000 was never a realistic number, and that it wasn’t the proper facility for us to move forward with.”
Selling the building is the first step toward developing a realistic plan, Camoni said. The current Borough Building on Lane Street is too small, he said. Jessup has to find room to house its administrative offices, tax collector, Police Department and Department of Public Works, he said, especially emphasizing the need for a new police station.
“Our police station is embarrassing. These folks need a proper and professional police station in order to be able to do their jobs appropriately, and we need to make sure that we can attract good police officers,” he said. “On top of it, our DPW — we don’t have enough garage space to be storing all of our equipment, and the borough is spending taxpayer dollars on monthly rent for storage of certain things.”
Camoni said he plans to discuss the next steps during council’s next work session.
“We need to formulate a realistic plan and, again, do our due diligence ahead of time,” he said.
He envisions looking at available land in Jessup while also assessing the current Borough Building, though he said he isn’t a fan of keeping operations on Lane Street. Having a DPW yard in the middle of a residential area, and the noise that comes with it, isn’t fair to residents, he said.
Betti sees three possible options for Jessup: The borough can build a brand new municipal headquarters, which would be a large, lengthy undertaking; Jessup could build an addition onto its existing Borough Building and remodel it; or the town could explore buying another existing building in town and rehabilitating it for their uses, Betti said. The borough would use a feasibility study to determine which option is the most cost effective, he said.
Various developers and business people have expressed interest in the bank, with ideas including a doctor’s office/medical center, upscale apartments, a restaurant and apartments, and business offices, Betti said.
“Honestly, all of them would be a benefit to the downtown,” he said.
The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education was among the interested parties and made a good-faith offer on the building, though the borough declined that offer, according to an emailed statement Friday afternoon from Brian Ebersole, senior vice president of strategic enterprise and ecosystem development at the Wright Center.
“Following thoughtful review by our leadership team, we have determined that we will not pursue the acquisition of the property,” Ebersole said. “The Wright Center will continue to explore other options that align with our long-term goals.”
Whatever moves into the former bank, Camoni hopes the community embraces it, and that it gives people another reason to visit Jessup’s downtown and the small businesses along Church Street.
“I’m a big believer that business begets business, and progress begets progress,” he said.