KeyCorp Picks Buffalo as Regional Headquarters

KeyCorp in Cleveland will open a regional headquarters in western New York as part of its acquisition of First Niagara Financial Group.

The $93 billion-asset company announced Wednesday that it will house its Northeast headquarters in Larkinville, a neighborhood in Buffalo, where First Niagara has been based since 2009, according to Buffalo Business First. Key announced in October that it had agreed to purchase the $39.9 billion-asset First Niagara for $4.1 billion.

Key will acquire most of First Niagara's existing commercial real estate space in upstate New York, including parts of its headquarters. Key currently has 10 branches in Buffalo.

"The impetus for choosing Buffalo as the regional headquarters is that with the acquisition of Buffalo-based First Niagara Financial Group, three business lines — mortgage, insurance and auto lending — will be headquartered in Buffalo, and the area will house the largest number of employees outside the corporate headquarters in Cleveland," a Key spokeswoman told American Banker.

Key announced in April that it would sell 18 of First Niagara's branches in Buffalo to Northwest Bancshares in Warren, Pa., as part of an agreement with the Justice Department and the Federal Reserve Board to complete its purchase of First Niagara.

In March, Key said it would direct $16.5 billion in lending toward low- and moderate-income communities over five years after Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and community groups raised concerns about the deal.