PSEG Looks for New Headquarters in Newark
NEWARK - PSEG will move its headquarters to a yet-to-be-determined location in Newark when its lease at 80 Park Plaza finishes at the end of September in 2030, PSEG officials told ROI-NJ.
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The move is part of a company-wide workplace transformation that already is underway — one in which the company is refreshing and renovating more than two dozen of its facilities across New Jersey, chief human resources officer Sheila Rostiac said.
“The new headquarters is one piece of a multi-year workplace transformation we have underway,” she said. “We are focused on renovating and refreshing all of our electric and gas operation centers throughout the state — where the bulk of our employees show up to work. As part of this, we’re also considering our training center needs given workforce demographic trends and the skills that we need in the future.
“It’s a remarkable but practical set of renovations and modernizations that we’re doing.”
The modernization in Newark still is a few years away.
The iconic company has not determined where the new location it will be — and whether the PSEG will build and own the building or take on another lease — but CEO Ralph LaRossa said the company definitely will be in Newark, where PSEG has been headquartered for more than a century.
“We’re not leaving Newark, that’s who we are,” he said. “The question is: Where is the best place to be? We’re looking at our property, looking around at others.”
The current PSEG headquarters is in the heart of Newark’s downtown, helping to anchor an area that has been a key part of the city’s economic resurgence.
LaRossa said the company likes the area, noting one potential new location would be the garage PSEG owns on Mulberry Street.
“We’re looking around, but that’s one location we’re certainly looking at,” he said.
Rostiac said the coming years will be spent ensuring that all of the renovated PSEG facilities in the state not only will have the latest and greatest energy efficiency improvements — but also be updated for all users, Rostiac said.
“Making sure those spaces are inclusive, both for our employees and the communities we serve, is important,” she said.
And, in some cases, long overdue.
The company has been at its current headquarters location, a 26-story tower and three-story plaza building, since 1978. Rostiac noted some of its other facilities around the state predate that time.
“Some of our facilities have reached the end of their useful lifespan and need to be refreshed,” she said.
Rostiac said she understands the move to a new headquarters will attract the most attention outside of the company. Internally, however, just as much emphasis is being placed on the other locations around the state — locations where more than three out of four PSEG employees work.
Rostiac said those spaces will be thoroughly examined.
“We are looking at where our work is going, where our customer needs are and what the workforce needs are,” she said. “We will have anchor locations like our training and development centers. We’re making the assessment now to say, ‘Even with a refresh, do I have the right space here, or do I need to something that’s better fit for purpose.’
“We’re strategically looking at all those opportunities.”
LaRossa said bringing all facilities up to date is a key to the company’s post-pandemic view of the workplace.
“One of the best things that has happened in the last few years is that our employees are showing up in our field locations more often,” he said. “There’s a much stronger interaction now taking place between the office workers and the field workers, which I really love.”
“People live up and down the state; they now can have meetings up and down the state. That’s great.”
The company’s current building is owned by a joint venture between New York-based Nightingale Properties and private real estate investor Simon Glick, which purchased the building in 2016 for $174.5 million.