The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is moving its cash processing center to Somerset County.
In December, the New York Fed announced it purchased a 110-acre property on Mountain View Road in Warren Township, formerly the headquarters of an insurance company.
New York Fed bought the site for $57.35 million from Somerset Associates, which had planned to build warehouses there.
The new site will replace the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s former cash operations center, located on Orchard Street in East Rutherford. That site, which opened in 1992, was capable of processing 12,000 pounds of checks daily and held billions of dollars in currency.
The Federal Reserve is the country’s central bank. It includes 12 Federal Reserve banks around the nation, including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, that help distribute currency and coins to local banks.
The Fed’s new center in Somerset County will handle cash processing services and help circulate U.S. currency, supporting economic activity, officials said.
“It will help ensure that sufficient currency is in circulation to meet public demand by paying, receiving, verifying, and authenticating currency on behalf of banks and credit unions,” the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in a statement.
Site plan of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York new cash service center in Warren Township.The Federal Reserve Bank of New York
The new location will also help the bank modernize its cash processing technologies, the Bank said.
The Fed’s New York bank is the largest and most active of the 12 regional Reserve Banks within the system.
Construction of the new cash operations center is underway. The proposed facility is expected to be 350,000 square feet, three stories high and closed to the general public, according to the Fed.
The organization will employ its own federal law enforcement officers to protect the facility and its employees. Federal officers will also work closely with local police and fire departments to manage site-related security matters, bank officials said.
Site access will be monitored by a vehicle inspection gate, according to the plans.
The main receiving and paying operations will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
About 40 employees will work early morning and late evening shifts throughout the workweek. And nearly 175 cars will travel through the site each day, the Fed said.
The property’s last owner, Somerset Associates, sued the township in 2022 after officials allegedly blocked an ordinance that would have rezoned the site for warehouse use. The lawsuit was dropped after the Federal Reserve purchased the site.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.