Northwest Bank's central Ohio retail push is landing in Gahanna and New Albany, with the bank expecting to add 30 to 40 full-time jobs across new branch locations and four more financial centers planned by the second quarter of 2027.
The bank's Gahanna branch will occupy the former PNC Bank building at 191 Granville St. Northwest opened its first regional financial center in New Albany in July, with additional locations coming in Columbus and Westerville.
Behind the expansion is a deeper corporate bet on the region. Dublin City Council on Aug. 24 approved an economic development agreement that will bring Northwest Bank's headquarters from Easton to a new 75,000-square-foot building in Dublin's Bridge Street District, with the workforce growing from 120 employees to 300 by 2034.
A Gahanna resident spotted the site
Jim Colestro, Northwest Bank's chief retail lending officer, lives in Gahanna and was the first company employee to relocate to Ohio. He identified the Granville Street building on his daily commute.
"Living in Gahanna, I had driven by that location 100 – or 1,000 times, probably – and I just pointed to it and was like, 'If I was putting branches here – right there. It's a bank. It's ready,'" Colestro said in a November 2025 CityScene Magazine profile.
Gahanna Director of Economic Development Jeff Gottke said in November 2025 that the bank's decision to open locally reflects the strength of Gahanna's market and the community the city continues to build.
Dublin deal terms
Under the agreement first reported by NBC4, Dublin will return 15% of income tax withheld from Northwest's new employees back to the company each year for five years, capped at $460,000 total. The city also awarded a $50,000 location grant, payable after Northwest provides proof of a 15-year lease and obtains an occupancy permit.
The new headquarters will sit in Bridge North, a mixed-use development by The Daimler Group. Columbus-based Moody Nolan is designing the space, with JLL handling project management. The bank expects to move in during the first half of 2029.
"This investment represents an important step in Northwest Bank's continued growth and transformation," president and CEO Louis J. Torchio said in a company statement released Aug. 25.
Dublin economic development director Jeremiah Gracia wrote in a memo to council that Northwest selected Dublin after a nationwide search that included other Columbus-market options.
What's next
The Dublin building will include a ground-floor financial center with wealth management services. Northwest Bank, founded in Bradford, Pennsylvania, in 1896, now operates 152 full-service financial centers across Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Indiana. The four additional central Ohio branches are expected to open by the second quarter of 2027.
