By EILEEN STILWELL
Courier-Post Staff
CAMDEN

Equity Bank will move its headquarters from Evesham to a new building on the Camden Waterfront within two years.

Gov. James E. McGreevey made the announcement Friday at the city's first "Invest in Camden Day," which drew more than 500 people to the Tweeter Center.

Participants in the event also learned of other planned businesses near the waterfront, including several restaurants.

"If we held `Invest in Camden Day' two years ago, we could have held it in a phone booth," McGreevey told an audience of government leaders, investors, lenders and others inside the Tweeter Center. "Today, each of you is part of a standing-room-only crowd of (people) who want to know `How can I get in on the action?' "

Caren S. Franzini, chief executive officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, an event sponsor, said she was "shocked" by the turnout.

"I had to turn people away. I never dreamed there would be this much interest."

Not all participants were focused on the waterfront.

Dallas R. Evans, vice president of ISI Professional Services, said his firm hopes to build in Bergen Square and Lanning Square, adjacent neighborhoods targeted for redevelopment under a state-funded, $175 million turnaround effort.

"We have a lot of experience in urban centers and we think Camden is the future. It's an exciting time," said Evans, whose Washington, D.C.-based firm is on the short list of developers qualified to build one or more of several new schools in Camden's pipeline.

Evans said his firm wants to build a school, then surround it with $500 million in housing and retail.

Robert J. Lund, construction director for OPUS, a Minneapolis-based developer, said he saw "lots of opportunity for profitable projects here."

"I'm gathering information right now, particularly with Rutgers, because we've done a lot of collegiate work," Lund said. "Urban centers are very attractive because governments are willing to pay for infrastructure, like water, sewer and streets. Otherwise, those costs fall to the developer."

Equity Bank has been eyeing Camden for some time, particularly as traffic intensifies near its Route 73 headquarters at Sagemore.

The bank firm expects to occupy a three-store building between the New Jersey State Aquarium and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

Construction is to begin soon.

The building is expected to hold about 100 bank employees, as well as a restaurant and several other businesses, said Mike Quick, Equity's president and CEO.

Equity has 13 tri-county branches and three Pennsylvania outlets. All will remain open, but management - now scattered among eight branches - will move to Camden.

The bank will invest about $1 million in its new offices. It will lease the building from Steiner + Associates, a Columbus, Ohio, firm now preparing a $57 million expansion of the aquarium. The expansion, on publicly owned land, will include a town square between Market and Cooper streets.

Quick said Equity will take advantage of tax incentives on the waterfront. The bank also will make a property tax payment to Steiner, although Quick said he was not certain of the amount.

State Sen. Wayne Bryant, D-Lawnside, a catalyst for the state-run turnaround effort, is a salaried member of Equity's board of directors. His compensation has not been disclosed.

Participants at the event praised plans for more amenities near the waterfront, such as two new restaurants on the ground floor of the Victor, the former RCA industrial building that has been recycled into a luxury apartment complex, and the reopening of a Second Street business under the name Twenty Horse Tavern.

"We're growing at 15 percent a year and our people come in early and stay late. They would patronize those restaurants," said Gregory B. Roberts, president of L-3 Communications Systems-East, which employs about 1,100 people near the waterfront. "We can attract talented people because Camden is already a terrific place to work, but there is room for improvement."

John Faulkner, spokesman for Campbell Soup Co., which employs about 1,200 people in Camden, agreed. "Anything that improves the quality of life in Camden is good for the company, and that includes the availability of good meals."