Valley National Bank

Valley National Bank is a regional banking platform that focuses on serving businesses, real estate owners, and consumers across the Northeast, Florida, and Alabama. Today the bank offers a mix of commercial banking, commercial real estate lending, treasury services, and everyday consumer banking, along with wealth and private banking services for qualified clients. It operates under the Valley name through neighborhood branches, in-building office locations, and a growing set of digital tools that support both local business owners and middle-market companies.

The bank’s history dates back to 1927, when it was founded in New Jersey as Passaic Park Trust Company to serve communities in northern New Jersey. Over the decades, the institution grew beyond its original neighborhood base, consolidated several community banks, and adopted the Valley National Bank name as it built a larger regional franchise. A notable recent milestone came with the acquisition of Bank Leumi USA in 2022, which added scale in commercial and private banking and strengthened Valley’s relationships with technology, professional services, and internationally connected clients. As of early 2024, its parent, Valley National Bancorp, reported roughly $61–62 billion in total assets and a diversified, multi-state footprint.

As of March 2024, Valley National Bank operates about 230 branches across New Jersey, New York, Florida, Alabama, and nearby markets. New Jersey, Long Island, and the greater New York City metro remain the core of its franchise, while South, Central, and West Florida have become increasingly important growth corridors. Alabama represents a newer but expanding market, supported by prior acquisitions. The branch network combines traditional street-corner banking space with in-line and in-building locations, giving the bank flexibility in both urban and suburban environments.

Over roughly the last five years, Valley has shifted from being primarily a northern New Jersey community bank to a broader regional player with a strong presence in major metro areas and Sun Belt markets. The string of acquisitions in New York, Florida, and Alabama, capped by the Bank Leumi USA deal, has expanded its commercial real estate, multifamily, construction, and owner-occupied lending capabilities. The bank has also deepened its treasury and cash management offerings, which support landlords, operating companies, and property investors that bank with Valley.

For property owners and developers, Valley is visible both on the lending side and as a branch tenant. The bank is an active lender to income-producing real estate, multifamily assets, and construction projects, and it also finances businesses that occupy or invest in commercial space. Its SBA lending and equipment finance businesses often intersect with small and middle-market tenants. On the occupancy side, Valley typically seeks well-located, highly visible sites near transit, employment centers, and strong retail or mixed-use nodes, favoring durable locations over rapid greenfield expansion.

Recent strategy centers on selective growth in dense, transit-served markets and attractive Sun Belt corridors while continuing to refine the existing network. Management has emphasized branch optimization rather than large-scale new branch rollouts, using digital channels to handle routine transactions and reserving physical branches for advisory, relationship, and small-business needs. New branches and relocations usually follow existing client clusters and attractive deposit markets in northern New Jersey, the New York City metro and Long Island, South and Central Florida, West Florida, and parts of Alabama.

Valley National Bank is the principal subsidiary of Valley National Bancorp, a publicly traded holding company listed on Nasdaq under the ticker VLY. Real estate decisions and site opportunities are typically handled through regional commercial real estate leadership and relationship managers rather than a centralized public site-submittal channel, reflecting the bank’s relationship-driven approach to both banking and physical expansion.