Haverhill officials picked Lupoli Cos. to redevelop the city’s Goecke Parking Garage property into a $160 million mixed-use complex including 370 market-rate apartments, retail shops, a new headquarters branch for Pentucket Bank and a restaurant pavilion. Image courtesy of Cube 3 Architects

Pentucket Bank has closed its main headquarters at 1 Merrimack St. in Haverhill as it will be demolished and give way for a redevelopment in downtown Haverhill.

The branch was closed last Feb. 21. but Pentucket Bank opened a temporary, cashless branch across the street next door at at 2 Merrimack St., which the bank calls its “HC Media Branch.” Despite being cashless, customers can withdraw and deposit cash through a new ATM outside of the branch, but still in the same building.

“The closing of the bank’s main branch building at One Merrimack Street [is to] prepare for the major Merrimack Street redevelopment project commencing this spring. Though the building will be taken down as part of that project, Pentucket Bank will be rebuilt as part of the development on the corner of Main Street and Merrimack Street, essentially ending up back right where we are today,” Leanne Eastman, Pentucket Bank’s senior vice president for communications and public relations director, said in an email.

“While this is happening, we are maintaining our commitment to our customers and the community and remaining open in downtown Haverhill with our temporary HC Media Branch that opened on February 22. It is important to us that we remain accessible to our downtown customers and keep their banking experience as uninterrupted as possible until we reopen in the new development,” she added.

Lupoli Cos. bought the 1 Merrimack St. site from Pentucket Bank for $3 million and will demolish and redevelop the site as part of a city-driven replacement of a former downtown municipal garage. The $160 million redevelopment will include housing, restaurants, retail stores, public-use spaces and parking. After the development, the area will be called “District Square.”

Pentucket Bank has also reopened its recently renovated Stadium Branch at 120 Lincoln Ave., also in Haverhill.

“We are thrilled to have our Stadium Branch back open and serving customers. The new branch space offers an enhanced banking experience with new teller pods and updated technology while showcasing the recently launched new Pentucket Bank brand. We’ve also added in a little nod to our community with our custom Stadium wall, “ Eastman said.

The bank is aiming to modernize all its branches – removing teller lines and featuring teller pods and office spaces for privacy – to adapt to customers’ changing use of branches to have more personalized service rather than transactional.