Berks County Bank has also recently increased its commitment to the downtown. In February 1998, the bank purchased the 155,000 square foot building, formerly known as the Penn Square Center Building, at 601 Penn Street. The building, renamed The Berks County Bank Building at Penn Square Center, will serve as the corporate headquarters and operations center for Main Street Bancorp, Inc., the holding company for Berks County Bank and Heritage National Bank. Additionally, Sovereign Bank has made it presence in the downtown felt with a new lease for 44,000 sf in December 1998. Sovereign Bank, the third largest bank headquartered in Pennsylvania, secured a prominent location to the entrance to the central business district in the Gateway Building at 201 Penn Street.
Government operations maintain a high profile in the downtown.
City Hall and the County Courthouse are one block away from one another and collectively account for more than 500,000 sf amount of office space. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a 101,000 sf building for various regional offices. Similarly the central business district contains a number of Federal offices for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Department of Defense, Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, Federal Probation Office, the Department of Treasury totaling approximately 75,000 sf. The role of the downtown will take a dramatic new direction with the new Civic Center, which will involve the construction of a multipurpose facility and the renovation of the historic Rajah Theatre. The multipurpose facility will be an arena designed to seat up to 9,000 people and handle various activities such as conventions, concerts, circuses, sporting events and expositions.