Prudential Financial Prudential Financial, Inc. is an American Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, retirement planning, investment management, and other products and services to both retail and institutional customers t ...

, based in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

in the Four Corners district. In addition to its own offices, the corporation has financed large projects in the city, including Gateway Center and

Prudential Center Prudential Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the men's basketball program of Seton Hal ...

. Prudential has about 5,200 employees in the city.

Prudential Home Office

The four original Prudential headquarters buildings were built from 1892 to 1911 as early examples of steel framing in Newark, clad in gray Indiana limestone with Romanesque Gothic styling, the work of George B. Post. The four buildings were known as the Main, the North, the West, and the Northwest and were the tallest in the city at the turn of the 20th century. All were demolished in 1956 to make way for the current headquarters. left, Detail of tower of Main Building

Gibraltar Building

The Gibraltar Building, which was owned by Prudential until 1986, is situated at 153 Halsey Street, across from Prudential Plaza to the east, and the Prudential Building across Washington Street to the west. The name was inspired by the

Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabel-al-Tariq) is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, and near the entrance to the Mediterr ...

, which features in the Prudential logo. The

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

structure was designed by the architect

Cass Gilbert Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minnesota, Arkansas and We ...

, renowned for many works including the

Woolworth Building The Woolworth Building is an early skyscraper, early American skyscraper designed by architect Cass Gilbert located at 233 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the tallest building in ...

and the

United States Supreme Court Building The Supreme Court Building houses the Supreme Court of the United States. Also referred to as "The Marble Palace," the building serves as the official workplace of the chief justice of the United States and the eight associate justices of th ...

. Sold in 1986 and later renovated and restored, it is now owned by

Hartz Mountain Industries Hartz Mountain Industries (HMI) is a private family-owned-and-operated company known for its real estate holdings in the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan Area. Its former parent, Hartz Mountain Corporation, which is notable for its pet product ...

and is home the

Superior Court of New Jersey The Superior Court is the state court in the U.S. state of New Jersey, with statewide trial and appellate jurisdiction. The New Jersey Constitution of 1947 establishes the power of the New Jersey courts.Jeffrey S. Mandel, New Jersey Appellate Pra ...

's Essex County Vicinage Family Court, Chancery, and Tax Court, as well as other government agencies and private enterprises.

Prudential Building

Shortly after the Prudential Building was completed in 1942, it was taken over by the federal government for use by the Office of Dependency Benefits (ODB), which was moved to Newark from Washington during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The ODB was responsible for payments to military dependents and their families. Work went on round the clock at 213 Washington Street until it was returned to Prudential in 1946.

Prudential Plaza

Prudential's current main headquarters, Prudential Plaza, opened in 1960 during the ''New Newark'' era when modernist buildings were built downtown. The International style building is one of the tallest and most prominent on the Newark skyline. The facade of Vermont marble includes 1,600 windows set in aluminum frames. On August 1, 2004, the

U.S. Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

announced the discovery of terrorist threats against the Plaza prompting large-scale security measures such as concrete barriers and internal security changes such as

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

machines. The lobby of the building was originally adorned with triptych of mosaics designed by

Hildreth Meiere Hildreth may refer to: Places * Hildreth, California *Hildreth, Nebraska *Hildreth Cemetery Hildreth Cemetery is a small cemetery located on Hildreth Street at Sutherland and By Streets in the Centralville neighborhood of Lowell, Massachusetts. ...

entitled “The Pillars of Hercules”. The panels had been removed and put in storage; two were formally installed at the

Center for Hellenic Studies The Center for Hellenic Studies (CHS) is a research institute for classics located in Washington, D.C. at 3100 NW Whitehaven Street. It is affiliated with Harvard University. Nestled in Rock Creek Park behind Embassy Row, the Center for Hellen ...

in Washington, D.C. and another in

Newark Museum The Newark Museum of Art (formerly known as the Newark Museum), in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, is the state's largest museum. It holds major collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, Af ...

Prudential Tower

In 2011, Prudential announced plans to construct another office tower near the Plaza headquarters. The company had received a $250 million urban transit tax credit, from the state, which required that it create new jobs and build within walking distance of a transit hub. The site of the $444 million tower is on Broad Street just west of Military Park. Construction began in July 2013. The exterior of the tower was completed as of January 2015 and the building opened in July 2015. File:PrudentialTowerprogress04.29.14.jpg, Construction April 2014 File:Prudential_Tower_Front.jpg, January 2015 File:Prudential_Tower_Complete.JPG, Night view of completed tower

References