YOUNGSTOWN — For the second time this year, a major financial institution — Huntington Bank this time — is planning to significantly shrink its downtown presence.

It comes only a few months after Chase Bank moved to a much smaller downtown location.

Both decisions were likely made as a result of the rise in online banking brought on even faster by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said he is “concerned” about Huntington’s decision and is hoping to change it.

“Huntington has a big footprint downtown, and they’re moving to a much smaller location,” he said. “What they’re proposing doesn’t work for me. I understand Chase had to downsize, and they went to an up-to-date, modern facility. I need to see that investment from Huntington.”

Huntington will close its branch on Central Square, which has been a bank location for about 150 years, in mid-October.

“Huntington is consolidating its existing Federal Plaza branch” into “the legacy TCF branch located at 44 E. Federal St.,” said Emily Smith, a Huntington spokeswoman. “These branches serve the same trade area and are overlapping in their service to the downtown Youngstown market.”

Huntington finalized a $22 billion acquisition June 9 of TCF Bank.

Smith wouldn’t specifically say why Huntington decided to close the much larger existing branch, which the company owns, and use the smaller TCF office it leases at the Stambaugh Building, where DoubleTree by Hilton hotel is located.

“Huntington’s merger with TCF accelerates and increases our ability to invest in mobile and digital innovation to enhance customer experience, building the leading ‘people-first, digitally powered’ bank,” Smith said.

Huntington will seek to sell its 13-story building on the corner of West Boardman and Market streets (with an address of 23 E. Federal St.) with current tenants there expected to stay.

Huntington took control of that location after it bought Sky Bank in 2007. Before that, Mahoning National Bank operated there since the 1870s until it was bought by Sky Bank in 2000.

The downtown Chase Bank moved in May from three floors on 6 W. Federal St., known as the Chase Tower, to a smaller location on the first floor of Realty Tower Apartments, 47 Central Federal St.

The Chase Tower is for sale again after a $1.15 million deal with a Miami company fell through.

An online auction for the 14-story, 135,300-square-foot building starts Monday and ends Wednesday. Only 26 percent of that building is now occupied.