BUILDING BOOM

Northwestern Financial Review, Apr 15-Apr 30, 2005 by Telschow, Tony

Five bankers share their experiences building new offices

Bankers need to factor in a myriad of considerations when constructing a new office: location, design, size, cost, and construction to name a few. These decisions are important because buildings often reflect the personalities of the people who work in them. North Western Financial Review visited with five bankers who have built facilities recently.

Belgrade State Bank

Don Turner, president of Missouri's Belgrade State Bank, says everybody likes nice things. "Putting up an attractive building and setting it up right invites people in," Turner said. "They want to do business in a place that doesn't look like [it's from] the lowest bidder on a low-cost project."

Turner pointed to the bank's drive-up facility in Potosi, Mo., which opened last November. The building is small - around 1,000 square feet - but Turner said he added an office and a large "front porch" with columns, which "kept it from being such a little cracker box." He also added a waterfall out front. "It cost ten grand; but it looks great. People drive through there just to look at that thing," Turner said.

The location might have called for extra expense. Turner said it's the best corner in town, with the most traffic and visibility. The building was designed to allow for expansion, too. Turner said that the porch could be removed and a full-service facility could be built onto the existing drive-up.

Taylor Engineering built the facility. Turner has worked with the firm since 2001, when he opened a branch in Farmington, where Taylor is located. The bank "had secured [Taylor] as a customer of ours," Turner said.

The firm's first job for the bank was renovating its Farmington location, a one-time Schlotzsky's Deli. This year, the firm is adding roughly 5,000 square feet to that office, including an expanded lobby and room for offices, storage and future growth. This wasn't the bank's first unconventional renovation. Its main Potosi office is in a historic church building.

"Some of the big chain banks are all about doing everything the cheapest way... everything translates into maximizing profit - everything - to the point of building the cheapest building they can," Turner said. Desirable facilities, Turner said, give his bank a competitive advantage.

"We don't like little, nondescript buildings," he said.

Union Bank

Union Bank of Beulah, N.D., opened a new 5,000-square-foot facility in February in Hazen. Its design is based on a building in Minot. "What I liked about that [building] is the open area and room to grow," said Wayne Hoffner, the branch's manager. There is space to set up cubicles in the lobby, if the bank needs additional offices.

"We kidded around about putting a fireplace in the middle, because we do have a living-room atmosphere," Hoffner said. The design is meant to emphasize the comfort and familiarity of hometown banking and "take the institutional out of institutionalized," even without a fireplace.

The bank hired a builder in Hazen, which is nine miles from Beulah. Western Steel Builders had also built a home for one of the bank's board members, so Hoffner was familiar with Western's work and liked it.

Farmers & Merchants Bank & Trust

Thomas Maxwell, president of Farmers & Merchants Bank & Trust of Marinette, Wis., said he tried to draw as many local resources as he could from Crivitz, where the bank is building a 3,400-square-foot branch that is scheduled to open in June.

Though the design-build firm La Macchia Group of Milwaukee designed the new building, Maxwell hired people from Crivitz and Marinette to build the bank.

The bank is located on U.S. Highway 141, where Maxwell "spent literally months driving up and down... and contacting different property owners until I was finally able to get the site I wanted."

The interior will showcase local historic photos and a waiting area with fireplace and plasma screen television; Maxwell said that the television pivots and at night it will "be positioned so that people using the drive-up ATM can see it." The building's exterior is rustic stone and siding, which complements the bank's resort-area surroundings.

"We want to blend in with the community, and I think the historic theme will be a hit," Maxwell said.

Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust

Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is building a 48,000-square-foot headquarters, as well as a 6,000-square-foot branch. Both buildings are in the city and scheduled to open this summer, said President Larry Helling.

The bank hired OPN Architects for the projects, a firm that designed a branch it opened in 2001.

Helling said he was looking for open space and room to grow in the new buildings.

"We [wanted] enough privacy to create a comfortable atmosphere for our clients, but not so much that people are hidden away in their offices," Helling said.

Tall windows will let in a lot of natural light, and the architects designed low walls in the lobbies "so people can see and appreciate the openness of our facility." All tall walls will be glass, Helling said.