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Farmers Eyes Downtown Branch in Realty Tower
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A Farmers National Bank official and the owner of the Realty Building say a deal is close that would bring a branch office of the bank downtown.
"It's a matter of dotting some I's and crossing some T's, but I would say within the next 30 days max we'll have a deal finalized and we'll be well on our way," said Dominic Marchionda, who owns the Realty Tower, where Farmers plans to locate the branch if the negotiations are successful. "We've been waiting for the right tenant so with this tenant the commercial space will be fully occupied."
Marchionda joined architect Gregg Strollo and Farmers National representatives for Tuesday’s meeting of the city’s Design Review Committee, which approved Farmers’ signage for the building, which will include a 40-foot-high vertical Farmers sign to hang from the northwest corner of the building.
“We don’t think we’re asking for anything that’s inconsistent with the central business district or this building historically,” Strollo told the committee members. The 1,300-square-foot office on the ground level of the building would have six employees, with two- to three working at any one time, he said. Farmers plans to spend about $250,000 to renovate the space, which years ago housed an AmeriTrust Bank branch and more recently a downtown studio for WYTV. The vertical sign is estimated to cost $60,000.
Farmers, headquartered in Canfield, has been a supporter of both downtown and Youngstown State University for years “and we just want to solidify that relationship a little bit more and be a part of this Youngstown renaissance,” remarked Amber Wallace, senior vice president of marketing for Farmers.
“We’re excited by what we’ve seen” in terms of the activity at the Youngstown Business Incubator and downtown’s revitalization, and the bank has had several requests from current and potential customers, including area businesses, to have a presence downtown, Wallace added.
“This is a very positive step in that direction,” she said.
The downtown branch would be “the first and most exciting one” of several “potential projects” Farmers plans to announce in the “very near future,” Wallace noted. Farmers has 19 banking locations and two trust offices in Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana and Stark counties.
“Our bank has always been committed to Youngstown as evidenced by our support of YSU and many of the businesses that call downtown home,” John S. Gulas, Farmers president and CEO, said in a statement that Wallace distributed at City Hall. “A new downtown branch will allow Farmers to be part of Youngstown’s renaissance while providing our valued customers -- including YSU students and faculty -- with another convenient location to serve their financial needs.”
Bill Kutlick, broker/owner of Kutlick Realty LLC, Boardman, said Farmers is "looking at multiple locations. But in the downtown market, this is obviously right on the square. We have all the other lending institutions on the other four corners," he added.
Kutlick worked with Farmers to identify the site and is representing the bank in the lease negotiations. “It’s just a good financial location for the bank," he said.
The branch will include a community meeting room, a space that Farmers’ trust company, national investment group and insurance businesses can use, Wallace said.
Once the leased is signed and the appropriate permits obtained, bank officials anticipate a 90-day build out, she said. “I could see it potentially getting pushed to 120 days” – as Strollo projected during the meeting “but we are aiming for 90,” she said.
The prospect of Farmers opening a branch downtown is “a compliment to everything that’s going on,” Marchionda said. “There’s obviously a resurgence. We’ve been talking about it for a while and this is just another feather in Youngstown’s cap,” he said. “This is a premier tenant for us, it’s a premier tenant for the community and we’re looking forward to them being in our building.”
According to Marchionda, nearly all of the apartments in the building -- 21 of the total 23 -- are leased.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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