When First Citizens Bank entered the Boston market two years ago with its Silicon Valley Bank purchase, the name recognition of the Raleigh, N.C.-based bank was limited at best around here.
Now, as First Citizens regional executive vice president Ron Sanchez spruces up or replaces the five local SVB branches that it acquired following SVB’s high-profile implosion, he wants to send the message that his bank is here to stay and grow.
Case in point: First Citizens is planning its first ground-up branch project, with the purchase last week of a former Taylor True Value Rental location at 26 Washington St. in Wellesley’s Lower Falls village. (The equipment rental business recently moved to Needham.)
First Citizens, Sanchez said, could end up investing at least $15 million in the property, a figure that includes the demolition of two existing buildings, construction of a new 15,000-square-foot branch, and the $5.5 million purchase price for the nearly 40,000-square-foot site.
First Citizens plans to relocate its existing branch operations in Wellesley Hills, formerly a SVB branch at 336 Washington St., to the new location within three years. As many as 40 employees could end up working there.
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JP Plunkett and Warren Brown of Red Dome Realty represented the property’s previous owner, and Cresa’s Jack Burns represented First Citizens in the deal. Plunkett said there were multiple offers for such a prime location.
“There was robust interest … like nothing I’ve ever seen,” Plunkett said. “When does something like this pop up in a commercial district in a town like Wellesley?”
First Citizens is among the 20 biggest banks in the country, but had no branches in the region until the SVB deal. Through that deal, it also has branches in the Financial District, the Back Bay, Beverly, and Cambridge. As far as future locations in Greater Boston go, Sanchez is already on the hunt. He said he can take the time to pick the right spots.
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“The big question is where,” Sanchez said. “I’ve got a whole team working with me trying to identify opportunities. … We believe in the Boston market. We’re trying to retain the very best that came out of [SVB predecessor] Boston Private and SVB and blend it with us. … When we’re successful with that, everybody will know who we are in the end.”
This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston’s business scene.
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.
First Citizens plans branch construction in Wellesley
