Essex Bank bought an empty bank branch in Bon Air in late August. Photo by Michael Schwartz.
With his bank’s latest expansion, Rex Smith is getting a taste of home.
Smith is the CEO of Glen Allen-based Essex Bank, which recently acquired a vacant branch property at 2730 Buford Road in Bon Air. The branch will be the $1 billion institution’s 22nd location.
The branch is familiar to Smith, who worked out of the Buford Road branch when he started with Bank of Richmond in 2000.
“It’s like going home,” Smith said.
Bank of Richmond was acquired by Gateway Bank & Trust in 2007 when Smith was CEO. Bank of Hampton Roads merged with Gateway in 2008, inheriting the 2,800-square-foot Bon Air branch.
But Smith’s ties to Bon Air go back further than his banking career.
“I grew up four blocks from there,” Smith said of the Buford Road property. “That whole area is familiar to me.”
Rex Smith
Essex paid $550,000 for the branch in a deal that was finalized Aug. 27. The property has been vacant for about a year since Gateway shuttered the location in a round of branch closings.
Essex has renovations planned for the aged building, Smith said, including giving it the bank’s new interior branch layout that does away with traditional teller lines.
“We’re looking forward to getting it renovated,” he said. “It’s an older building. We want to make it really bright and new.”
The property was built in 1962 and had been owned by the former Citizens Bank of Chesterfield until Bank of Richmond bought it in 1999.
Essex hasn’t yet chosen an architect or contractor. The bank will look to have the branch up and running by early 2015.
The Bon Air branch will be Essex’s third location on the Southside, joining spots in the Winterfield area and Powhatan.
Smith said Essex isn’t done growing in Richmond.
“I need more density in the Richmond marketplace,” he said. “I want to be in the midtown area,”
He’s also eyeing further growth to the north, to complement the bank’s presence in Maryland.
“I want to get to Northern Virginia,” he said. “We’re looking all over.”
Essex Bank bought an empty bank branch in Bon Air in late August. Photo by Michael Schwartz.
With his bank’s latest expansion, Rex Smith is getting a taste of home.
Smith is the CEO of Glen Allen-based Essex Bank, which recently acquired a vacant branch property at 2730 Buford Road in Bon Air. The branch will be the $1 billion institution’s 22nd location.
The branch is familiar to Smith, who worked out of the Buford Road branch when he started with Bank of Richmond in 2000.
“It’s like going home,” Smith said.
Bank of Richmond was acquired by Gateway Bank & Trust in 2007 when Smith was CEO. Bank of Hampton Roads merged with Gateway in 2008, inheriting the 2,800-square-foot Bon Air branch.
But Smith’s ties to Bon Air go back further than his banking career.
“I grew up four blocks from there,” Smith said of the Buford Road property. “That whole area is familiar to me.”
Rex Smith
Essex paid $550,000 for the branch in a deal that was finalized Aug. 27. The property has been vacant for about a year since Gateway shuttered the location in a round of branch closings.
Essex has renovations planned for the aged building, Smith said, including giving it the bank’s new interior branch layout that does away with traditional teller lines.
“We’re looking forward to getting it renovated,” he said. “It’s an older building. We want to make it really bright and new.”
The property was built in 1962 and had been owned by the former Citizens Bank of Chesterfield until Bank of Richmond bought it in 1999.
Essex hasn’t yet chosen an architect or contractor. The bank will look to have the branch up and running by early 2015.
The Bon Air branch will be Essex’s third location on the Southside, joining spots in the Winterfield area and Powhatan.
Smith said Essex isn’t done growing in Richmond.
“I need more density in the Richmond marketplace,” he said. “I want to be in the midtown area,”
He’s also eyeing further growth to the north, to complement the bank’s presence in Maryland.
“I want to get to Northern Virginia,” he said. “We’re looking all over.”