Spec bank branches? It’s a Dallas developer’s formula for success

A year ago, a vacant dentist’s office sat at 6141 Sherry Lane in Dallas’ Preston Center. Today, it’s three weeks away from being a bank branch complete with a drive-through lane — but without any branding.

It’s a 6,039-square-foot spec building from Dallas developer Bandera Ventures, which is finding success developing bank branches for financial institutions wanting to claim ground in the growing Dallas-Fort Worth region. The property will be the eighth banking location in Preston Center that Bandera has either acquired or developed.

“When you look at the top 500 banks in the U.S., the ones that aren’t already in Texas are coming because banks go where the people go,” said Hunter Lee, partner at commercial real estate firm HPI, which is helping to sell the building.

D-FW had the largest population increase in the past decade of any metro area in the U.S., with a 19% boost that added 1.2 million people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In addition, 62 corporations relocated their headquarters to Texas, according to a recent report from YTexas.

In turn, there has been a great migration of banks into the region, going head to head with each other to win consumer and retail banking business.

Bandera previously developed the property across the street which now houses BNY Mellon Wealth Management. The developer also has a bank branch at 5820 W. Northwest Highway available to lease.

The Sherry Lane property is surrounded by a number of banks that wanted a presence in Preston Center, including Comerica, Veritex, First United Bank and BNY Mellon. A brochure for the property notes that the average household income in the surrounding area is $200,000, and it lists 32 banks with a presence there, including Bank of America, Bank of Texas, Chase Bank and Wells Fargo.

HPI writes that the building up for lease will be “the newest addition to the most sought-after retail banking location in the Metroplex, Sherry Lane.”

“Folks that want a retail bank presence in the region want to start at Preston Center and work out from there,” Lee said.

The two-story building that features about 1,500 square feet of lobby space on the first floor and about 4,600 square feet of office space on the second floor has received “a lot of interest” from banks, he said.

“The proof is in the pudding. Look at all the top 100 banks here in Preston Center,” he said.

The property on Sherry Lane was previously an abandoned dentist's office. The developer,...
The property on Sherry Lane was previously an abandoned dentist’s office. The developer, Bandera Ventures, had the property demolished and is building a two-story bank branch instead. It will be finished in two to three weeks. (Ben Torres / Special Contributor)

PNC North Texas regional president Brendan McGuire received a brochure on the Sherry Lane property. He said that while consumers are moving to digital banking, banks still need physical locations for when consumers want to talk with someone face to face.

“We surveyed consumers and it’s funny because even if they don’t regularly go into a branch, they want that option,” he said.

About 75% of overall retail sales took place inside of PNC branches in the first three months of the year, said PNC spokesperson Jason Beyersdorfer. The bank has approximately 2,600 branch locations, he said.

Last year, 1,000 new bank branches opened in the U.S. while nearly 4,000 closed, coming out to a net of 2,927 branches shuttered, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Texas saw 105 net bank branch closings.

While some banks are consolidating their physical footprints, there are still over 80,000 active bank branches in the U.S. Texas has 6,322 active branches and had the most net bank branch openings at four, according to S&P Global.

JPMorgan Chase opened the most branches in 2021 with 169 new locations compared with the runner-up, Bank of America, which opened 53 locations. JPMorgan wanted a location in all 48 contiguous states. Marianne Lake, co-head of consumer and community banking at JPMorgan, told S&P that the openings show the bank is investing in communities for the long term.

“When we enter a new market and we start serving that community, it’s not just about the consumer franchise. It’s about bringing the full faith and force of JPMorgan Chase to that community,” she said.

Banks of all sizes go head to head for customers, talent in red hot Dallas-Fort Worth financial market

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/real-estate/2022/05/31/spec-bank-branches-its-a-dallas-developers-formula-for-success/