Ciera Bank plans to demolish its Fort Worth branch at 1501 Summit Ave. near downtown and build a three-story, mixed-use building.
The conceptual plans, which include Ciera’s offices, second and third-floor residential units, and a drive-through and are subject to change, surfaced on Fort Worth’s Downtown Design Review Board agenda for Thursday.
Ciera and predecessor banks have held the prominent site on top of the hill overlooking Interstate 30 for many years.
Ciera is asking the Review Board for waivers from streetscape, building edge, and street grid standards.
Those waiver requests, among other factors, are based on preliminary plans that have the building turned on the site, not facing Summit; and the existence of the drive-through. Traditional drive-throughs aren’t allowed.
The bank’s top officer, Charlie Powell, said he could not comment heading into the Thursday hearing.
Ciera Bank, under its previous name First Graham Bancorp Inc., surfaced in Fort Worth in 2013, when it merged its three banks, First National Bank in Graham and First Security Bank in Flower Mound, into one entity called Ciera Bank.
First Graham entered Fort Worth when it acquired Surety Bank in 2008, then changed its name to West Side Bank & Trust Co.
Ciera Bank, based in Graham, is a longtime family-owned community bank formed in 1889. Ciera Bank has eight offices across North Texas and, as of the end of 2014, had total assets of $493.9 million.
This story contains material from Business Press archives.​