The development at the corner of West Seventh Street and University Drive will welcome its first tenant later in March: Regions Bank.
The bank is moving out of its downtown location at 100 Main St. and is set to open on West Seventh on March 28. Regions will be the building’s anchor tenant, with its bright green signage placed prominently at the top of the building.
“People traverse that circle daily,” said Scott Jones, Dallas-Fort Worth president of Regions Bank. “Just having that living billboard was huge for us.”
Regions will occupy about 15,000 square feet in the building. Bennett Benner Partners served as architect while Muckleroy & Falls served as contractor for the building as a whole, which totals about 60,000 square feet and is five stories tall. Parking will be behind the building in a 125-space garage that connects to each floor.
Regions will have a retail branch on the first floor and business units on the fourth floor.
On the bank’s retail floor, Jones said, Regions is aiming to have more personal interaction with customers.
A traditional bank teller line, for instance, won’t be present at the new location. Instead, bankers will greet customers as soon as they walk through the door, Jones said.
“There will actually be a banker that comes up and shakes your hand and asks how they can help,” he said. “We feel that’s important to be able to talk to our clients and our prospects and see what their financial needs are, than just trying to cash a check and get them out.”
The bank’s ATM machines will also have a “video teller” service so customers can video chat with a Regions teller. Since the teller can be working from anywhere in the country, the video teller service will allow the bank to be open seven days a week.
“It gives our clients a face and someone to talk to instead of a 1-800 number,” Jones said. “Or if I’ve got an unusual transaction I need some help on, that warm voice and face will be there helping me.”
On the business floor, Regions’ business units such as retail, wealth management and commercial banking will be consolidated into one place. Jones said many of Regions’ bankers are now scattered at different locations. A commercial banker may have an office at a retail branch, for example, but at the West Seventh location many of the bankers will office under one roof.
The business floor will follow the open office concept, without walls or cubicles. There will also be meeting rooms where employees can work in a closed environment if need be.
“Our focus is working together as one team, no silos,” Jones said. “Our teams are used to working with different teams and, in an open environment like that, it’s easier to sit down and have a huddle or have a discussion or walk into rooms where you can actually have white boards and work in them.”
Though Regions will be the building’s anchor tenant, it won’t be long before the bank has a few neighbors. The building belongs to the Chu family, a group of eye doctors who’ve been practicing in Fort Worth for about 30 years. They also do work in real estate and own about 10-15 properties in the city.
Optometrist Robert Chu said the West Seventh property is his family’s most prominent development.
“We were honored, frankly, that [Regions was] interested in this site,” Chu said.
The Chus’ practice, called Eyeworks, is also expanding to the West Seventh location and plans for a June move-in, though they’ll still continue seeing patients at their existing location at 4631 South Hulen St. While Regions occupies the side facing West Seventh Street, Eyeworks will occupy the side facing University Drive. The first floor will have an eyewear retail store, while the second floor will have the clinic, laser center and administrative offices.
Chu said other tenants are in talks but he did not wish to reveal the names nor disclose the cost of development a whole.
But Regions will be the first to move in, and Jones said he’s excited about it.
“The location at Seventh and University shows Fort Worth and Tarrant County that we’re making a commitment to the market,” he said. “That, to me, is as important as anything. It helps us in recruiting, it helps our bankers and it helps the public understand that we’re here and we’re growing.”
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About 7th & University
Total square footage: 60,000 square feet
Number of stories: 5
Number of parking spaces: 125
Contractor: Muckleroy & Falls
Architect: Bennett Benner Partners
Designer: Michael Bennett, Brandon Burns
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West Seventh Street – You can bank on it!
West Seventh Street isn’t short on banks. Regions Bank’s new location at the corner of West Seventh Street and University Drive is right across the street from Origin Bank. Turn toward downtown, and just down the road is Sovereign Bank and later American National Bank of Texas. Past the bridge is Bank of Texas, and at the corner of West Seventh Street and Summit Avenue is the future site of American National Bank and Trust, expected to open in 2017.
Other banks on West Seventh Street include:
• LegacyTexas
• Fidelity Investor Center
• Pinnacle Bank
• Southwest Bank
• EECU Credit Union
• BBVA Compass
Despite so many banks in close proximity, Dallas-Fort Worth Regions Bank President Scott Jones said his bank won’t do anything different when it comes to dealing with competition.
“It’s about being involved in the community and knowing your clients and relationships,” he said. “Everybody talks relationships, but to me – I’ve been in this a long time – it’s about the relationships that you have with your center of influences, your clients, and continually having these relationships over the years. There’s always going to be competition.”
Despite being in an area with many banks, Jones said, he’s excited about the visibility of the new location, as well as being minutes away from downtown, the Stockyards and Texas Christian University.
“I think it is the heart of Fort Worth, really,” he said.