April 7, 2006

DALLAS BUSINESS JOURNAL

Professional Bank adds Park Cities branch

Chad Eric Watt, Staff Writer

Professional Bank N.A., the 2-year-old Lakewood-based bank, has opened shop in the area's richest ZIP code.

The Park Cities, of course, is home to beaucoup bank offices.

To get into the 75205, Professional has grabbed a spot on the second floor of a building on the southwest corner of Preston Road and Lovers Lane.

"The reality is sites are so hard to come by that, when we had this opportunity to come to this building and get a motor bank, we took it," said Jack Siefrick, chairman of Professional Bank.

Further, Professional Bank counts more on relationship-based business than walk-in business, he says.

No doubt, there's lots of money to hold and move around in the Park Cities, but the northern edge of that corridor actually lost a bank.

Fort Worth-based Southwest Bank announced plans in December to close its limited-service trust office on the fourth floor of an office tower near Preston Road and Northwest Highway. Southwest moved the trust office in next door to its bank at the LBJ Freeway and Luna Road.

For Professional Bank, the Park Cities office will be its third location. In addition to its original Lakewood office at Abrams and Gaston, Professional Bank has a Garland branch.

The primary ZIP code for Highland Park and University Park was home to 16 banks before Professional moved in. In fact, one floor down from Professional's new digs is another institution -- Washington Federal Savings and Loan Association. Highland Park is home to Seattle-based Washington Federal's sole Dallas office. (It has Plano and Richardson offices as well.)