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A growing High Point bank has established its first branch in Charlotte and begun construction on a second, which will become its regional headquarters.
Bank of North Carolina opened a branch near Carmel Road and N.C. 51 about two weeks ago, shortly after work started on a 12,000-square-foot space in SouthPark. That location, which will be finished in October, will serve as the bank's southern region headquarters, regional executive Rob Ellenburg said.
"It's been really good to get that dirt turning and go from there," he said.
Bank of North Carolina, part of BNC Bancorp, has been expanding in recent years, adding new N.C. branches and buying a failed bank in Myrtle Beach. In June 2010, it landed a $35 million investment from New York private-equity firm Aquiline Capital Partners, where former Wachovia chief executive Ken Thompson is a senior adviser. Thompson now sits on BNC Bancorp's board of directors.
The new Charlotte branches join an existing commercial lending office on Fairview Road, which has eight employees, mostly commercial lenders, loan assistants and private bankers, Ellenburg said.
Bank of North Carolina, which has about $2.2 billion in assets, plans to grow further in the region, likely adding "spokes in the wheel" around the SouthPark location, he said.
The bank's other locations in the area include branches in Mooresville, Concord, Harrisburg and Salisbury.
