The move will start with the opening of a loan production office in the Galleria area at 5151 San Felipe St., Houston, said Cody Cannon, market president with Vantage Bank's Houston. Officials are in the process of finalizing the lease, Cannon said in a Nov. 9 interview with Community Impact.
The San Felipe office will also serve as a temporary depository office while officials look into finding a permanent location for a branch, which could also be in the Galleria area, Cannon said.
Cannon said teams are also targeting The Woodlands for a new location that could open within the next 12-24 months. Based on capacity and demand, another location could open in South Houston or Sugar Land three years or so down the line, he said.
Vantage Bank is focused on "providing specialized banking services to small and medium-sized commercial businesses as well as consumer and international customers who live and work in the communities we serve," according to a Nov. 8 press release from the company announcing the expansion.
The forthcoming loan production office will offer full-service banking for commercial and industrial businesses, Cannon said, and will be able to process some deposits at the smaller level, he said.
Some of Vantage's premier banking team will be housed in the office. The team focuses on foreign nationals, which Cannon said is one of the bank's specialties that has developed as a part of growth in South Texas.
Regional President George Cardenas said the bank will also offer mortgage and treasury management services.
Vantage has 22 branches throughout Texas, including in the Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Loredo and El Paso.
"We saw a big opportunity [in] that Houston is one of the larger metro areas in Texas," Cardenas said about the expansion. "We always had an interest in Houston ... to diversify our portfolio."
Cardenas described Vantage as a "people-first" bank that will fit in well with Houston.
"That’s how we differentiate from everyone else with flexibility we have for our employees," he said.
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