Two Financial Firms To Expand At Progress Point

Mar 1, 2013

Story by: J. Elias O’Neal, posted on WilmingtonBiz.com

Two North Carolina financial firms on Friday announced plans to expand their operations in the Progress Point commercial center.

Together, the two firms will absorb more than 7,900 square feet of office space in the center.

Troy-based First Bank, which operates numerous branches and divisions in the greater Wilmington area, will occupy 3,559 square feet in the development, which is a mixed-use commercial development at the intersection of Eastwood and Military Cutoff roads.

First Bank is a new tenant to Progress Point.

And Hickory-based OmniStar Financial Group Inc., which also operates a division in Wilmington, will expand at Progress Point. The firm already has offices at Progress Point but will relocate into 4,373 square feet in a sister building at the development, 1712 Eastwood Road.

First Bank’s move is part of the firm’s plan to beef up its growing residential mortgage service division, which is seeing high volume activity throughout the bank’s service area in the mid-Atlantic, according to a news release.

“As demand for home purchases and refinancing increases, First Bank will be in excellent position to care for the mortgage needs of customers in each community we serve,” Pamm Jones, senior vice president and director of residential mortgage lending, said in a news release.

First Bank’s Progress Point office will house eight mortgage operations staff members who will support the bank’s mortgage loan originators’ efforts in the bank’s three-state territory, according to the release. These new staff members will work in the areas of underwriting, process and loan closing. First Bank also plans to hire seven additional mortgage loan originators.

Phillip L. Clark, president and CEO of OmniStar, said in a news release Friday that the expansion was because of continued growth.

F. Spruill Thompson, senior vice president and broker with Wilmington-based Cape Fear Commercial, handled lease negotiations with both First Bank and OmniStar for an undisclosed amount.

Wilmington-based CCSI Inc. has also been tapped to lead the office conversion and upfit for both financial firms at the Progress Point development, and the Wilmington division of the Becker Morgan Group completed the architectual plans for both corporate upfits

View the original story on The Greater Wilmington Business Journal.