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Week of April 10, 2003 |
| Premier Community Bank shifting headquarters from Fort Lauderdale to Miami
By Susan Stabley Premier Community Bank of South Florida plans to relocate its headquarters to Miami Lakes from Fort Lauderdale by October to take advantage of a location central to two counties, according to its president. The bank, now in its Cypress Creek location at 1451 NW 62nd St., has signed a 10-year lease for 11,562 square feet at Lakes Plaza at 8181 Miami Lakes Drive, said Richard Kuci Jr., Premier president. Premier Community, formerly Gateway American Bank of Florida before being purchased last fall by PCB Bancorp, is a $115 million community bank, Mr. Kuci said. PCB Bancorp holds four banks in Florida in six counties. The Cypress Creek site is at the north-central end of the city of Fort Lauderdale. The new site for Premier Community Bank will include a 3,500-square-foot branch. A branch in Miami Lakes, one of four in South Florida including Pembroke Pines and Sea Ranch Lakes, will close as a result and those employees, about five, will move to the new location, Mr. Kuci said. Nineteen new workers will staff the Miami Lakes headquarters. "We like Miami Lakes," he said. "It's attractive to our employees. It's easy to get to from Dade or Broward because it's so close to I-75 and you can get almost anywhere within 30 minutes." Indeed, Miami Lakes' location is its top selling point, said Gloria Blanco of Abood Wood-Fay Real Estate Group, who represented South Florida-based Aquila Property Co. in the transactions. "People are trying to get closer to home and beat out the traffic," Ms. Blanco said. Aquila, in a joint venture with AMC Delancey Group based in Philadelphia, in September acquired the Lakes Plaza building. Since then, the 44,600-square-foot structure went from 50% vacancy to 94% occupancy. In the past six months, Ms. Blanco and Aquila have also signed three other leases for Lakes Plaza totaling 16,700 square feet, including a renewal for six years and expansion with NSI Insurance, a five-year lease with Capital Prime Mortgage and a five-year lease for LMH Insurance Co. Ms. Blanco said the office space leases for about $20.50 a square foot. |
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