Woodforest National Bank opens office on Las Olas
Woodforest National Bank of Texas is launching a South Florida commercial lending office at 200 Las Olas Blvd. in downtown Fort Lauderdale. It will employ15 people at the location, which is under a seven-year lease with building owner Stiles Realty.
Norm Adams, Stiles leasing agent, said the deal brings the building’s occupancy to 83 percent.
While the bank’s new office is slated for occupancy in July, Woodforest is operating in a temporary space in the building.
The financial institution will focus on Florida’s entrepreneurial community, according to Willy Gomez, the bank’s Florida regional president.
Gomez joined the bank in January to spearhead the opening of commercial banking offices in Miami and Tampa. Woodforest has plans to hire approximately 25 bankers for fulltime positions as relationship managers, portfolio managers, treasury managers and an assistant. The economic impact to the state of Florida from this employment should exceed $4 million annually, the bank said in a press release.
Founded in Houston in 1980, Woodforest operates more than 740 branches in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.