Anaheim-based Premier Commercial Bancorp is planning a $16 million stock sale for its expansion east.
The bank, which operates one branch on Katella Avenue near the Orange (57) Freeway, plans to use roughly $10 million from the secondary offering to set up a unit in Arizona.
Premier Commercial plans to open a branch in fast-growing Mesa before the end of the year, said Ash Patel, the bank’s president and chief operating officer.
The bank also has looked at Nevada for expansion.
But Premier Com-mercial has shelved those plans for a few years while it gets its Arizona operation up-and-running, Patel said.
“Orange County is pretty saturated with new banks, so we are going east,” Patel said.
Arizona’s growth is compelling, he said.
The land beyond Phoenix and Mesa, where towns are being built from scratch, is in the fastest-growing county in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau.
More people moved into Maricopa County in the 12 months through June 2005 than any other county in the U.S. Maricopa County, which is home to Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale and other cities, has a population of 3.6 million.
In the fourth quarter, the biggest jump in sales of median priced single-family homes in the U.S. was in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area.
Existing homes rose 49% to $268,400 in the quarter.
Premier Commercial, which reported $277 million in assets at the end of the fourth quarter, was founded five years ago. It’s the third-biggest commercial bank in OC and the only one based in Anaheim.
Premier Commercial is planning the stock sale for the current quarter, Patel said.
Funds not used in its Arizona expansion will be plowed into its local operations.
The bank’s Mesa branch will lend to small and midsize businesses, including ones in the hospitality industry,the same strategy as its Anaheim branch. Pacific Premier does business with hotels and other businesses around the Disneyland Resort, Patel said.
It plans to build a similar pipeline of construction, industrial building and hospitality loans in Arizona, home to numerous hotels, golf courses and other attractions.
OC has seen a rash of banks start up in the past few years. The launches mark a reversal of the past decade, when the county’s population per local bank grew from 124,000 to 273,000.
A wave of consolidation during the past decade knocked the number of OC-based banks from more than 60 in the early 1990s to a third of that total today.
Irvine’s Plaza Bank became OC’s latest business bank to open. It debuted in January.
Plaza Bank is a general business bank, unlike many of the ethnic-targeted banks that have opened during the past few years in OC. Another business bank, MetroPacific Bank, opened in Irvine last year.
First Vietnamese American Bank and Saigon National Bank, both based in Little Saigon, opened their doors during the past year. They are focused on business with the region’s huge Vietnamese-American community.
Premier Commercial’s assets climbed 66% to $277 million in the fourth quarter, versus a year earlier. Deposits jumped 70% to $254 million and total outstanding loans rose 88% to $184 million in the period.
The bank posted a profit of $1.9 million last year, nearly double what it made in 2004.
In recent months, Patel said that he expects the bank to post double-digit asset growth during the next few years, “even though the pace might slow” in comparison to previous years.
Meanwhile, some non-OC banks are boosting operations here.
Scottsdale-based 1st National Bank Holding Co. recently set up the headquarters for its newly created 1st Heritage Bank unit in Newport Beach. The Arizona bank also operates in Nevada under the name 1st National Bank.
“Since California has the largest economy in the country, that was a logical place to go,” said James Claffee, chief executive of 1st Heritage Bank.
Raymond A. Lamb, a 36-year banking veteran who is 1st National’s chairman, chief executive and majority shareholder, launched the $3.5 billion-asset bank six years ago. It’s now Arizona’s largest locally based bank.
Its Southern California operation will offer small-business and commercial real estate lending, plus credit card processing. It also offers loans and depository services for homeowner associations, a specialized niche that may play well amid OC’s gated communities.
