Pasadena-based Wescom Credit Union plans to open an administration center in Anaheim later this year that could employ up to 500 workers.
The move would make Wescom the second-biggest credit union in Orange County by employees.
Wescom paid $17.4 million to San Juan Capistrano-based Birtcher Anderson Realty LLC in the fall for a four-story, 117,523-square-foot office building at 5601 E. La Palma Ave.
The credit union is renovating the site following the departure of title insurer First American Corp., which moved operations to its Santa Ana headquarters.
First American’s relocation of about 550 employees out of East Anaheim’s Canyon Corporate Center was finished in December, said spokesman David Schulz. First American is consolidating operations at its Santa Ana campus, which it has expanded during the past few years.
Wescom, the 14th largest credit union in the U.S. with about $3 billion in assets, was founded in 1934 as a credit union for telecommunications employees. It has grown to become the fourth largest in California.
The Orange County Teachers Federal Credit Union is the county’s biggest and California’s second largest credit union at $5.7 billion in assets. It has more than 700 local workers, according to regulatory filings.
Wescom operates a small back office processing center in Tustin, which it plans to close once the Anaheim renovations are completed by summer, said Tim Dolan, Wescom’s vice president of facilities and administrative services.
Wescom plans to remodel the building, improve its wiring and fold a parking area into the building to boost office space.
Initially, Wescom will employ up to 300 people at the building, with plans to expand to 500 workers.
For more on this story, see the Jan. 2 issue of the Business Journal.
