Wachovia Corp. has a new centerpiece for its amassed empire in Orange County.
The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank is leasing 25,400 square feet of office space at 2211 Michelson Drive, one of several high-rise office buildings going up in Irvine.
Wachovia, the country’s fourth-largest bank, plans to take the second floor for a regional headquarters for its banking arm. It plans a bank branch on the ground floor.
“Wachovia is coming into the Orange County market with all of its game,” said Joni Topper, Southern California regional president. “There is plenty of room and plenty of opportunity here.”
The move builds on a couple of big deals.
A year ago, Wachovia paid nearly $4 billion for Irvine-based Westcorp Inc. and its auto financing division WFS Fin-ancial Inc.
Wachovia has about 700 workers in two Irvine Spectrum buildings from Westcorp and WFS.
Included in the deal were seven Western Financial Bank branches, which were converted to Wachovia in February.
The auto finance business “really was the 800-pound gorilla in the transaction,” said Frank Newman III, chief operating officer for Wachovia’s Western banking group, which covers California, Arizona and Nevada. “The banking component sort of followed.”
Wachovia renamed WFS as Wachovia Dealer Services.
In October, Wachovia bought Oakland’s Golden West Financial Corp., which had 19 World Savings Bank branches here, for $25 billion.
Those are set to convert to Wachovia in October, Newman said.
Meanwhile, Wachovia opened two branches in Irvine in March. The bank wants to open eight branches in OC this year, spokeswoman Caren Roberson said.
The new Irvine building is set to serve as a banking hub for the county and all of Southern California.
“There’s no question that OC is one of the critical markets in California overall, in the West overall,” Topper said. “We think we can be successful here.”
Wachovia, which is big on the East Coast, is looking to take on rival Bank of America Corp. and others here.
The Irvine building is set to house an array of operations, including small business banking (for companies with yearly sales of up to $5 million), business banking ($5 million to $50 million) and commercial banking ($50 million to $1 billion).
Wachovia also plans to offer real estate lending and cash, risk and private wealth management services.
The bank expects to employ about 200 workers at the Irvine site. They’re set to move to the building in August or September.
Wachovia’s local head count is likely to surpass 1,000 workers this year, edging it closer to the big dogs of commercial banking here.
Top bank employer Bank of America has about 4,500 local workers. Wells Fargo & Co. has 2,300.
The closest rival to Wachovia by workers could be Union Bank of California, which has 1,583 local employees.
Wachovia is looking to hire 500 people in the next three years, Roberson said. “We will be a key employer for the county.”
It’s also seeking out top brass to head up its OC commercial banking and business banking teams, according to Topper.
Wachovia is training former Western Financial Bank and World Savings Bank workers, she said.
“As Wachovia started to acquire, we took a thoughtful approach for each and every area to see how it could be assimilated,” Topper said. “For existing employees coming over to Wachovia, it’s an important career step. They have been undergoing training now for many months and are being tested and certified.”
Topper came to Wachovia this year after a 30-year career at Bank of America. Her last position was managing BofA’s healthcare education and nonprofit businesses in California, she said.
She’s responsible for expanding Wachovia’s business from San Luis Obispo down to the border.
“We want to make sure we are in the right places so that it’s convenient and people do see we are here on a permanent basis,” Topper said.
Topper’s biggest task is introducing the West Coast to a bank that’s already got a big reputation in the east.
“I’m sure most people are wondering, ‘Why are we here?'” Topper said. “That’s probably our greatest challenge,to help people understand who we are.”
