Citizens Business Bank, which has had a branch on Foothill Boulevard for more than two decades, is set to move into City Hall, becoming the second tenant in the municipal headquarters after the La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce moved in earlier this year.
The LCF City Council unanimously approved a lease agreement with the bank last Thursday during a special meeting at City Hall. The bank is currently located at 858 Foothill Blvd.
Chris Myers, the Ontario-based bank’s president and chief executive officer, said the LCF office’s rent became “considerably higher” than it had been, and though his company could pay the new amount he has shareholders to answer to and decided against it.
“When the opportunity came up to lease property at the City Hall building, we were really excited about it,” Myers said.
The council authorized City Manager Mark Alexander to execute an agreement with the bank for a 2,672-square-foot space in the western end of the building — once the headquarters of Sport Chalet — for a term of 87 months, according to a city statement. Alexander said this week that he expected to receive the bank’s signed copy of the agreement shortly.
The start date would be Oct. 1, with a tentative base rate of $3.10 per square foot on a full-service gross basis that equates to an $8,238.20 monthly rate with an annual 3% increase on the anniversary of the lease agreement, according to the statement. The initial council action calls for free rent this November and December.
“The city is very pleased to have reached an agreement with Citizens Business Bank for lease of available space on the first floor of the new City Hall building,” Alexander said in a statement to The Outlook. “CBB will be an excellent tenant and … compatible [with] our upstairs City Hall operations. We look forward to working with them as our new neighbor.”
Myers said the bank had been in its current location for more than 25 years.
“The building was purchased back in December, and our lease comes due this September,” Myers said.
Myers said his company has signed a seven-year lease with the city but will need final approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. — of which it is a member — to make the move.
“We’re hoping that doesn’t delay anything, but at the same time we feel like we should be able to make this transition pretty quickly,” Myers said.
The new location will have dedicated parking, stairs and an entrance on the west side of the building near Target.
“And it’s less than 1,000 feet from where we were before,” Myers said. “Customers will find it’s very convenient. It’s purely a business decision, and we felt like partnering with the city was a win for us. I can tell you the lease [the currect landlord] was offering to renew the space was over twice what we were paying before. It was a significant difference, so we went and looked for an alternative and we really excited about City Hall.”
City Hall is located at One Civic Center Drive, next to Target.
Citizens Business Bank Plans Move to City Hall
