by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Downtown’s neighborhood bank swung open the doors to its new location Tuesday.
Jacksonville Bank president Gil Pomar was standing at the corner of Laura and Adams streets to greet personally the new location’s first customer. Shortly after cutting away the yellow tape from the bank’s front door, Pomar stepped inside his new lobby on the ground floor of the 100 Laura Street office building. His head swiveled around as if he was the one taking it all in for the first time. Tellers stood ready, the bank’s officers shuffled to their offices, some carrying pictures ready to hang on bare walls. Pomar’s voice echoed off the marble interior.
“We got the best corner in Jacksonville,” he said as a smile spread across his lips. On the elevator to the bank’s headquarters, which occupy the entire 10th floor, Pomar talked about his new building’s tradition. But he said building management was “generous” in outfitting the new digs with the latest office and communication technology. To turn the first floor into a bank lobby, the building’s southeast corner essentially had to be turned inside out, carving an overhang and making room for a new money machine. Pomar said building management gave him a “fair allowance” to pay for the improvements, but Jacksonville Bank contributed its share.
As the elevator doors spread open, the smell of fresh paint poured in. Pomar waved hello to a smiling secretary and pointed toward his office. As the building’s top-floor tenant, Pomar lays claim to one of the few office balconies downtown. As he stepped out onto the narrow walk, crisp morning air erased the paint smell. Pomar discussed his reasons for moving with his former home, the SunTrust building, looming above his right shoulder.
“Economically, it was a great deal for us, and frankly, we needed the space,” said Pomar.
Jacksonville Bank’s business has grown he said. A three-year expansion has brought in another $50 million in business. Pomar’s staff has swelled to 39 employees, 30 of them working downtown. Jacksonville Bank rented 8,000 square feet in the SunTrust building, it takes up 12,000 now. “And we need every inch of it,” he said.
“We really timed the move nicely. We have a lot more customers a lot more loans, a lot more assets and we need more people to serve them. We wouldn’t have had any place to put them in our old building.”
Jacksonville Bank also has branches on Atlantic Boulevard and in Mandarin, but when Pomar went looking for a new headquarters, he made it a priority to find a downtown location. He calls Jacksonville Bank, “downtown’s community bank,” and said he’s “proud to be in the urban core.”
Pomar bucked the recent trend of expanding and relocating businesses looking for City incentives. The move will keep jobs downtown, and promises to add more, but Pomar said that wasn’t justification to ask for City money.
“There’s no reason to ask for money every time we expand,” said Pomar. “That’s kind of un-American if you ask me.”
fication to ask for City money.
“There’s no reason to ask
for money every time we expand,” said Pomar. “That’s
kind of un-American if
you ask me.”