Washington Trust Bank, delighted with the results of its entry into the Boise and Seattle markets, plans to build a regional financial center and an additional bank branch in the Boise area this spring and is contemplating opening an office in Bellevue, Wash.


The Spokane-based institution will build the 17,700-square-foot regional financial center in Meridian, Idaho, just west of Boise, and a 3,400-square-foot bank branch near the intersection of Cole and Overland roads in Boise, says Jack Heath, the banks president and chief operating officer. Those two facilities will give Washington Trust a total of six branches in the Boise area.


I think things are really bubbling there, Heath says. He says Washington Trusts style of bankingpursuing the wealth-management market while seeking commercial-banking opportunitiesis paying off. The bank had $258.5 million worth of loans in the Boise market as of Dec. 31, up from $165.2 million at the end of 2001. Deposits stood at $131.8 million at the end of 2003, up from $56 million at year-end 2001. It began serving the Boise market in December 1999.


While Washington Trust hasnt solidified plans for further expansion in the Seattle area, it expanded its downtown-Seattle office in June, and Heath says it remains interested in adding facilities in the Seattle area.


Well continue to expand in that market, and were contemplating opening an office in Bellevue, he says. He predicts that will happen within 12 months.


In June, Washington Trust completed its second expansion of its space on the 47th floor of the Two Union Square Building in downtown Seattle and now has almost 7,000 square feet of space there. As of Dec. 31, its Seattle office had $242.6 million in loans, up from $142.7 million at the end of 2001, while deposits had climbed to $129 million, up from $32.8 million. In January, Washington Trust had 15 employees there, up from 10 at the end of 2002.


With Spokane-based Sterling Savings Bank also having opened a downtown-Seattle office in recent years, the traditional pattern of growth by large in-state institutions has changed, Heath says.


If you turn the clock back, most of the regional banks that were headquartered in Seattle had branched over here, and now its the other way around, he says.


Also, Washington Trust said earlier this month it will expand into Utah by opening a loan production office in American Fork, near Salt Lake City.


In October, Washington Trust expanded in downtown Boise by opening a wealth-management office at 945 W. Bannock, next-door to its bank branch at 901 W. Bannock. Its wealth-management staff members provide private-banking services, trust services, estate planning, portfolio management, investment services, retirement planning, and asset-custody services.


About 40 people, including five to 10 new employees, will work at Washington Trusts regional financial center in Meridian, which will resemble the banks regional financial center in Spokane Valley, although it will be slightly bigger, Heath says. The structure will house staff groups that handle regional builder services, income properties, mortgage lending, and commercial lending, Heath says.


Washington Trusts growth in the Boise market has been much faster than we anticipated, he says, adding that it has been helped greatly by crossover relationships the bank has enjoyed with businesses and investors here that also have interests in the Boise area.


The Meridian center will be built at the new Eagle & Pine Crossing commercial development, Heath says. Washington Trusts facility there will include a full-service bank branch that will replace a small branch in Meridian that didnt have drive-up windows or good access, Heath says.


The new building also will have an employee-training area.


Washington Trust doesnt have construction cost estimates to release on either the financial center or the bank branch yet. The bank is seeking bids on the two projects and plans to start work on both of them this spring. The branch is expected to open in November, and the regional financial center in January.


Wolfe Architectural Group, of Spokane, is designing both buildings, with Design Source, also of Spokane, working on interior design. Heath says the new branch at Cole and Overland roads will be identical to Washington Trusts new Wandermere branch here.


The new Boise branch will employ five to eight people initially. The added staffing at that branch, along with the added staffing at the regional financial center, will give Washington Trust between 60 and 70 employees in the Boise market.


The bank says it had 51 people there as of last month, up from 37 at the end of 2002.


Meanwhile, Washington Trust, which operates one of its Boise-area offices in Nampa, will look at other markets in Southern Idaho and continue to look at Caldwell and Twin Falls as potential expansion sites, Heath says.


The bank has been pleasantly surprised by heightened spending on capital projects by businesses in both the Spokane and Boise markets in the first quarter this year, along with a stronger level of optimism among businesspeople in both markets, Heath says.


We just closed our numbers for January, and were very happy with them, he says.