Montgomery development news

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Regions to keep main city branch open

By Cosby Woodruff
Montgomery Advertiser


Regions Bank has changed its decision to close its main Montgomery branch at 8 Commerce St. and centralize its Montgomery operations at the Retirement Systems of Alabama office. Instead it will keep both locations open.

Regions spokesman Rick Swagler said the bank has decided there is enough business so that neither location should be closed.

"We decided we need both of those locations," he said.

Regions will sell its main Montgomery location, but the move should have minimal impact on Montgomery customers because Regions' plans to lease back its office space to maintain the two locations.

Swagler said the building being put up for sale merely reflects Regions' desire not to be a property manager.

"In locations where we are the majority tenant, we will keep it," he said. "If we are a minority tenant, we will sell it. We don't want to be a landlord."

The company will sell and close one branch in Montgomery. The former AmSouth location at 3080 McGehee Road is one of 20 Alabama branch sites listed for sale on a Web site operated by broker CB Richard Ellis Group.

The 20 properties are available as a group or individually by bidding through May 14.

Regions recently announced plans to sell its former corporate headquarters in Birmingham and move into the former AmSouth headquarters in Birmingham, now called Regions Center

That move follows Regions' acquisition late last year of AmSouth Bancorporation.

Swagler said those moves are part of real estate restructuring throughout the company's 2,400 locations in 16 states.

The broker's Web site lists 114 Regions branch properties for sale in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Lousiana and Florida. Regions also has 15 locations with expiring short term leases it is looking to sublease.

Branch properties on the Web site have a bidding deadline, but Swagler said there is no timetable for closing the sale on the major office space.