On Real Estate

Tuesday, September 12, 2000

Banking island-casual style

Frost strives for informality on Padre Island

With Internet banking, ATMs and drive-through lanes, there seems to be fewer occasions to stroll into a bank lobby. But Frost Bank on Padre Island is building a new bank on the island that is designed to make customers want to do just that.
   A $1.5 million bank that Frost is about to begin building on the island has an exterior that will mesh with the casualness of the island and an interior that officials say will fit in with what customers are expecting from banks these days.
   When Frost Bank went to research what customers expected in a building, they found out that customers found traditional banks a) stiff and cold and b) not conducive to selling intangible products such as financial services. They set out to design a building that would change what customers expect from their bank.
   "People thought banks were stuffy and not 'with it,' " said Pam Thomas, senior vice president of marketing for Frost. "We want to get away from that stuffy atmosphere."
   John Trice, president of Frost Bank Padre Island, said the new bank to be built at the corner of Marina Drive and South Padre Island Drive will be more relaxed, in the 132-year-old Frost Bank tradition of "talking Texan to Texan."
   To do that, the Padre Island bank will be one of the first in the system to feature an open lobby where the 10 office workers will work toward the back of the room. At the new building, business is more likely to be discussed leisurely on couches with coffee tables, instead of stiffly at desks.
   The 5,000-square-foot building will also have technology that will shape it into more of a financial resource center where customers can browse the Internet or catch financial updates on a large-screen television. The focus is on accessibility.
   "The more accessible you are, the more you build those relationships," Trice said.
   Fulton Construction is set to begin the six-month project within 45 days. Architect Mark Whitmore designed the building to give it a tropical feeling framed in tropical landscaping.
   "The building is designed to look like it belongs on Padre Island," said Trice a lifelong resident of the Island. The bank outgrew its space at a shopping center at 14225 S. Padre Island Drive about a year ago and purchased land nearby to build.
   The new bank will be adapted from new Frost Bank buildings that adopt the open lobby style, Thomas said. Frost has three banks with this design in San Antonio.
   Since opening them last fall, she said, the banks have done well selling non-traditional bank services and products such as insurance and investments.
   The bank will be a step toward the future, Trice said. "We're building the physical bank building for what Padre Island will be tomorrow."
  

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Business writer Andrea Jares can be reached at 886-3678 or by email at jaresa@caller.com. On Real Estate is published every other Tuesday in the Business section.

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