Commerce Bank broke ground on Wednesday, December 7 on a new facility at 4402 Natural Bridge Ave. in North St. Louis.
The bank will be moving from its current location across the street, which became a Commerce branch in 1974. The site of the new facility is currently a Commerce drive-through bank that will be expanded upon.
The bank’s current historic-looking building at 4401 Natural Bridge Ave. has been inhabited by a bank since 1920, when Mound City Trust Company started Florissant Bank. Commerce bought it in 1974, but now the building has too much open space for their needs, bank leaders said, as banking traffic has moved more online and away from the foot traffic it experienced in the past.
“The new branch is going to have a lot of the amenities that, through some testing, we’ve discovered customers really like,” said Darryl Collins, regional retail banking director of Commerce Bank, at the groundbreaking ceremony on December 7.
“We’ll have private conversation areas and not as many desks. We are excited to bring a modern facility and what customers really want to this area.”
All Commerce employees will be moved across the street to the new location.
The majority of the bank’s customers are African-American and live in the surrounding area, said Loura M. Gilbert, vice president of community development at Commerce. The most popular services are basic checking and saving accounts, she said, but the bank also offers a secured credit card to help individuals establish a credit line.
Natural Bridge is lined with businesses offering check-cashing services for high fees and payday loans, which are short-term loans for small amounts at a high rate of interest. Gilbert hopes that Commerce can offer residents an alternative to these high fees.
“If they’ve gotten into payday lending, that’s a cycle of debt that’s hard to get out of,” Gilbert said. “It’s a nightmare.”
Although Commerce does not offer much one-on-one financing counseling to help people repair their damaged credit lines, they do partner with community development corporations to get residents the assistance they need, Gilbert said. Some of those partners include Beyond Housing and Northside Community Housing Inc.
Sal Martinez, executive director of Community Renewal and Development Inc., said Commerce has been a strong partner in community investment, including support for the Julia Davis Library right next door to their current location.
“They have been here for decades,” Martinez said, “This is another a demonstration of their commitment to the neighborhood.”
Plans for the existing building are yet to be determined, but bank leaders said that Commerce continues to have conversations with the City of St. Louis, the neighboring Julia Davis library and other community leaders to determine how to put the building to best use for the neighborhood.
The new Natural Bridge branch will include the traditional transaction line, two consulting rooms to hold private conversations and meetings with a personal banker and the ability to video conference with product specialist if needed. The existing drive through and drive-up ATM will remain at the location and will be operational throughout construction as well.
The existing branch will remain in service during the remodel and construction is expected to be completed by the end of May. ISC Contracting is the general contractor and V Three Studios is the architect for the project.
Fran Fanara, senior vice president and St. Louis retail group manager, said, “Commerce Bank is recommitting to the North St. Louis neighborhood and the surrounding business district by investing in a new and improved branch so we can continue to serve the needs of our customers in this community.”
