Covenant Bank begins building its new HQ

With a sole location on the outskirts of Doylestown on South Easton Road, Covenant Bank will soon be much closer to its core clients.

The bank held a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of its new headquarters at 182 N. Main St. in the heart of downtown Doylestown on Tuesday, the first step of its expansion strategy throughout its home base of Bucks and Montgomery counties.

The headquarters will be 8,000 square feet and should be complete and ready for occupancy by the fourth quarter of 2016, said Donald Worthington, chairman of the board for Covenant Bank. The building will face North Main Street with an entrance on Broad Street.

The headquarters will include offices and a parking garage beneath it, with a retail branch building facing Broad Street, Worthington said. The branch will have about 10 to 12 employees, he said.

The site once had a dilapidated building that has been razed.

Covenant Bank chose the site because of its proximity to the courthouse and the ability of clients to walk to the branch.

“Basically, it was the only thing in town with drive-thru space, plus it’s new construction and we can make it with our look,” Worthington said. “We have a long-term lease to build both buildings.”

The project includes local companies.

Joe Ventresca, one of the owners of the property and the developer of the headquarters project with Joseph Ventresca Group LLC of Doylestown, declined to provide an estimated construction cost. He confirmed it would be constructing both buildings, to be finished by next fall.

Richard E. Brown Associates, Architects of Doylestown is the architect, Ventresca said.

Another bank office, National Penn Investment Services, is adjacent to the site at 169 Broad St. Once BB&T closes on its National Penn acquisition next year, the building would become a BB&T office unless BB&T decides to close it.

Open Door Management LLC Trinity Properties is a business next door at 171 Broad St., which is where Covenant Bank’s branch will be. That business will vacate once the bank acquires approvals from the borough.

Open Door owns the building where the branch will be and has another building in town where it will relocate, Worthington said. The bank will lease the building from Open Door, Worthington said. The bank still needs a variance for the building modification, he said.

Covenant Bank will renovate to fit the look of the bank, making it modified and somewhat smaller, Worthington said. The branch will be about 2,000 square feet.

Formerly MileStone Bank, Covenant Bank recently created a new management team and is embarking on a five-year plan to double its staff and build new branches. With about 40 full-time employees, it plans to add another 40 over the next five years.

Source: LVB