Memorial giant breaks into banking
Jim GreerMetroNational, a company long embedded in real estate development, is breaking new ground by going into banking.
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The name and most of the initial capital for MetroNational Bank & Trust comes from a family-owned firm with real estate roots dating back a half-century in the Memorial area.
The new bank aims to tap the financial potential of the affluent Memorial community by launching two locations early next year.
MetroNational Bank's main location will be a stand-alone building on the southeast corner of the Interstate 10 frontage road and Memorial City Way. The financial institution will replace a storage facility on MetroNational property a scone's throw away from a Starbucks and a Bally Total Fitness.
Inside Memorial City Mall, a smaller MetroNational Bank branch will complement the nearby flagship.
"There is no bank in the mall," notes Mike Roy, a veteran Houston financial executive who will serve as CEO and president of MetroNational Bank.
Roy and MetroNational are organizing the so-called de novo bank amid the Houston real estate firm's approximately $500 million redevelopment of Memorial City.
Earlier this week, Roy said MetroNational Bank was expecting to file an application for a national charter within days.
A familiar market
Deep-pocketed developer MetroNational gives the new bank instant financial footing.
Estate-planning trusts under the MetroNational umbrella, including those for the closely held development firm's founding Johnson family, are investing $12 million in the new bank. That sizable ante from the MetroNational trusts will represent a controlling stake.
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