(Source: Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.))
By David Morrill, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.
Jul. 1--Bank of the West's major presence in the East Bay is going to consolidate mostly into one location in late-2010 through the lease of a 240,000-square-foot facility at Bishop Ranch in San Ramon.
"We have outgrown many of our existing facilities, as some of the buildings are outdated, crowded and inefficient," said Jim Cole, a bank spokesman. "This gives us a chance to keep our presence in the East Bay."
The move will involve the majority of the bank's team members in the East Bay. San Francisco-based Bank of the West has been in the East Bay for more than 20 years.
The new facility will be at Bishop Ranch 7, a three-story building at 2527 Camino Ramon in San Ramon that is largely vacant.
With more than 500 companies, Bishop Ranch is one of the largest business parks in the country, and is anchored by the headquarters of Chevron. Other companies at Bishop Ranch include 24 Hour Fitness, Anheuser Busch and AT&T.
The Bank of the West currently has seven facilities with locations in Walnut Creek, Concord and Pacheco. Only the Stanwell location will be retained, as employees from the 2400 Bisso Lane site in Concord will be relocated there.
By consolidating the workforce, the Bank of the West hopes to be able to be better positioned for long-term growth, Cole said.
The company headquarters in San Francisco will not be affected.
Bank of the West is coming off a tough quarter in which it lost $85 million. Separately,
it announced in May that it was eliminating 300 to 400 jobs across the 19-state territory.
Between January and March, Bank of the West generated $770.6 million in revenue, which was down 15.7 percent from the same quarter last year.
Staff writer David Morrill can be reached at 925-977-8534 or dmorrill@bayareanewsgroup.com.
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