BANKING: Greater Bay applies for charter for new Fountaingrove branch

The North Bay could get yet another community bank to add to its cache.

Palo Alto-based Greater Bay Bank, owner of two North Bay banks, has leased a building in Fountaingrove and applied for approval to open a branch in Santa Rosa.

If approved, it will be the 13th bank location in the 95403 ZIP Code, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Greater Bay Bancorp, holding company of Greater Bay and its other member banks, has declined to comment on a potential new bank in Fountaingrove because it is not yet approved.

The company, which owns a network of community banks, applied for a new branch in Santa Rosa with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks, according to public records.

Greater Bay Bank committed to a 4,557-square-foot ground-floor space at 3569 Round Barn Circle in one of two Fountaingrove buildings recently purchased by Equity Office Partners from Basin Street Properties. The building also is home to Liberty Title Co.

The lease agreement allows occupancy of the Greater Bay Bank space as of Aug. 1.

Paul Schwartz, a commercial real estate broker for Orion Partners Ltd., said the location of the building has advantages to those who might want to do business with downtown companies as well as those near the airport to the north.

“This is brand new product with on-site parking in a location very close to Highway 101 and in the center of Sonoma County,” said Mr. Schwartz, who represented Greater Bay Bank in the lease agreement. “The demographics within a one-to-two-mile radius are very strong for client access and per household income.”

Two additional office buildings already are approved for development at the site.

Greater Bay Bancorp formed in 1996 when Cupertino National Bancorp and Mid-Peninsula Bancorp merged. The company converted to a national charter from a state charter in 2002. Greater Bay Bancorp owns 16 banks total, including Greater Bay Bank Marin and Bank of Petaluma.

Bank of Petaluma, formed in 1984, merged with Greater Bay Bancorp on Oct. 12, 2000, becoming Greater Bay’s tenth bank. Greater Bay Bank Marin was formed by the company in 2001.