BankNewport branches out

January 28, 2008

By Randal Edgar Journal Staff Writer

 

NARRAGANSETT — A bank that had wanted to open a branch in the Salt Pond Shopping Center, until the town insisted there could be no thinning of the woods between the plaza and the road, yesterday announced plans to open a branch at a far more visible spot.

 

BankNewport Chief Executive Officer Thomas W. Kelly said the branch being built at 90 Point Judith Rd. will be BankNewport’s first in Narragansett, second in South County and 12th overall.

 

Expected to open in late spring, the 2,800-square-foot branch is being built on the site that was once home to Casa Rossi, an Italian restaurant.

 

The restaurant site is a change of direction from last year, when BankNewport pursued plans to open a branch in the Salt Pond Shopping Center. Salt Pond Shopping Center LLC, which had development rights to the proposed site, submitted an application but then withdrew it after the Planning Board urged the Town Council to insist on no cutting in a wooded area between the plaza and Woodruff Avenue.

 

BankNewport opened its first South County branch in November, in North Kingstown, though it has had residential mortgage and commercial locations in the area since the mid-1990s.

 

Kelly said those operations encouraged the bank to expand in the area.

 

“We had a lot of those customers asking when we were going to open a branch,” he said.

 

It appeared last year that a Bank Rhode Island branch would be built on the former restaurant site, but a Bank Rhode Island representative asked last fall if the company’s building permit could be transferred to BankNewport, said Anthony L. Santilli Jr., the town’s building inspector.

 

BankNewport will lease the property, which is owned by 90 Point Judith LLC, according to town property records. 90 Point Judith LLC bought the property last January for $2.4 million, according to property records.

 

Santilli said the BankNewport’s plans are nearly identical to those approved for Bank Rhode Island, with the exception of one window. The plans include a drive-up banking window and a drive-up ATM. Construction is expected to cost about $704,000, according to the plans, he said.

 

Kelly said further expansions into South County will depend on the banking industry and the economy. He described BankNewport as a “good corporate citizen” that is known to be generous in its contributions to the community.

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