Kiger's Notebook

Former Med City bank exec is bringing new loan office here, recruits Roch. bankers

An Iowa bank - West Bank - will soon deposit a loan office in the Med City and it is tapping some local bankers to run it.

While this will be the $1.4 billion community bank's first foray into the Rochester market, it's CEO is very familiar with the terrain. CEO Dave Nelson is certainly no stranger to the Med City.  Before taking the reins of West Bank in 2010, he was the president of Wells-Fargo Rochester.

Now after two years in Des Moines, Iowa, he is looking at Rochester to expand West Bank. And he is recruiting key executives from his old bank to manage this new project.

"It’s a great win/win for all of us. … We are committed to pursuing growth opportunities where we can find the talent and strategic fit," he says. "In this case, we’ve been able to recruit long time Rochester banker Mike Zinser as our new Market President.”

The plan is to open a loan production office in Suite 100 of 3147 Superior Drive N.W. on March 18. It will be focused on business banking, though it will also offer treasure management services and home mortgages.

Zinser was previously a Regional Business Banking Manager for Wells Fargo’s Business Banking division in Rochester. 

The other two bankers - Mike Schletty and Michele Sursely - hired to run the new West Bank office are also former Wells-Fargo employees.

Schletty, most recently a senior business banker for Wells-Fargo, will serve as vice president of West Bank's Rochester time.  Rounding out the team is Sursely, a 32-year Wells Fargo veteran.

“You can’t launch a new initiative like this without a hometown team.  Mike, Mike and Michele have made Rochester their home for years, and they know the community’s needs,” Nelson says.

The loan office may be just the beginning. West Bank sees a lot of potential in Rochester for its business-focus community bank.

"We see this as a temporary phase…a way to get started," he says, "In the future, we do envision building a more traditional bank branch in Rochester."

Spa spin-off is open after extreme makeover

Essence Med Spa, a spin-off of the original Essence Skin Clinic, is open for business in downtown Rochester at 23 Second St. S.W. in the former Odd Fellows building.

While construction crews are still putting the final finishing touches on the massive renovation project, owner Jennifer Sanneman opened the new Essence last week at corner of Second Street and First Avenue S.W.That's the spot by the legendary Eagle Drug Store, where Think Mutual Savings Bank used to have a branch.

Essence offers services such as permanent cosmetics, laser hair removal, chemical peels, liposuction, one-hour "face lifts," tattoo removal, Botox and other skin-related treatments.

Though it is only few blocks away from the first Essence, this location will allow Sanneman and her staff to better serve Mayo Clinic employees and patients as well as others who work downtown, she says.

 The plan is to focus on less invasive services, such as Botox, filler, facials and massages at the Med Spa. The more intensive and time-consuming procedures, like liposuction and skin re-surfacing, will be the emphasis at the original Broadway clinic.

During an earlier interview, she said, "It's just better to have two. We really love this space."

New sandwich chain to fire up in Rochester

After years of trying to fire up a Med City location, plans for a new Potbelly Sandwich Shop are heating up in downtown Rochester.

A group of local owners have signed a deal to open a Potbelly franchise — the first in southeastern Minnesota — in the 318 Commons building on First Avenue Southwest.

That'll put it in the same complex with hundreds of University of Minnesota Rochester students, The Loop bar and grill and the latest Eastwood Bank branch.

Potbelly, known for its toasted sandwiches and cast-iron potbelly stoves, has been looking to spark a franchise here since at least 2010. Fans have been vocal in their appeals for a local Potbelly.

In addition to warm sandwiches, Potbelly serves up salads, soups and hand-dipped milkshakes.

Owners Kirk and Kim Gordon are spearheading the project, along with partners John and Sandy Rogness and Bill and Erin Nystrom.

The decision to sign on for a Potbelly franchise was an easy one for the Gordons.

“We loved Potbelly when we lived in Chicago, and we’ve been hoping ever since that Rochester would be added to the Potbelly family," Kim Gordon said.  "We got tired of waiting and decided, ‘Let’s bring it here ourselves.’”

There's no target opening date yet, but look for construction of the new sidewalk level eatery to kickoff very soon. The chain's namesake stove commemorates how the first shop started as an antique store then evolved into an eatery. Expect customized woodwork within.

Potbelly typically hires about 20 to 30 people to staff a shop.

It'll be interesting to see how this new player in Rochester's already meaty sandwich market carves out its own niche. The Med City already sports Jimmy John's, Subway, Quizno's, Cousin's and local deli-style places like Salad Brothers, City Market, Nelson Cheese and others

In 2010, Potbelly's franchise manager was confident that a shop was destined for Rochester.

"These are definitely not cookie cutter shops. We want to be part of a community," Mike Walters said back then. "We want to be a neighborhood sandwich shop."

Old building gets facelift for spa biz

UPDATE - The print version of this piece was wrong on one point. Essence Skin Clinic is not moving. The Oddfellows space will be used to house a new sister business to be called Essence Med Spa.

I apologize for the error.

 

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A high-profile downtown spot is getting a facelift as it prepares to put its best face forward for a new tenant.

Work is under way at 23 Second St. S.W. for an extensive remodel to freshen up the space for Essence Med Spa. That is a spin-off from Essence Skin Clinic, which is based at 400 S. Broadway in the Riverside Building.

Owner Jennifer Sanneman  began the business in 1998. Essence offers services like permanent cosmetics, laser hair removal, chemical peels, tattoo removal, Botox and other skin-related treatments.

I should have more details on this project soon.

That space in the 131-year-old former Odd Fellows building at Second Street and First Avenue Southwest was last occupied by Think Mutual Bank. Think moved to the Minnesota Biobusiness Center building in July 2011.

Essence will share the Odd Fellows building with Eagle Drug Store, Newt's Express and HDR Architecture.

Baheya LLC of Rochester bought the building last year for $5.3 million from 23 Second Street SW LLC.

New owner of ex-Pump-N-Munch....?

Last week I started hearing some about a possible sale of the former BP Pump-N-Munch C-store at South Broadway and 16th Street, but I didn't have a chance to dig for details.

Then the ever-sharp-eyed Jack Van Sickle spotted a "Sold" sign there over the weekend. So after brunch at Denny's on Sunday, I popped by to get a pic (with my surprisingly patient kids in the car).

This is an interesting deal. Of all of the Pump-N-Munches that closed in the summer of 2009, this is probably the spot with the highest profile.

I remember when that one switched from being a Conoco to BP. And I was there the day the they pulled the tanks and tore down one of the pump shelters.

John Jensen and Jack Briggs of Kato Inc. owned all of them at that time. Since then, most have been demolished or re-purposed.

• The Elton Hills one was leveled to make way for Family Video.

• The 37th Street one became a Subway sandwich shop.

• The Country Club Manor one transformed in an Andy's liquor store.

• The Salem Road one was cleared away to make way for a future Think Mutual Bank branch.

• The 15th Avenue one shifted gears as a used car dealership and now houses the Opa Opa! greek cuisine eatery.

• The one by Famous Dave's near Civic Center Drive remains standing and empty.

So the question on the table today is who bought the South Broadway one and what do they plan to do with it. 

I'll hopefully have that answer soon. stay tuned.

New tenant banking on 318 Commons, Roch. downtown

Here's a little from my column in today's paper about a new tenant signing to go into 318 Commons on First Avenue Southwest.

It seems like downtown Rochester is bustling these days with action at Mayo Clinic, the City Centre, the Kahler Grand Hotel, the BioBusiness Center, Historic Third and along the river (Legends).

Come on northwest and south Rochester, downtown is getting all of the attention. Let's pick up the pace in the other quadrants.

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Eastwood Bank is expanding its Rochester footprint by establishing a large branch and private banking office in the new University of Minnesota Rochester student housing complex, 318 Commons.

Subject to banking regulatory approval, the area bank will create a 6,000-square-foot branch on the street level of the complex at 318 First Ave. S.W.

"This is an exciting project for us. It flows along with our strategic plan to grow in Rochester and southeastern Minnesota," says Paul Tieskoetter, Eastwood's president.

If it goes as planned, bank officials anticipate getting approval from federal regulators within 30 to 45 days.

While Eastwood doesn't have any retail banking downtown now, it does have a private banking and trust department office that opened in 2008 in the Broadway Residence and Suites tower. That office will be expanded and folded into the new 318 Commons branch.

"We're tripling our downtown space," Tieskoetter says.

Tech staffing firm working on new Roch. office

A national firm that provides contract employees for IBM in Rochester is working on new office space in northwest Rochester.

Computer Task Group, commonly called CTG, is building a new suite of offices on the fourth floor of the Olmsted National Bank building at 975 34th Ave. N.W. That's the colorful building with the eagle logo at U.S. 14 West and Superior Drive Northwest.

CTG, which employs hundreds of computer and technology workers, opened its Rochester office  primarily to service a major IBM contract in 2005. Its current address is suite 200 at 4041 28th St. N.W. 

Richard Dye, a company representative in CTG’s headquarters in Buffalo, N.Y., confirmed a move is happening, but did not have any details about the number of employees or the reason for the move.

While its staff numbers vary depending on project contracts, CTG had more than 300 Rochester employees in 2008. When it first opened here, Rochester was described as one CTG's largest customers.

Two construction permits estimate the project value at $85,000.

It is not clear how much space CTG will take up in the bank building, but it should fill or almost fill the remaining commercial tenant space in the building.

It will share the fourth floor with law office of Klampe, Delehanty & Morris, which moved there at the start of the year from downtown Rochester.

Olmsted National Bank fills up the two bottom levels of the complex it built in 2006.

Home Federal sells Iowa branch

A Rochester-based bank is selling a branch in Toledo, Iowa.

Home Federal Savings Bank's parent company, HMN Financial, announced this week that it has signed a purchase agreement with Pinnacle Bank of Marshalltown, Iowa, for the Toledo branch.

The conclusion of the sale is anticipated early in the first quarter of 2012.

Home Federal anticipates that the sale will reduce the bank's overall assets by an estimated $43 million, as well as result in a one-time financial gain to be calculated in January.

The Toledo branch opened in 1997. Including Toledo, Home Federal has 11 branches and total assets of $818 million.

Home Federal posted a net loss of $2.1 million for the third quarter, an improvement compared with a $9.4 million loss in the third quarter of 2010.

Early this year, Home Federal signed a supervisory agreement with the Office of Thrift Supervision, the federal agency that regulates savings banks. The agreement, which was required because the bank had too high a percentage of nonperforming assets, placed the bank under closer scrutiny and subjected it to more requirements.

The stock of the bank's parent company HMN Financial Inc. is traded on NASDAQ.

Mayo Credit Union to head south

Here's some my column in today's holiday paper about the Mayo Employees Credit Union pulling the trigger on the plan they announced more than years ago to build a new branch in Rochester 2.0, Shoppes On Maine.

More than four years after the plans were announced, the Mayo Employees Credit Union is gearing up to build a new branch in southeast Rochester.
The plan is to deposit a 6,000-square-foot branch between the south Super Target complex and the Rochester Toyota dealership.

That's in the Shoppes on Maine development on the far south side of the Med City.

While it will be a similar design, this branch will be slightly larger than Mayo Credit Union's branch at 41st Street Northwest and West Circle Drive.

This is a project that was first proposed in 2007 when the Target store was still under construction and Shoppes on Maine was still new.

The Mayo Employees Credit Union bought the land to build the branch for $1.45 million on March 20, 2007.

Now four years later, Bryan Anderson of Mayo Clinic says it is expected that the branch will be completed and open by the spring of 2012.

Postive numbers Home Fed Bank

This seems like a good way to start the year for Home Federal.

Here's some from a quick piece I put together about Rochester-based Home Federal Bank's first quarter earnings report.

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A battered Rochester bank is showing a move toward recovery with positive numbers in its latest earnings report.

Home Federal Savings Bank reported a net income of  $250,000 for the first quarter of  2011 compared to a $1.8 million loss during the same quarter in 2010.

The bank, which lost $29 million last year, showed improvement across the board in this first report of 2011, is under the umbrella of the publicly-owned holding company.

“We will continue to focus our efforts on reducing non-performing assets, reducing loan concentrations, increasing our core deposit relationships and reducing expenses," stated Home Federal's president Brad Krehbiel in the report. "We believe that, over time, our focus on these areas will be effective in generating improved financial results.”

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This uptick toward healthy numbers follows Home Federal's signing a supervisory agreement with the Office of Thrift Supervision, the federal agency that regulates savings banks.