East Boston Savings Bank has filed applications with the Massachusetts Division of Banks to open two new full service branches in Boston.
One branch would be at 1614 Tremont St., the current site of a Bank of America branch, and the other branch would be at 1952-1956 Beacon St. in Brighton, EBSB’s first branch in that neighborhood of the city.
“It’s just an opportunity for the bank to continue to expand its footprint throughout the Boston area and some of the neighborhoods in Boston,” Keith Armstrong, senior vice president at EBSB, told Banker & Tradesman. “We continue to grow and do well so we like these opportunities and we think we will be very successful in these locations.”
The plan to add two more branches continues the huge branch growth for the $4.6 billion asset bank that has more than doubled – and almost tripled – the amount of branches it has since 2009 during a time when bank branches are on the decline nationwide.
The bank had 32 branches as of this year, according to FDIC data, not including the two branches it will get from the Meetinghouse Bank acquisition it is in the process of completing.
Armstrong said right now the leases for the two proposed locations are still under discussion.
The Tremont Street location, the one that is currently a BofA branch, is in a multistory building next to a J.P. Licks ice cream shop and across the street from Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Armstrong said the 3,400-square-foot space is bigger than the typical EBSB branch, but that the company liked the location so much they went for it.
BofA is planning to keep its ATMs open after it closes the branch – until March 31, when the lease expires – but Armstrong said that could change. EBSB’s branch would likely open on Tremont Street in the second quarter of 2018, he said.
The 2,300-square-foot Brighton branch on Beacon Street will be available on Oct. 1, but Armstrong said the company will need to do some renovations and will likely plan to open it in January.
In Boston, EBSB has one branch in Allston, two in the city, four in East Boston and four in South Boston, as well as branches in Cambridge, Brookline and West Roxbury, among other places.
Expect to see the bank announce more new branches in the future: Richard Gavegnano, chairman, president and CEO of Meridian Bancorp, the holding company of EBSB, previously told Banker & Tradesman that the new branches in Dorchester and Roslindale from the Meetinghouse acquisition position EBSB to move into the Dedham and Milton markets.
