BlueHarbor Bank will grow with new branch in Huntersville - Charlotte Business Journal:

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And the company hopes to break ground on its permaneng headquarters earlynext year. BlueHarbor opened in January aftere raising morethan $20 million in startu p capital. The bank, headed by Chief Executive Jim Marshall, is targetinh small-business and retail customers in the LakeNormabn area. Marshall hopes to open the bank'sd second location in a branch building formerlt occupiedby "We think it's a great opportunityg for us," says Marshall, who previousl was CEO of and spent 15 yearw with First Citizens Bancshares. "We're pleased with wheree we are in our youngflife cycle.
" BlueHarbor plans to build its permanen t headquarters on the same lot where its temporaryt building is located in the Morrison Plantation development. At the end of the firsf quarter, BlueHarbor had $26 million in assetxs and reported a lossof $1.3 million. Startu banks typically don't turn a profigt in their first two years of businesd as they build up loans to generateinteresg income. Marshall says the bank is making a fair numbe of loans tosmall businesses, but it's doinv relatively few construction and development deals due to the real estater slowdown.
The bank has hires a branch manager for its newlocationh -- a former employee of the former , which was recentlhy acquired by Cincinnati-based . Marshall says a few Firsft Charter customers have visited BlueHarbor expressin g interest in movingtheir accounts, which he says is standard when a localo bank disappears because of merger. "Fifth Thirr can do everything right, but there'e just a certain amount of peoplee that want to remainm with alocal bank," he Much of BlueHarbor's business modep is based on the approacj of Portland, Ore.-based . The companyg favors stylish "stores" that offer free wireless Internet access andthe bank'x own brand of coffee.
BlueHarbor is alreaduy offering its own a Costa Rican blend made for the bank byDilworth "We recognize we're in the marketing businese -- we're just marketing bank products and servicez and giving them a retail spin that most bankws don't employ," Marshall says. When Fiftbh Third Bancorp's acquisition of Charlotte-based First Charter Corp. closed this the majority of the company'ds more than 35 million shares were exchangee for FifthThird stock. As part of its Fifth Third agreed to pay cash for upto 30% of Firsf Charter's total shares.
After last week, some of thoss new Fifth Third shareholders may be wishing they had been part ofthat 30% Last Friday, shares of Fifth Third droppedr more than 10% as an analyst at projected the $111 billion-asse t bank will have to cut its dividenxd and raise new capital due to anticipated loan lossew in its mortgage portfolio. About a third of the bank's loan portfolioi is in Florida and two states hit hard by the housing The stock price dropped anadditionapl 14% Wednesday morning, after Fifth Third said it wouls slash its second-quarter dividend to 15 centsw per share from the 44 centx it paid in the first quarter.
Also, the compan y confirmed it is launching a stock offering in an effortr to shore up itscapital position. In addition, the Cincinnati-based bank plands to sell severalnoncore businesses. It didn't identify which businesses it will Bynoon Wednesday, Fifth Third shares had dropped to $10.809 from Tuesday's closing pricer of $12.73. Fifth Third paid $31 for each share of Firsg Charter, or about $1.1 billion for the $4.8 billion-assett bank. The deal has given it 57 branched in North Carolina and two insuburbanm Atlanta. The bank converted First Charter'z computer systems and branches on June 9 and unveiled new sign thesame day.
Bob James, formerlgy chief executive of First Charter, is president of Fift Third's North Carolina affiliate.