After making an announcement to employees, trustees, and corporators at a recent gathering, Newtown Savings Bank President and CEO John Trentacosta told The Newtown Bee this week the bank will close and relocate its Main Street retail branch to a new building at 30-32 Church Hill Road.

Mr Trentacosta said he expects the new building will be completed and ready for outfitting as a bank branch by late fall, with expected occupancy by spring 2016.

He said the new, more convenient location will make it easier for customers to access the branch and ATM. The bank currently owns a parcel of land in front of the former Lexington Gardens and plans to construct a new building on this site.

The bank’s headquarters and executive offices will remain at the 39 Main Street, which will be able to accommodate more back office operations and staff as a result of the branch relocation.

He said the bank will construct the new branch at the same time as developers are completing other commercial buildings on the site, to try and take advantage of any efficiencies possible. More than 60,000 square feet of enclosed retail/office space will be constructed by Alan Weiner and his Mesa General Contractors, Inc, of New Milford.

The property formerly held Lexington Gardens, a plant nursery and gift shop that went out of business in January 2011. After Newtown Savings Bank received land use approvals for the commercial redevelopment project in 2012, the former Lexington Gardens building was demolished to make way for the new project.

The new development will be known as The Village at Lexington Gardens.

According to the NSB CEO, the bank is undergoing a space needs study now, but as far as available space at the Main Street offices are concerned, “the building is maxed out,” Mr Trentacosta said. Newtown Savings Bank has been branching out to accommodate it burgeoning staff, opening a call center at Sand Hill Plaza and occupying commercial office space at 30 Church Hill Road.

He expects the call center to remain at Sand Hill Plaza, but said the office holders at 30 Church Hill will relocate to the second floor of the newly built branch upon its completion. That standalone branch will have an elevator, basement storage, and approximately 3,250 square feet of space on each of its two floors.

“We’ll likely also be moving retail support services to the Church Hill branch,” he said. “These will be folks closely tied to our lending and ‘Investment Solutions’ division.”

When the time comes to migrate employees, equipment, and IT systems, the bank official said most of that work will occur over a weekend, so the branch can open with minimal customers interruptions. Newtown Savings Bank will retain ownership of the new building and the property upon which it is built.

“From our point of view, we have a pressing need for more space,” Mr Trentacosta said. “And looking at our future, and the community demographics, this location will serve both the bank and our customers well with free flowing access between our new plaza and Caraluzzi’s.

“We’ll also have a traffic light, which will make access and exit from the new branch more convenient and conducive to better traffic flow in this rapidly developing new commercial corridor on Church Hill Road,” he added.

The bank official said the new location will be designed and oriented on the lot to maximize its high profile location, so it will help attract the attention of new customers.

The new branch design will keep most immediate customer functions on the ground floor, versus having customers negotiate the split-level offices on Main Street. Mr Trentacosta said the Main Street offices will still offer use of a community room for meetings and activities to local groups.

Mr Trentacosta first announced the new branch details March 31 at the bank’s annual dinner to a room of more than 200 employees, along with his optimism about the bank’s continued growth and future.

“This year we are celebrating our 160-year anniversary,” said Mr Trentacosta, “and we have every intention of being around for 160 more.”