This week, High Plains Bank announced it will close its 17th Avenue location on April 28.
High Plains Bank — founded in Flagler, Colorado in 1908 — has a primary branch located at 600 Kimbark St.
CEO John Creighton said the bank has outgrown its Kimbark location and began a search for a larger location in 2019. Bank administrators searched for available office space and came up short. They decided the next option was to build an office to accommodate their growing staff.
“Between then and now — as we have all experienced — the world has changed a little bit. Construction costs doubled in that period of time. With the doubling of construction costs it just didn’t make sense to build any longer,” Creighton said.
This forced the bank to reexamine available office space and the branch at 17th Avenue was created in 2021.
Creighton said the office space at 17th Avenue was only ever meant to be temporary. In December, the building at 385 Main Street became available and was acquired for the bank.
"Downtown Longmont is the best place we can imagine for our center of operations,” Creighton said in a December news release. “We look forward to having our Loan department and Trust, Estate, and Investment Services team centrally located in the heart of the community."
The new space is a 5,800-square-foot office building, which the bank purchased for $2.07 million. According to Creighton, the new space will meet the bank’s needs for office space for several decades to come.
With its needs met, bank administrators decided it didn’t make economic sense for the bank to operate out of three locations, Creighton said.
Customers looking for full-service banking are encouraged to visit the Kimbark Street location or use the bank’s online options.
“We have seen a steady increase in online banking and a relatively flat increase in lobby banking,” Creighton said noting the bank has increased its customer base by nearly 35% meanwhile its teller transactions increased by 7%.
Creighton said the number of bank employees is so large at the moment that many have not been able to return to the office due to a lack of space. He added that many of these employees are excited to be able to work side-by-side with colleagues and with customers once again.
“We love being part of the Longmont community and having now the clear path for growth and having enough office space to be able to grow for the long-term, that’s fantastic,” Creighton said.
Correction: High Plains Bank was founded in 1908, not 1902.
