West Shore Bank breaks ground on new Traverse City building. 

West Shore Bank breaks ground on new Traverse City building. 

TRAVERSE CITY – West Shore Bank will launch the first major private investment project along Traverse City’s newly-renovated Eighth Street corridor with a new bank building at the Boardman Avenue intersection to accommodate its growth in the Grand Traverse region.

“We are grateful for the growth we are experiencing in the Traverse City market and are excited to make this significant investment, making it clear to the community that we are here to stay,” said Raymond A. Biggs, president and CEO of West Shore Bank. “When considering locations throughout the community for this new office, we prioritized our customers’ ease of access while also taking into account the best interests of Traverse City’s residents and visitors.  We believe this location helps reinforce the momentum of redevelopment along the Eighth Street corridor.”

Biggs said the project will utilize onsite parking to preserve the limited public parking available in the area while offering customers a convenient and positive experience when they meet with their West Shore banker. It will include space to provide opportunities to connect with the community to host meetings and small events to help support and enrich those relationships, he added, noting that the West Shore staff is highly involved with many non-profit and community-based organizations.

“West Shore Bank’s new project along Eighth Street is a major investment in our community,” said Jean Derenzy, CEO of Traverse City’s Downtown Development Authority. “It’s exactly the type of private investment we hoped to attract following the city’s extensive renovations to Eighth Street, and creates a solid foundation for our vision of creating a Healthy Living Corridor in the neighborhood.”

Project developers at Cunningham-Limp have already undertaken several environmentally sensitive measures on the property. Almost 1,300 cubic yards of material was recycled and diverted from the local waste stream from the aging law office on the site demolished this spring. It included wood, copper wiring, windows and doors, light fixtures and more. Some of the salvaged material was donated to a community shelter in Cadillac operated by the Cornerstone Tabernacle Church. The gutted building was also offered to the City of Traverse City for first-responder training, which was scheduled but postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We already have a team of over 20 professionals in Traverse City and look forward to expanding further,” said Sid Van Slyke, market leader for West Shore Bank in the Grand Traverse region. “Our client-minded focus has resonated well within the market, and it’s extremely rewarding to be a part of such a helpful bank in such a vibrant community.”