Tri State Area Federal Credit Union President James Martinez and project architect Jeffrey Goldstone recently gave a presentation on the design before the Historical Commission and will go before the Development Review Board today for permit approvals.
They said the structure is designed to fit within the town’s downtown historic district while having the formal look of a financial institution. The project cost is estimated at $1 million, and Martinez said he hopes the building can be ready to open during the first quarter of 2018.
The 1.2-acre parcel, which the credit union is purchasing from Normsel Development LLC, is between the Sunny Side Diner at the corner of Washington Avenue and Main Street, and the Elks Lodge to the immediate south.
The building will face east toward the Four Corners intersection in the center of the downtown.
A drive-through window is shown in the design on the south side of the building, with on-site parking in the rear.
Zoning in the area requires at least a two-story building, Martinez said, but the credit union will likely use the second floor for storage, as it doesn’t want to have a tenant in that space.
“This is our first real expansion,” Martinez said last week, adding that a key feature of the location is that it is near the Putnam Block parcel.
The Putnam Block plan calls for a $53 million redevelopment project involving six downtown buildings and 4 acres surrounding the historic former Putnam Hotel. Phase 1 of the multiyear project is expected to go to construction in the fall, and Phase 2 — involving some new construction and the land closest to Washington Avenue — is planned to begin in late 2018.
“We have no doubt we will do well there,” said Martinez. “We love where we’re at.”
He said the credit union, formerly known as the Hoosick Federal Credit Union, has operated from offices in Hoosick Falls since 1953. However, in December 2016 the institution received approval from the National Credit Union Association for an expansion of its territory, and the name change followed.
The credit union now can serve people who live, work, worship or attend school in the expanded area, along with business and other legal entities located there.
That region includes Bennington County.
Martinez said he expects there will be four full-time employees and one part-time employee in the Bennington office.
He said the credit union expects to do well in Bennington, in part because the demographics are similar to those in Hoosick and Hoosick Falls.
Martinez said the not-for-profit institution has traditionally stressed community involvement through sponsorship of sports teams and local events and activities. He said the emphasis also is on “slow, steady growth,” and on providing the lowest possible loan rates to members, with a philosophy of not setting rates based on credit scores.
The institution’s president said he once lived and worked in Bennington, and he remembers when his father, Dr. Philip Martinez, visited patients at the former Putnam Memorial Hospital, now Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.
