McALLEN — Rio Bank announced earlier this week that it entered into a lease agreement with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley for space in the bank’s new six-story office building on Expressway 83 in McAllen.
UTRGV will occupy 27,644 square feet of space on the fifth and sixth floors, a statement from the bank said.
“We are pleased to expand our footprint in McAllen,” university President Guy Bailey wrote in the release. “Being located on the expressway and close to the airport is a big plus for us, and the Rio Bank office building is just what we need as we continue to grow.”
The offices will house Institutional Advancement, Governmental and Community Relations and other offices that work primarily with external partners and will also include offices for the president and other institutional leaders, the statement said. The move will allow the university to vacate much-needed space on the Edinburg campus for the expansion of student support services such as academic advising, career counseling, and other student support services.
The new space is still being prepared and the university is hoping to make the move late in the summer.
“We are pleased to have Dr. Bailey and his staff occupying space in our new office building and we look forward to announcing other businesses that will be moving into the 115,086 square feet of rentable space,” Rio Bank President and CEO Ford Sasser wrote in the release.
According to the release, the Rio Bank board of directors launched the new building project following a study that determined the Rio Grande Valley did not have sufficient office space available for the growing professional community.
“Rio Bank is a Valley bank run by Valley people,” Sasser wrote. “Our customers are Valley people that depend on community banking. That’s why we have made a capital investment in this building, which we believe will do two things. First, we wanted the building to be a landmark that the Valley can be proud of, and second, we wanted to show the Rio Grande Valley the commitment Rio Bank is willing to make in this area.”
Rio Bank has already begun finishing out bank space on parts of the first, second, and sixth floors and expects to move its bank operations into the building in July, the statement said.
