For the first time in DATCU’s 78-year history, the company is planning for future growth instead of dealing with growth as it happens, company CEO Dale Kimble said.
DATCU, a credit union owned and controlled by the people who use its services, held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new administration building in Corinth on Wednesday, about two years after officials began planning a new headquarters. The building will hold administrative employees and corporate offices, but will not have a banking branch at the location.
“For us, this is really exciting. Never in our life have we done something to prepare for the future, it’s always been sort of catch-up,” Kimble said. “This is really exciting for us to be able to put this together and continue our service to the community.”
Construction on the 50,000-square-foot building is set to start in about a week and a half, said Gordon Baker, a senior vice president with New Ground, the firm overseeing the project. New Ground is based out of St. Louis and specializes in financial buildings. The company will handle the project from start to finish with planning, design, construction and interior design.
The project is expected to take 18 months and cost about $15 million, Kimble said. This means the building won’t be completed by December 2015. The city of Corinth has offered DATCU $330,000 in tax breaks to make the move from Denton, but that offer was based on completing the building by December 2015.
Paul Ruggiere, mayor of Corinth, said the city manager plans to recommend to extend the deadline to the Economic Development Council and City Council, which he anticipates will pass.
There were some hold-ups with approvals related to highway construction along the Interstate 35E corridor and other things that slowed down the process, he said.
“Our city as a whole is willing to work with entities that bring quality development like this to Corinth,” Ruggiere said. “We’re really excited about it. This is the type of project that will really set the standard for us for future development.”
The building will be easily visible from the highway when construction on Interstate 35E is completed, and it can be expanded if DATCU outgrows the space, said Dean Wilcoxen, the senior project architect with New Ground. The site is located next to the American Eagle Harley-Davidson dealership on the Interstate 35E frontage road.
Meanwhile, the current administrative offices at 215 W. Hickory St. in downtown Denton are up for sale, said Chad Lock, a marketing specialist with DATCU. The branch on West Mulberry Street won’t move, nor will the other two DATCU locations in Denton.
In the early planning stages with New Ground, the new administration building was planned to stay in Denton.
In August 2013, Denton’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted against a zoning request that would have allowed DATCU to build the new headquarters at St. Mark Catholic Church’s site on Pennsylvania Drive near Teasley Lane.
After the vote, DATCU withdrew its application instead of sending the vote to the Denton City Council and chose to relocate the project to Corinth.
JENNA DUNCAN can be reached at 940-566-6889 and via Twitter at @JennaFDuncan.
