Essex Bank, Digital Benefit Advisors to join Travelers in Deep Run III [Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.]

May 23--Two new leases have been signed to occupy space in a building that was part of the former Circuit City Stores Inc. complex in Henrico County.

Essex Bank, the banking subsidiary of Community Bankers Trust Corp., is consolidating operations and moving its headquarters into Deep Run III.

"We are in 14,000 square feet (in western Henrico) and our people are scattered from there to Tappahannock to Goochland and Powhatan (counties)," Rex L. Smith, president and chief executive officer of the bank and holding company, said Wednesday.

"This gives us the ability to get everyone together," he said.

The bank will share the entry-level floor with Digital Benefit Advisors, an employee benefits firm.

Essex Bank will occupy 25,375 square feet in Deep Run III.

It plans to move early next year with about 90 employees into space that could accommodate 120 employees. The bank will have a walk-up ATM at the building's main entrance, but not a branch office.

Digital Benefit Advisors, a division of Atlanta-based Digital Insurance Inc., will move this summer into 13,057 square feet.

"We will move initially with 55 employees and we have room in that space for about 70 employees," said Timothy O'Shea, managing principal of Digital Benefit Advisors.

"The building provides room for growth, a very professional appearance and services attractive to our employee base -- a fitness center, conference center and cafe," O'Shea said.

Essex Bank and Digital Benefit Advisors are moving from Innslake Drive in the Innsbrook Corporate Center in western Henrico. Those companies will join The Travelers Cos. Inc. in Deep Run III. The property casualty insurance provider in March announced a lease for more than 71,000 square feet on the top floor and part of the next lower floor.

Travelers takes possession in June and will build out the space for a regional headquarters. It plans to move into the building early next year with about 400 employees.

New York-based Travelers has about 200 field offices across the country and the Richmond area office is one of the largest. It now operates in the Arboretum office park in Chesterfield County, where it has been a tenant for more than 20 years.

"We fully expect the building to be 50 percent occupied by the end of the year," said J.B. Gurley, a principal with Markel -- Eagle Partners, co-owner of Deep Run III.

The 348,000-square-foot building at 9954 Mayland Drive is co-owned by Diversified Realty Ventures, a real estate firm in Henrico.

"We are excited about the momentum to have 150,000 square feet signed and in the works in six months," Gurley said.

Deep Run III has six floors with five floors above ground. The first floor will house the fitness center and cafe. The building is undergoing a complete upgrade.

<p>A 720-car parking deck is under construction nearby and will be complete by November. The cost for the deck and building renovations is "north of $10 million," Gurley said.

"We will have a premiere suburban office building," he said, adding that a Schindler elevator will operate with a key fob, not floor buttons.

The building has sat mostly empty since consumer electronics retailer Circuit City went out of business in 2009.

Around the corner is Deep Run I, which was occupied this spring by Allianz Global Assistance USA, a consumer specialty insurance company.

Part of the appeal of Deep Run III is a back-up generator system that will work for three days if there is an electrical outage, an important feature considering the widespread problems on the East Coast caused last year by Hurricane Sandy, Smith said.

Smith has led a successful turn-around of Essex Bank, which had been under written agreement with regulators to improve its financial condition since April 2011. It was released from that agreement in December.

The bank employs a total of 300 people and operates 24 branches offices -- 13 in Virginia, seven in Maryland and four in Georgia -- and loan production offices in Lynchburg and Fairfax County.

Essex Bank is expanding with a new branch in Maryland and others planned in Virginia.

Austin H. Newman, a senior vice president with Cushman & Wakefield -- Thalhimer, represented Essex Bank and is part of the landlord listing team.

Dayton and Thompson Architects is the designer for the renovations on Deep Run III. Eagle Commercial Construction is handling interior renovations and serving as project manager.

Markel -- Eagle Partners is jointly owned by Henrico-based Markel Corp., a specialty insurer, and the principals of the Eagle Cos., which owns Eagle Construction.

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