Sonic site of new Chase bank

BUYER: JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, Columbus, Ohio

SELLER: Boyz-N-Burgers LLC

PROPERTY: 4915 E. State Road 64, Bradenton

PRICE: $915,000

PREVIOUS PRICE: $420,000, July 2002

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Greene Hamrick Perry Quinlan & Schermer PA, Bradenton

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: JPMorgan Chase Bank NA purchased a 7,126-square-foot former Sonic drive-in restaurant on State Road 64 for $915,000.

The price equated to $128 per square foot.

Chase has announced plans to develop the 0.99-acre parcel into a new bank branch as part of its extensive expansion plans for Florida. The branch is schedule to open in the fall.

The bank has announced plans to open two additional branches in Bradenton: one at Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and State Road 70 and a second at Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and State Road 64. The bank also plans to open five new branches each in Hillsborough and Lee counties, two each in Pinellas and Sarasota counties, and a single branch in Charlotte, Collier and Pasco counties.

Each branch location, which averages 4,200 square feet, houses 10 to 12 employees and cost from $2 to $6 million to develop.

In 2011, the bank has budgeted $100 million to open new Florida branches.

“Florida is one of Chase's high-priority growth markets, and we plan to invest in the people, facilities and technology needed to serve Florida consumers and businesses well,” Mel Martinez, chairman of Florida, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, says in a press release. “We are creating many jobs, including construction workers to build the branches, vendors to provide services to Chase and, most importantly, branch employees to help our customers with their financial needs.”

Chase plans to add a total of 375 to 500 branches in Florida by 2015.