Representatives of Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank will seek approval from the Punta Gorda Development Review Committee for plans to build a 2,400-square-foot branch at 1225 Tamiami Trail. The site, located between West McKenzie and West William streets, is the former location of a SunTrust Bank branch.
According to project plans sent to the city, the current building will be demolished, and a single-story Fifth Third Bank branch will stand in its place. Assuming approval, the branch is expected to open in the second half of 2025, a banks spokesperson said.
This new branch is part of an expansion by the financial institution, which opened 26 Florida locations over the past two years with 25 more projected for 2025.
Currently, there are three Fifth Third Bank branches in Charlotte County—on Kings Highway in Port Charlotte, at the Englewood Banking Center, which is currently undergoing renovations, and one recently opened in Babcock Ranch.
Beside Florida, Fifth Third Bank, which has 1,069 locations nationwide, operates in Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, Chicago and Ohio.
For several years, the names of banks seemed to be constantly changing in Charlotte County.
When SunTrust and BB&T banks merged in December 2019, they became Truist banks. There are three Truist Banks in Charlotte County—one in Punta Gorda and two in Port Charlotte.
Truist kept some bank branches and renamed them, while selling off others, including the SunTrust branch in Punta Gorda.
“We are excited to be able to further serve our Punta Gorda community with this new location,” said Stephanie Green, South Florida regional president for Fifth Third Bank. “Fifth Third is committed to growth in the region to help us effectively serve the area’s rapidly growing population.”
A spokesperson said Fifth Third Bank “identified the Southeast segments of our footprint, like Charlotte County, as areas that are seeing growth from both a business and population perspective.”
Although an architectural rendering was not available, the spokesperson said the Punta Gorda branch will be built using what Fifth Third Bank calls its “next gen branch design, which has been implemented in more than 90% of the new builds.”
The new branches are 40% smaller than Fifth Third Bank’s legacy branches and include high-tech features.
The new design eliminates teller windows, employees move around the lobby to interact with customers and tablet devices are used for a more direct and personal way of serving customers.
A tech wall with a digital screen provides customer education.
The project’s team includes Chief Architect Asa Santa Cruz of BDG Architects, Infinity Engineering Group LLC, and EBI Surveying, all of Tampa.
