FAST50 Banks’ Long-Term Investments Paid Off in 2022

With demand for office and retail space still not recovered from the effects of the pandemic, having an experienced team of commercial lenders has helped Webster Five pivot as commercial real estate markets have changed, said Christopher Watson, the bank’s senior vice president and senior lending officer.

The $1 billion-asset Webster Five grew its commercial mortgage volume more than 800 percent year-over-year. Some of that activity included deals that the bank began working on 2021 and closed in the first half of this year, Watson said.

portunities to get involved with multiple deals. Much of the bank’s growth has come locally.

“People automatically think that a lot of the growth came out of the Boston area, but Worcester is our backyard,” Watson said. “We’ve been able to successfully be part of quite a few projects in the Worcester area.”

Investments in Gateway Cities Pays Off

The $691 million-asset Reading Cooperative Bank does not have a branch in Lawrence, but the city has been the site for much of the bank’s recent commercial real estate growth, said Phil Bryan, Reading Cooperative Bank’s executive vice president and chief banking officer.

Reading Cooperative saw the number of commercial real estate loans increase yearover-year in the first half of 2022 by more than 200 percent.

The commercial lending team started focusing on the Lawrence market about three years ago, Bryan said, and opportunities there have included construction, small multifamily projects and apartment building renovations in that post-industrial, immigrant-driven Gateway City market.

come out of past successes.

“Because we’ve got such a good reputation in Lawrence, and we’re becoming kind of a household name, we’re seeing a lot [of activity],” Bryan said.

The commercial loan pipeline remains similar to what the bank saw at the end of 2021, Bryan said, though the number of opportunities for new deals has recently started to slow down as interest rates rise.

Industrial warehouses for last-mile distribution drove the bank’s commercial real estate lending last year, Watson said. He added that while that activity has since tapered off, the bank has more recently seen an increased demand for industrial flex spaces, as well as housing-related deals.

Watson said Webster Five’s lending team has built relationships with commercial real estate brokers over the years, leading to op-

The bank saw the flow of commercial real estate deals begin to build about 18 months ago, Bryan said, and the bank entered 2022 with a strong lending pipeline.

He added that most of the opportunities the bank has found are with borrowers experienced in commercial real estate, with few newcomers getting involved with properties in the current business environment. Some of Reading Cooperative’s opportunities have

The bank also acquired branches in Lynn and Nahant from Coastal Heritage Bank last year, and Bryan said that Reading Cooperative has started building its commercial lending business in that other Gateway City market, as well.

“That’s new territory for us, and we see some similarities with what we have in Lawrence,” Bryan said. “We think we can make a pretty good splash there and really get ingrained in that community as well.”

Merger Sets Lender Up for Success

While commercial real estate drives lending on the commercial side of its portfolio, Bryan said, the bank has seen growth in its residential mortgages business in 2022, particularly with adjustable-rate mortgages. He added that looking ahead, the bank plans to do more consumer lending to balance its loan portfolio.

Continued on Page 19

Commercial Volume Of Loans