Signature Bank makes big push into Southern California

Commercial lender Signature Bank is making a big push into Southern California and beefing up its two-year-old operation in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The New York-based bank plans to open four offices in the Los Angeles area, employing 45 people across them, according to New York Business Journal.

The offices will be located in the San Fernando Valley’s Warner Center area, Orange County’s Newport Beach, Beverly Hills, and Ontario in San Bernardino County.

Judi Prejean will oversee the West Coast operation out of Warner Center as executive director, West Coast banking operations. Prejean spent 28 years with Bank of the West before joining Signature Bank in January.

Signature Bank CEO Joseph DePaolo suggested in a statement that the company would mostly hire its new bankers from the local market.

It will add five additional banking teams to its San Francisco office.

Signature Bank is a major lender in New York City and the tristate area, with $50 billion in loans on the books. The bank posted underwhelming results in the first quarter because of missed mortgage payments associated with the coronavirus pandemic, it said.

Signature Bank — which holds $15 billion in multifamily loans — said that rents collected at rent-stabilized apartment in New York were at just 50 percent of normal levels, contributing to a net income in Q1 of just under $100 million. That was nearly a third less than last year’s $143 million. [NYBJ] — Dennis Lynch