LBJ Bank Boom

There may be a recession going on somewhere, but if there’s one place it’s not going on, LBJ Freeway between Coit Road and Dallas North Tollway is the place. Watch the bankers to see where the action is. In a recent five-week period five bank charters have been considered for that three-mile stretch flanking LBJ Freeway.

Moving east to west, they are: Park Central State Bank (Coit and Forest), decision pending in Austin; Preston Forest State Bank (Preston and Forest), application withdrawn October 15; Preston North National Bank (Preston and Belt Line Road), decision pending in Washington; Forest-wood State Bank (Forest and Inwood), decision pending in Austin; and Preston wood State Bank (Dallas North Parkway and Belt Line), decision pending in Washington. And two miles east of the red hot strip yet another application is pending, Empire State Bank, at LBJ and Abrams.

Fueling the bankers’ desires are huge shopping centers like Valley View (Preston and LBJ) and soon-to-be-constructed Prestonwood (Dallas North Parkway and Belt Line). Last year the LBJ area had the lowest office vacancy rate in town. This year finding even a vacant cubicle office on LBJ can be tough. Finding a bank, however, should be easy.