Tim Hortons and Reliance Bank will be housed in a joint facility at 450 Regency Park Drive in O’Fallon. The building will be located on the north side of Regency Park in front of the Regency Conference Center. The new 144-bed St. Elizabeth’s Hospital is under construction just behind the conference center. The hospital is expected to open in 2017.

Shekell expects Tim Hortons and Reliance Bank to open later this spring. The price tag for the project is just over $1 million.

“It’s an interesting new concept,” he said of Tim Hortons and Reliance Bank sharing a building. “Each of the businesses is trying to drive traffic to the other.”

WE THINK THEY HAVE A GREAT LOCATION. IT WILL BE A GOOD LOCATION FOR BOTH BANKING AND TIM HORTONS.
Ted Shekell, director of community development for city of O’Fallon

Rick Sems, president and CEO of Reliance Bank, said he’s excited about the concept of turning an everyday chore — going to the bank — into a coffee run, too.

“Typically one of the things that’s happening in banking is that people don’t go into branches any more,” he said, especially young people. “We think it’s really important to still have a branch presence.”

Reliance Bank in O’Fallon sold its building at 1575 N. Green Mount Road to Carrollton Bank, Shekell said, in preparation for relocating into the joint facility. Reliance Bank continues to operate out of the Green Mount Road location, Sems said.

He said Reliance will move to a temporary site toward the end of the March as the new building is being constructed. Sems expects the new location to open in May.

“Tim Hortons is going to bring 500 or so people in a day through their doors and a good portion of those folks is going to want a bank, and we can be that for them,” Sems said.

Shekell said a similar facility opened at 10301 Clayton Road in Frontenac, Mo. It’s a Tim Hortons Express Cafe at a Reliance Bank branch. However, Sems said the location in O’Fallon will be a full-service Tim Hortons with a full menu.

IT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE ECONOMICALLY; YOU HAVE TWO PEOPLE SHARING THE SPACE. OUR SPACE IS TOTALLY INTEGRATED. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO WALK FROM THE BANK SPACE TO THE TIM HORTONS SPACE.
Rick Sems, president and CEO of Reliance Bank

O’Fallon City Council has approved plans for the project, which were filed by Eric Sigurdson of Show Me Hospitality, LLC. in St. Louis. Sigurdson could not be reached for comment. A representative of Tim Hortons would not comment on the O’Fallon location.

“We are excited about it,” Shekell said of the new project. “We think they have a great location. It will be a good location for both banking and Tim Hortons.”

Both Tim Hortons and Reliance Bank will have drive-throughs. Shekell said Tim Hortons’ drive-through will be open 24 hours a day.

The building will be approximately 3,370 square feet with a majority occupied by Tim Hortons and less than 1,000 square feet used by Reliance Bank.

“It makes a lot of sense economically; you have two people sharing the space,” Sems said. “Our space is totally integrated. You will be able to walk from the bank space to the Tim Hortons space.”

The architect on the project is St. Louis-based Fox Architects, and the contractor will be Musick Construction in St. Louis.

Reliance Bank also has metro-east locations in Edwardsville, Godfrey and Columbia.

“We would really like to do more of these combinations in areas where it makes sense,” Sems said.

Jamie Forsythe: 618-239-2562, @BND_JForsythe

Belleville News Democrat © January 2016