Credit union renovating former restaurant into branch

Volt Credit Union is converting a former restaurant into a new branch.

Loretta Roney, the credit union's president and CEO, said a late November opening is the goal for the 2440 N. Kansas Expressway branch. Ross Construction Group LLC is project manager for the renovation of a former Jimmy's Egg and Pizza Inn, with Paragon Architecture LLC designing the location, according to officials with Interpres Building Solutions LLC, the mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer for the branch.

Roney said the branch would replace an existing location at 815 W. Tampa St. She said the building near downtown recently sold to an undisclosed buyer and Volt is currently leasing it until the new branch is complete. Volt also has a branch at its 2624 W. Republic Road headquarters.

The area near the Kansas Expressway and Kearney Street intersection was identified a couple years ago in an analysis conducted by Georgia-based financial industry consulting firm Level5 LLC, Roney said. Like with its 2019-completed Republic Road branch, Volt was seeking a more high-traffic area to put down roots, she said.

"We wanted to keep something north for people that utilize our Tampa location a lot," Roney said of possible branch location options presented by Level5.

Additionally, she said the 8,000-square-foot Tampa Street building is too large for the company's purposes. The new location calls for 3,550 square feet, according to the Interpres Building Solutions information published in Springfield Business Journal's Summer 2020 Architects & Engineers Project Report.

Volt bought the Kansas Expressway building for $638,000 on June 30, Roney said, estimating another $600,000 in renovation costs. The building previously was owned by the Charles A. Floyd Trust.

At Volt, membership levels reached 7,540 as of June 30, which represented a 450-member increase compared with a year earlier, Roney said.