Regions
Bank has hired three experienced bankers to expand its commercial
real estate capabilities in Texas.
Wendel Pardue, Richard Gross, and Buddy Billingsley join Regions Bank
from Wells Fargo and will focus on providing financing and advisory
services to private regional and national developers with an emphasis on
office, retail, industrial and multifamily projects.
Pardue has been named commercial real estate market manager for Texas
with responsibility for managing a team of commercial real estate
relationship managers and service specialists across the state. Pardue
and Gross will be based in Dallas with a primary focus on clients and
projects in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Billingsley will be based
in Austin, responsible for business development in Austin, San Antonio,
and surrounding markets.
“Wendel, Richard, and Buddy are tenured bankers who know the Texas real
estate market well and have experience working with clients through a
variety of economic cycles,” said Rusty Campbell, Real Estate Banking
Executive. “Texas is a robust economic engine for the country and an
important growth market for Regions. This expansion will allow us to
help support continued and diversified growth across the state through
prudent commercial real estate lending.”
Regions has a long history of providing financing and advisory services
to national and regional developers, particularly in the Southeast, and
continues to add capacity and resources to support economic recovery and
job creation throughout the communities the bank serves. During the
second quarter of 2013, Regions grew total loan balances by $1.1 billion
and total new business loan production increased 36 percent as compared
to the prior quarter.
Pardue has been active in commercial real estate banking in Texas since
the mid-1980s. Prior to joining Regions, Pardue held a number of
commercial and middle market real estate banking leadership roles at
Wells Fargo and legacy Wachovia Bank, most recently serving as
commercial real estate market manger for Central Texas responsible for
the Wells Fargo commercial real estate platform for Austin, San Antonio,
El Paso and Oklahoma. Pardue received his MBA from the University of
Texas and a bachelor’s degree in business from Texas Christian
University. He has served as a board member for the Real Estate Council
of Dallas Foundation Board and is an active member in the Urban Land
Institute and the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Gross has more than 16 years of commercial real estate banking
experience as a relationship and credit manager in the Dallas area.
Prior to joining Regions, Gross held a number of real estate banking
roles with Wells Fargo and legacy Wachovia Bank, most recently he was
director and commercial real estate senior relationship manager in
Dallas. Gross received a bachelor’s degree in financial management from
the University of North Florida.
Billingsley has more than 15 years of financial services industry
experience and has been involved in commercial real estate in the Austin
and Houston markets since 2004, most recently as a commercial real
estate relationship manager for Wells Fargo in Austin. He is a Certified
Financial Manager and received his MBA from the Texas Christian
University and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of
New Mexico. Billingsley is a member of the Urban Land Institute of
Austin and the Real Estate Council of Austin.
About Regions Financial Corporation
Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $119 billion in assets, is
a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the nation’s largest
full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth
management, mortgage, and insurance products and services. Regions
serves customers in 16 states across the South, Midwest and Texas, and
through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates approximately 1,700
banking offices and 2,000 ATMs. Additional information about Regions and
its full line of products and services can be found at www.regions.com.
Copyright Business Wire 2013