Pacific Premier Bancorp of Costa Mesa, Calif., plans to open a branch in Cypress as part of a plan to expand in Orange County.
The branch is one of two that the $635 million-asset parent of Pacific Premier Bank expects to open this year.
The Cypress branch will be built in a seven-acre retail development adjacent to the Los Alamitos Race Track, Pacific Premier announced Tuesday. The branch would be the company's third in Orange County, California's second-largest county, with a population of 3 million.
Pacific Premier entered Orange County in the 1990s, when it opened branches in Huntington Beach and Seal Beach. It was forced to put its expansion plans there on hold when a foray into subprime mortgages produced huge losses.
Steven R. Gardner, Pacific Premier’s president and chief executive officer, said increasing its operations in Orange County is a major part of its strategic plan.
