Starting Up in Area That's Starting Over

Joe Matisoff is used to turnaround situations.

A Philadelphia native who has worked for "a string of troubled banks" since 1972, Mr. Matisoff is planning a start-up called Hyperion Bank in the city's Northern Liberties area, a long-forsaken neighborhood experiencing a turnaround of its own.

He said the location is what will set his bank apart from the eight others to open in the area in the past 13 months, including three in the city itself.

"We're the first one opening in the urban area of Philadelphia near the downtown," he said.

Andrew W. Stapp, an analyst at Cohen Bros. & Co. in Philadelphia, called Northern Liberties an "up and coming" neighborhood.

Mr. Matisoff said the Philadelphia and New York papers have done articles on its budding revival, with artsy types moving in, new restaurants opening up, and developers planning to turn industrial buildings into apartments.

Mr. Matisoff, 61, wants Hyperion to be part of that effort and plans to partner with nonprofits that help neighborhoods rebuild. The first branch is expected to open in November, and Mr. Matisoff would like to add one branch a year in other parts of the city.

Mr. Matisoff, who has been working to organize Hyperion for just over a year, was the chief operating officer of Willow Grove Bank until March 2005, shortly before it announced a deal to buy First Financial Bank.

One of his more high-profile roles was as chief executive officer of the city's Crusader Bank in the year before its 2001 acquisition by Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania Inc. in Narbeth.

He said he had a Sept. 30 deadline to raise $10 million in capital for Hyperion and got commitments for that amount in time. However, he extended the deadline to Oct. 31 because the initial branch is still being renovated and the extra time would give him the opportunity to secure even more capital.

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