Florida Bank of Commerce will open next year in downtown Orlando.

A local start-up bank formed by ex-SouthTrust executives has landed a headquarters site in downtown Orlando, with plans to open there by early next year, officials said Friday.

Florida Bank of Commerce bested a group of competitors after a yearlong contest for the downtown space -- a five-story building at the corner of Robinson and Magnolia streets, bank officials said.

Having the downtown profile will be a major boost for the new bank, which raised $18 million in start-up capital earlier this year, said Craig Polejes, Florida Bank's president.

"It is a terrific situation for us to start out in," he said. "There was a lot of competition for that site. A lot of banks are looking for good locations downtown. And there are far more banks looking for space than there is space available."

The site is currently occupied by Fifth Third Bank, which plans to relocate to the Eola Plaza building, at the corner of Robinson and Rosalind, Polejes said. Florida Bank expects to take over the new site by December. It will open in a temporary location on West Colonial Drive until then.

Florida Bank also received preliminary approval for its state charter in August, less than six months after it applied, according to Polejes. The bank has already pre-qualified potential commercial customers for about $10 million in loans, he said.

Florida Bank's senior management team consists of former SouthTrust Bank executives in Central Florida who left that organization after it was acquired last year by Wachovia Corp.

Polejes was SouthTrust's chief lender in the region; R. Van Bogan, Florida Bank's chairman and chief executive officer, was SouthTrust market president; and Ian C. Donkin, Florida Bank's chief retail officer, was SouthTrust's chief financial officer.

Florida Bank is the second local start-up to land a downtown site this year. South Bank of Florida opened its headquarters in June at 519 N. Magnolia Ave. Its state charter was approved eight months after filing an application. It was founded by a group of former executives with Orlando-based Mercantile Bank.

Finding a suitable location was the toughest part of opening a new bank, said Michael L. McClanahan, South Bank's president and chief executive officer.

"It's a real struggle for a lot of start-up banks to find good locations," he said. "We were determined to find a downtown site, and it's worked out well for us."

New bank formations in Florida this year are on pace to be the most in seven years. Seventeen banking groups have applied for state charters so far this year, second only to the 26 applications at this time in 1998.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.