Tony Calabrese

Point Loma Community Bank is the most recent entrant in the San Diego de novo bank derby and the third local bank majority owned by Lansing, Mich.-based Capitol Bancorp Ltd. Open since August, it is anchored in an office formerly occupied by American Savings Bank. Tony Calabrese, the bank’s president, is a Point Loma resident who has worked in the neighborhood with Peninsula Bank and in the San Diego area for 25 years.

Having been through the San Diego Trust & Savings and Peninsula mergers, Calabrese thought long and hard before signing on with Point Loma, but a visit with Capitol Chairman Joe Reid left him convinced that establishing its third bank in the San Diego region (Sunrise in UTC and Bank of Escondido are the other two) was Capitol’s “end game.”

“The nice thing about this is that Capitol provides the infrastructure, personnel, IT and legal,” says Calabrese. This kept Point Loma’s opening costs low, about $400,000, and should allow the bank to turn an operating profit this summer, after barely a year in operation. Capitol owns 51 percent, with the remainder of ownership in local hands. The bank opened with a stake of $8 million.

Calabrese terms loan demand “very competitive. The ‘for sale’ signs are staying around a little bit longer, and rates will start to go up,” he says. But he and the bank’s board have strong local ties, especially in the yachting, sport fishing and real estate construction industries in Point Loma, that are helping drive loan demand.

Calabrese has a novel hobby for a banker. “Most bankers play golf, but if I ever hit that little ball I would just hurt someone or myself,” he says. Watching Paula Poundstone’s comedy act at Humphrey’s one night gave Calabrese an inspiration to perform standup. “I’ve always been kind of smart-mouthed.”

Soon he was being asked to emcee events and is now a member of Comedy Inc., a group of business people who entertain for charity and community events. The group also includes doctors, lawyers, a stockbroker and an FBI agent.

“We all work squeaky clean,” he says. “I’m a 40-something-year-old married guy with two kids; that’s pretty funny right there.”

Calabrese keeps the comedy and business separate, but he’s not beyond using a little levity to break up a meeting if there’s an opportunity to “get in a zinger.”