Mike Perry is CEO of San Diego Trust Bank, which has been on Fifth Avenue in Bankers Hill since October 2003. He says Downtown has become an attractive place to live. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

Downtown is where Mike Perry took a driving lesson and where Paul Rodeno lingers for guitarist John Mayer’s House of Blues set. Downtown — the San Diego Main Office of Lending — is as old as teller’s cages and as young as de novo banks and Petco Park. As it reclaims its prominence as the county’s center of commerce, culture and entertainment, Downtown is expanding with office space in East Village, high-rises by the bay and condos on Bankers Hill, which is once again becoming home to bankers.

“One of our employees has put a deposit on a condo in one of the projects slated to come on board in the next couple of years,” says Perry, chief executive of San Diego Trust Bank, open on Fifth Avenue in Bankers Hill since October of 2003. “With the ballpark and Little Italy, it’s become a pretty attractive place to live.” From the bank, Perry can see the development of the Park Laurel condo project across the street. “That’s the site of the original San Diego Trust & Savings Homestead office,” dating back to the end of the 19th century.

Surprisingly, 21st century technology such as ATMs, cell phones and the Internet haven’t diminished the desire of professionals to cluster in a vital urban district.

“We handle a lot of CPAs, attorneys and the medical profession,” Perry says. “Our largest customer is located 10 miles north of Escondido, and we have clients in Jamul, so with the advent of the Internet and the ability to access freeways, Downtown serves as a hub for our operation.”

Perry likes to break away for a workout at the Kona Kai Club. His favorite lunch spot is in his building: “Table 52 at Mr. A’s.”

Although Perry has steered San Diego Trust to north of $70 million in about two years, earlier driving experiences Downtown were less impressive. “My Dad used to teach Drivers Ed, so he took me Downtown to practice my city driving,” Perry recalls. “I turned down a street and said, ‘Dad, how come all these headlights are coming at me?’ I quickly learned to drive in reverse.”

Ron Kendrick’s Downtown financial career began when he was earning 25 cents a week to sweep the sidewalk in front of his parents’ picture frame shop. It is a short walk from the shop’s site to Kendrick’s 12th floor, Fifth Avenue and B Street office at Union Bank, where he directs the San Francisco-based bank’s Community Banking Group, or branch system, that includes about 40 offices in the San Diego area.

Walking to work in San Francisco’s Downtown in the early ‘80s, Kendrick says he began to believe San Diego’s Downtown had a greater destiny than Sears and Montgomery Ward stores. “When I came back from San Francisco, I remember thinking about the potential for Downtown, given the tremendous views, but even then never envisioned it would go to the magnitude of today,” he says.

Kendrick watches Downtown’s growth from his office window. “My desk is situated so that I look west, and the gaps where I can see water have gradually narrowed over the last 10 years,” he says.

Kendrick’s favored lunch spot, the University Club, has loftier views still, but at lobby level Kendrick says Downtown can still stand improvement. “We still have some work to do to get rid of the blight,” he says, particularly pockets around the old California Theater. He’s also concerned about the city government’s financial bind. “I find it unfortunate that we’re in this position,” he says. “I think it’s something we can correct, with time and a lot of hard work.” He says sacrifice will be required of “people getting a lot more benefit out of the pension plan than is justified.”

As Downtown increases in popularity, high-rate parking spots have become a problem for bankers with commuting staffs. CEO Robert Horsman says his San Diego National Bank is working on a parking reimbursement program now that its 200 Downtown employees are outgrowing the onsite parking available in the Kettner Boulevard headquarters.

“We’ve had to go offsite and locate parking and with new building coming up on those parking spots, it’s only going to get more expensive,” Horsman says.

Ironically, some of the competition for spaces is the result of development financed by SDNB. With successful hospitality projects like the W Hotel and the Torrey Pines Inn remodeling in its portfolio, Horsman says SDNB is looking at several potential hotels Downtown. Tourism is back nationally, and in a properly structured deal, Downtown hotels are attractive. “It’s a function of how you underwrite it,” says Horsman. “You don’t want to be the owner, you want to be a partner and see a fair amount of equity money in the deal.”

SDNB will celebrate its 25th year Downtown in 2006, and Horsman calls the Downtown renaissance “unbelievable. Five or six years ago, we were on the western fringe of Downtown — now there are all these high-rises around us.”

Horsman might take in a production of the San Diego Opera after work, and favors Rainwater’s for lunch. He says he’d like the city to clean up its act. “We need to concentrate on cleaning up the city. The Little Italy Association does a fine job of cleaning the gutters, pulling weeds, planting flowers. It’s amazing how Little Italy has changed,” he says. “We need to work on keeping Downtown cleaned up.”

That includes City Hall. “We all as citizens need to be engaged in this election for mayor and the city council slots,” he advises. “This election is going to make a huge difference in the future of the city.”

George Chandler, who is retiring this month as director of what is acknowledged as one of the most successful SBA offices in the United States, has worked Downtown for 25 years, first in the federal building on Front Street and now at 550 West C St.

“I’m the chairman of the Small Business Advisory Board to the mayor and City Council,” says Chandler. “Right now I’m editing a letter we’re sending to the candidates, suggesting that they include in their platforms a vision for small business and how they will support small business, to make sure small business doesn’t get forgotten.”

Over the years, Chandler says he’s noticed how his La Jolla commute has changed from “65 miles per hour and not too many cars to bumper-to-bumper but still 65 mph.”

Paul Rodeno opened Security Business Bank Downtown in 2002. The CEO says a Downtown location helps the bank’s image, although clients are all over the county. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

Chandler’s favorite Downtown diversions include the ballpark, the symphony, the opera, and Mainly Mozart. Chandler says the city would benefit from a world-class performance center. “Why not have something like the Kennedy Center, right over near the Navy?” he asks. “It could be like a signature property for the city, like the opera house in Sydney.”

Or a blues joint. Paul Rodeno, CEO of Security Business Bank, says the new Downtown House of Blues has “phenomenal acoustics.” He recently took in the John Mayer concert at the club. “Mayer covered some Hendrix,” Rodeno says. “I’m not so much a night owl, and he didn’t go on till 10, so my wife and I said we’d stay till 11 and re-evaluate the situation. We stayed and he played till 12:15.”

Another Downtown concert venue, 4th and B, was where Rodeno met his wife. They were both employees of First Interstate, which then occupied the building. In 2002, Rodeno opened Security Business Bank, and says a Downtown address “helps from an image standpoint, though our clients are all over the county.”

Security Business Bank also is helping add to the short stock of affordable housing Downtown. The bank has financed construction of two SRO (single room occupancy) complexes with 250 combined units.

Another reason Rodeno came Downtown was to take in a little baseball. “I’m about five blocks from the park, and for day games you can get one of those park passes, catch four or five innings, and head back to work. I live in Encinitas and my wife takes the train down, or friends meet us at Petco for a night on the town.” Favorite lunch spot? “Grab n’ Go (subs).”

Howard Levenson, who works from offices Downtown, has a unique perspective on both the banking sector in San Diego and Downtown. In addition to being chairman of Carlsbad-based Southwest Community Bank, Levenson also is the owner of Western Financial Corp., which helps community banks raise capital, trade stock, merge and acquire. Levenson says another de novo is on the horizon: Coronado First Bank is expected to open in a few weeks.

Howard Levenson, chairman of Carlsbad-based Southwest Community Bank, works from offices Downtown. He has worked Downtown since 1965. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

Does San Diego need more community banks? “The regulators have certainly been receptive to applications by groups that think we need more banks,” Levenson says.

Levenson has worked Downtown since 1965. “Back then, it was a totally different town. At the time, 12 stories was considered a high-rise. In 1965, San Diego was not a business center, it was all headquartered in L. A. or San Francisco.” His favorite dining spot? “Somewhere other than where we went the last time.”

While helping direct the fortunes of community banks, Levenson notices how “almost every block Downtown has potholes. The water company digs up the street, then they repair the street. Three days later the gas company digs up the same street, repairs it, then come the electric company people doing the same thing; there’s no coordination.”

With 90 percent of his business conducted by telephone, Levenson doesn’t need to be Downtown. “So why did I just renew my lease for another five years? There’s something about being in business in the Downtown area, in the financial district, among other businesses similar to yours. We don’t need to be Downtown, we choose to be.”