Savings and loan to bring 140 jobs

Indymac Bank of Pasadena, Calif., opened a new regional mortgage center Monday in Tampa that is expected to create about 140 jobs.

The savings and loan's center occupies 12,187 square feet in the Centrepointe building at 5100 W Lemon St.

The location opened Monday with about 40 employees, most of them new hires, said Indymac senior vice president Tom Wagner.

By the end of the year, the full-service mortgage center hopes to hire an additional 100 employees, Wagner said, adding that reaching that goal will depend on market conditions.

"We think it's a great market,'' Wagner said. "It's grown dramatically in the past few years.''

The Tampa mortgage center is Indymac's first location in Florida. The company is considering opening another one in the Boca Raton-Delray Beach area within the next year, with a third possible in northeastern Florida after that, Wagner said.

Indymac, a unit of IndyMac Bancorp Inc., describes itself as the largest savings and loan in the Los Angeles area and the 10th largest mortgage originator nationwide.

The company recently opened regional mortgage centers in Chicago and Scottsdale, Ariz. With the Tampa center, Indymac has 15 such locations nationwide.

Louis Hau can be reached at hau@sptimes.com or 813 226-3404.