Federal regulators are staffing up for next month's scheduled opening of what is poised to be a 500-person bank failure and asset sales office in Florida.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, which insures individual accounts up to $250,000, plans to open a "temporary" east coast office on Jacksonville's south side of town in September.

"Throughout its history, the FDIC has used these offices to keep temporary asset resolution staff closer to the concentration of failed bank assets they oversee," according to an FDIC statement. "As the work diminishes, the temporary satellite offices are closed."

Industry watchers expect a surge of bank failures to occur in Florida in the upcoming months as the sunshine state is one of the hardest hit real estate markets yet only six of the 94 FDIC institutions to fail since January 2008 have been headquartered in Florida.

By comparison, neighboring Georgia leads the nation in bank failures with 21 seizures, or 22 percent of the overall total closings, since 2008, according to Condo Vultures® LLC research based on FDIC data.

The FDIC's satellite office is viewed by many industry watchers as further proof that a series of Florida bank failures is imminent in the upcoming months. The FDIC is not dispelling the speculation.

"You put the office as close to the bulk of your work," FDIC spokesman David Barr told CondoVultures.com.

Federal regulators are actively recruiting individuals for the Jacksonville office who have skills ranging from financial statement analysis to loan liquidation/workout, accounting to bank operations.

Employment advertisements posted on the Internet stipulate that all jobs are on a temporary basis for a term that is not expected to last longer than two years at this point.

"They are all failed bank-related" positions, Barr said.

The Jacksonville office is to be the second temporary satellite office to be opened by the FDIC. In November, the West Coast Temporary Satellite Office opened in the Southern California city of Irvine.

The new office in Jacksonville will act as a receiver for failed financial institutions and closely monitor banking activities along the U.S. East Coast, with a keen eye on failed banks in Georgia and Florida.

"We don't close banks," Barr said. "We are [asset] receivers,  and we will always continue to be a receiver."

The FDIC intends to operate from space in a five-story office building fronting Interstate 95 just south of Jacksonville International Airport. For the first three months of operations, the FDIC will operate in temporary space until its offices are ready for occupancy around about November.

"Right now, we have a very small group of people in a swing space," Barr said.

Colonial Properties Trust, a multifamily real estate investment trust based in Birmingham, Ala., owns the office tower where the FDIC's Jacksonville office will be located.

Colonial Properties Trust is headed by Thomas H. Lowder, whose brother Robert E. Lowder, retired as the chairman, chief executive and president of Colonial BancGroup in May 2009.

On July 27, 2009, Colonial BancGroup's namesake bank entered into a cease and desist order with the FDIC and the Alabama State Banking Department, according to the FDIC order.

Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or view our Video Gallery. Looking for bulk projects direct from developers or lenders? Visit the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ , Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ , and the First-Time Home Buyers Guide To South Florida™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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