Federal regulators started off this Friday with a couple of bank closures in Florida. Details are below. I’ll update with new posts if there are any more today.

Bank closure No. 121 of 2009:

Century Bank of Sarasota, Fla. was closed, then taken over by IBERIABANK of Lafayette, La. Century had 11 branches. Estimated cost to the FDIC: $344 million.

Bank closure No. 122:

Orion Bank of Naples, Fla., was closed, then taken overy by IBERIABANK of Lafayette, La. Orion had 23 branches. Estimated cost to the FDIC: $615 million.

I didn’t know this until last week when I was looking at a list of problem banks, but Business Bank of Skagit County has been operating under a Cease-and-Desist order by the FDIC since September 1. Among other things, the bank has 120 days to get its Tier 1 Capital (or equity) ratio up to 10 percent. As of Sept. 30, the banks’ ratio was at 8 percent.

Business Bank has an office in Bellingham. It’s the fourth bank with Whatcom County branches to be operating under a cease-and-desist order; the others are Frontier Bank, Horizon Bank and Sterling Savings Bank.

To better control crowds, Wal-Mart is going to keep most of its stores open all night Thursday/Friday of Thanksgiving weekend, so there won’t be the massive lines outside the store, according to the Los Angeles Times. Click here for the link to the story.

According to the story, the Black Friday specials will still start at 5 a.m., but people will be allowed to be inside the store when it starts. The article also mentions other safety measures will be in place, such as spreading the bigger deals in different parts of the store. No doubt part of this is in response to the trampling death last year of a temporary employee in New York.

Having been outside covering the Black Friday festivitites, it seems like a good move for Wal-Mart. They tend to have the longest lines, so the potential for trampling issues is higher.

Here’s an interesting technique being used by the agents for the Meridian Plaza (press release pasted below). What do you think? Will this offer yield results?

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (Nov. 10)- Meridian Plaza launched today its new Tenant Referral Program, a refer-lease-and-earn campaign that promises $2,500 cash for each referral that results in a three-year lease at the newly renovated retail center, located adjacent to I-5, at the intersection of Telegraph Road and Meridian Street in Bellingham.

Meridian Plaza is owned by an affiliate of Hackman Capital Partners, LLC (HCP).

According to Mike Schlesinger, Vice President of Asset Management for HCP, the company excels at creative marketing that attracts tenants to properties, and knows from experience that tenant referrals tend to be qualified prospects who are more likely to sign leases.

“We’ve had great success when tenants refer other tenants,” said Schlesinger. “Now we’re asking Bellingham businesses to send us people they know. Businesses want to keep consumer dollars in the neighborhood.”

The new Meridian Plaza Tenant Referral Program was designed to complement an existing sister program geared to area real estate brokers. The broker program offers leasing bonuses, also $2,500, for each referral that results in a three-year lease, plus $50 bonuses for each property showing.

“We want to spread the word,” said Schlesinger, referring to the recent 32,000 square foot makeover at the retail center. Renovations, which totaled nearly a half-million dollars, feature a new brick and stucco façade, newly designed storefronts with canopies and fabric awnings, a newly resurfaced and restriped parking lot with wheel stops, sidewalks with new concrete benches, new monument signage, lighting, painting and other improvements.

According to Schlesinger, Meridian Plaza’s architectural transformation and prime location in Bellingham’s busiest shopping area—combined with exceptionally aggressive lease rates—create a compelling package for both national and local retailers, as evidenced by its already growing tenant roster, including Rent-A-Center, Red Wing Shoes, Maly’s, Better Nails, Hair 4 You, Thai House Restaurant—and two free-standing restaurant sites, occupied by Burger King and Denny’s Restaurant. Available spaces at Meridian Plaza range from 1,347 to 6,724-plus square feet, with a total of 12,845 square feet available for lease.For more information about Meridian Plaza, visit the website at meridianplazabellingham.com.

United Commercial Bank of San Francisco was the 120th bank closed this year by government regulators. The bank’s 63 U.S. branches were then taken over by East West Bank of Pasadena, Calif. Estimated cost to the FDIC: $1.4 billion.

First American CoreLogic sends out a monthly report about foreclosure activity for metro areas, including Bellingham (the Bellingham metro area is Whatcom County). Here is what they have for September:

Foreclosure Rate, September: 1.09 percent. Sept. 2008: 0.47 percent.

U.S. average, September 2009: 2.93 percent. Washington average: 1.71 percent

Percentage of Whatcom County homes that are more than 90 days delinquent on mortgage: 3.31 percent. Washington: 4.73 percent. U.S.: 7.27 percent.

For now, Whatcom County continues to be doing better than the state and national average.

In October there were 67 Whatcom County bankruptcy filings, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Western District office in Seattle. That’s down from 73 in September.

For the first 10 months of the year, there have been 674 local filings. That’s almost 100 more than all of 2008, when there 579 filings.

No. 118: Prosperan Bank of Oakdale, Minn., closed, taken over by Alerus Financial, Grand Forks, N.D. Estimated cost to the FDIC: $60.1 million.

No. 119: Gateway Bank of St. Louis closed, taken over by Central Bank of Kansas City. Estimated cost to the FDIC: $9.2 million.

Home Federal Savings of Detroit was closed by government regulators, then taken over by Libert Bank and Trust of New Orleans. Estimated cost to the FDIC: $5.4 million.

Here are some details about the grand opening celebration of CJ’s banquet room:

CJ’s Beach House Restaurant in Birch Bay has announced the grand opening of “CJ’s Party Room” Friday and Saturday November 6 & 7.  The banquet room has been updated to a beachside ‘bring the deck inside’ décor.  Live music every Friday and Saturday night, fun events scheduled throughout the month.