FDIC-Insured
- Backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government
To report a lost or stolen debit card please call 407.545.2662 during normal operating hours. After hours, please call 1.800.500.1044 immediately or access www.visa.com
Our Bank Routing and Transit Number is: 063114661
You will be linking to another website not owned or operated by Cogent Bank. Cogent Bank is not responsible for the availability or content of this website and does not represent either the linked website or you, should you enter into a transaction. The inclusion of any hyperlink does not imply any endorsement, investigation, verification or monitoring by Cogent Bank of any information in any hyperlinked site. We encourage you to review their privacy and security policies which may differ from Cogent Bank.
If you "Proceed", the link will open in a new window.
You are leaving Cogent Bank and going to Cogent Private Wealth, a boutique advisory firm offering comprehensive financial planning and investment management services. Some of their products are NOT INSURED BY ANY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY; NOT GUARANTEED BY THE BANK; and MAY LOSE VALUE.
If you "Proceed", the link will open in a new window.
Please note that by clicking on this email address, you are leaving the Cogent Bank website and accessing an external email platform. Cogent Bank has no control over the content of any communications contained within this platform and cannot be held responsible for any information exchanged. We caution users to be careful when sharing any personal or sensitive information via email, as it may be intercepted or misused by third parties. By using this email platform, you accept full responsibility for any risks that may arise from its use.
If you "Proceed", the link will open in a new window.
by John Reosti
In another example of a community bank finding a nationwide niche to grow its balance sheet, Cogent Bank in Orlando, Florida, has launched a business to finance single-tenant net lease properties from coast to coast.
Businesses that lease single-tenant properties are typically investment-grade operators, such as banks, restaurants or retailers, so the credit performance is seen as strong. In most single-tenant net lease arrangements, the business pays not only the rent, but also the operating expenses associated with the property, including taxes, insurance and maintenance costs.
“Lenders like them, they’re easy to underwrite,” John Feeny, a senior vice president at Boulder Group, a Wilmette, Illinois-based real estate service firm specializing in single-tenant net lease properties, told American Banker.
Cogent is one of a growing number of small banks that have sought to move into niche businesses in order to overcome soft credit demand. In February, the 26-year-old Cogent announced plans to expand its homeowners association banking division throughout Florida and into Georgia and Alabama. In the longer term, the bank envisions a nationwide rollout there, too.
Cogent, which operates 10 branches in Florida, reported net income totaling $9.3 million for the quarter ending June 30, up 26% from the same period in 2024.
Other community banks that have launched nationwide niche businesses include the $3.4 billion-asset Capital Bancorp in Rockville, Maryland, which entered Small Business Administration lending and servicing in March 2024.
Cogent’s entry into the single-tenant net lease market will be led by Rich Dowdy, who worked at Little Rock, Arkansas-based Bank OZK and Synovus Financial Corp. in Columbus, Georgia, before joining the $2.3 billion-asset Cogent.
Dowdy told American Banker that he has worked “almost exclusively” in single-tenant net lease lending for more than a decade with “no loss exposure to speak of.”
Dowdy said that once he was exposed to this type of loan, “I fell in love with them.”
Cogent did make some single-tenant loans prior to launching its National Net Lease Finance team, but it confined its lending largely to within its Florida footprint. To operate at scale, a broader, coast-to-coast approach is more effective, given the nationwide scope of most tenant businesses, Dowdy said.
“If you’re going to launch it, the only way it’s going to work is if you do it nationally,” Dowdy said. “If you do it statewide or regionally, you’re almost taking yourself out of the game.”
Despite the business line’s solid fundamentals, relatively few community banks have opted to scale their single-tenant net lease lending operations into significant lines of business. Among the small number of banks that are active: the $1 billion-asset HCN Bank in Riverside, California, and the $2.9 billion-asset North American Savings Bank in Grandview, Missouri.
One reason that some banks may be reticent is that the loans are classed as commercial real estate, an asset class that has been under the microscope in recent years. What’s more, single-tenant loans typically carry lower yields than commercial-and-industrial credits and even other CRE categories.
Dowdy linked the lower yields to the fact that credit performance in the business is strong. “You’re dealing with high-quality national tenants,” he said, arguing that the business makes sense on a risk-adjusted basis. “You’re being fairly compensated for the risk you take.”
First Savings Financial Group in Jeffersonville, Indiana, is another small bank that operates in the single-tenant net lease business.
In an April 2025 interview with American Banker, First Savings CEO Larry Myers likened the single-tenant net lease loans that his company books to bonds, due to their solid credit profile. Indeed, none of the single-tenant net lease loans in the $757 million portfolio that the $2.4 billion-asset First Federal reported on June 30 were designated as past due or even criticized.