The Cary-based bank plans to open its Knightdale office by December, 2008, said Ryal Curtis of MMI Associates, the public relations firm representing the bank.

The office, located at 7120 Knightdale Boulevard, will be the bank’s 12th and its first foray into eastern Wake County.

Curtis said the bank’s other branches are located in the Triangle, the Sandhills and Wilmington.

The Knightdale office received regulatory approval to expand from the FDIC and the North Carolina Commissioner of Banks last week.

The bank, which was founded in August of 1998, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Crescent Financial Corporation. It has $814 million assets, $596 million deposits and $643 million in net loans.

“The expansion into the Knightdale community represents a clear indication of growth for both Crescent State Bank and the town of Knightdale,” said President and CEO Michael G. Carlton.

City Executive Michael Ray will lead the new Knightdale office. Branch operations manager will be Candita Parker, who lives in Knightdale. Crescent hired Ray from Sun Trust in April where he was a commercial lender.

“It gets me back home,” he said. “I grew up in the Knightdale/Wendell area and went to East Wake High School. It gets me back to the folks I grew up with and it’s just a very growing community.”

Ray said Crescent brings a full-service bank with a community feel.

“What’s going to distinguish us is where we have local decision making,” he said. “We’re not a part of larger institution.”

Ray said that is especially helpful because markets differ from place to place and a set of rules established elsewhere might not make sense in eastern Wake County.

“We know the local market,” he said.

Crescent Chief Operating Officer Ray Vaughn said it made business sense to move into eastern Wake because it already had clients there.

“As you know we are a Wake County-formed bank and we serve many of the towns in Wake County,” he said. “It just seemed natural to be a part of a community that’s growing.”

Vaughn said Crescent strives to maintain a hometown feel. “We definitely feel that way,” he said. “We like for our staff to know the people when they come into the bank and be almost like a family member.”