Local government representatives and business leaders got their first glimpse of Live Oak Bank’s new headquarters at a ground-breaking ceremony Tuesday.

The Wilmington-based bank invited its board members and local officials to dig their golden shovels into a mound of earth at the site where the building framework is already rising. The new headquarters will be nestled in a stand of long-leaf pine on Tiburon Drive, off Independence Blvd.

The two-story, 39,000-square-foot facility is expected to be complete by the end of 2012, said Robert S. Bridgers, Jr., director of business development with the Wilmington division of Clancy & Theys Construction, general contractor for the project.

Christopher L. Boney of LS3P, the project’s architectural firm, said that Live Oak Bank officials are striving to preserve the natural environment surrounding the new building.

“They told me not to take out a single tree [from the site] unless they approved,” Boney said. “That is pretty unusual. It’s a pleasure to work for people like this, who have a . . . true vision for how their building can reflect their core values. This facility has been designed to be on the cutting edge of both sustainable building practices as well as employee comfort and function.”

Live Oak Vice Chairman Lee Williams pointed out the framework for large windows, which will overlook an interior courtyard. Brick walkways will connect exterior doors. The building faces a man-made lake, which will be encircled by a trail connecting to the Cross-City Trail.

Live Oak Bank, founded in May 2007, is an SBA lender nationwide and offers deposit and investment services to individuals in the Wilmington area.