Corning Credit Union plans, literally, to build on its growth in the Wilmington market with a new regional headquarters here.

The new facility, to be located on 17th Street Extension near South College Road, will have 43,000 square feet on three stories, said Stephanie Carl, spokeswoman for Corning, a New York-based credit union. It will replace CCU’s existing branch in nearby Fulton Station shopping center and will “house a full array of member service departments on the first floor including deposit accounts, wealth management, and consumer, business, and mortgage lending,” according to a recent news release from the credit union.

The second and third floors will house support offices.

While the building is designed to meet current needs, it is also a key component of the Credit Union's growth plans, the release stated, adding, “Over the next five years, CCU anticipates adding 50-100 jobs in the area, most of which will be professional roles needed to support CCU's more than 107,000 members throughout the country.”

Becker Morgan Group is the architect for the new building and McKinley Building Corp. has been selected as the general contractor for the project. Carl said that construction is scheduled to begin this spring and should be complete in about one year.

“We’ve been investing in the Wilmington market for the 20 years we’ve been in the market, and growing a lot over the last several years,” she said, adding that CCU’s growth has been fueled in part by the influx of people and businesses to the area.

Begun in 1936 for employees of Corning Glass Works, the credit union has expanded with offices in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, according to CCU’s website. No longer confined to Corning employees and their families, membership is open to anyone who lives, works, worships, goes to school or regularly conducts business in Brunswick, New Hanover or Pender counties.

With just over 23,000 members in this market, CCU is the area’s second-largest credit union in terms of local membership, behind State Employees’ Credit Union.

One area of the credit union that has shown significant growth is its mortgage services. Earlier this month, CCU announced the hiring of Will Mitchell as a mortgage originator in Wilmington. He will be based in the credit union’s Porters Neck branch but can meet with members at any of the other three branches, which are on Racine Drive and on 17th Street Extension in Wilmington, and on Olde Regent Way in Leland.