LincOne Federal Credit Union is building a second branch in southeast Lincoln.

The former Goodyear employees' credit union has started work on a 5,800-square-foot building near 84th and Old Cheney.

LincOne President Jerry Barnett said the credit union has been looking to branch out since it converted to a community charter in 2003, which allowed it to start serving the entire county.

LincOne, whose sole branch is at 46th and W streets, looked at all four quadrants of the city, Barnett said.

"Then the right place at the right time at the right price came along," he said.

The location is just east of the southeast corner of 84th and Old Cheney and is in a development along with Fireworks restaurant.

Barnett said the closest credit union to the site is more than a mile away, at 70th Street and Nebraska 2.

"We'll fit in nicely. There's not really any other credit unions out there," he said.

According to real estate records, LincOne paid $550,000 for the nearly 80,000-square-foot piece of land in November 2007. The company filed a $1.3 million building permit last month.

Barnett said workers "just started pushing some ground around" a couple of weeks ago, and he expects the new branch to be open sometime next March. The new branch will mean new jobs, but he declined to say how many.

Barnett said the lag time between buying the land and starting construction on the building was planned and was not due to the economy.

In fact, LincOne is quite well off, with a 19 percent capital ratio, nearly three times the minimum needed to be considered well-capitalized by the National Credit Union Administration.

Bauer Financial, a company that rates the financial strength of banks and credit unions, gives LincONe five stars, its highest rating.

Barnett credited conservative lending practices for the relative health of the credit union industry overall - and of his operation - compared with banks.

"Our lending philosophy hasn't changed," he said. "We're still making loans as we were two years ago."

Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.