The lease agreement has a 20-year term and requires the bank subsidiary of Leesport Financial Corp., which is also based here, to pay an initial monthly rental fee of $58,549. The rate is subject to certain yearly fixed adjustments. The expected gain of $780,241 will be amortized over the 20-year lease term.

"The present low interest rate and high property value environment allows us to convert non-earning fixed assets into earning assets," explains Edward C. Barrett, the bank's CFO, in a statement. "We expect the transaction to create a pre-tax expense reduction of approximately $175,000 in 2005."

Carlino is a residential and commercial builder. The sale-leaseback arrangement does not affect the operation of Leesport Bank or any of its affiliates. The bank's parent is a diversified financial services company that offers banking, insurance, investments, wealth management, trust services, and title insurance services throughout Berks, Southern Schuylkill, Montgomery, Delaware, Bucks, Philadelphia, and Lancaster counties. In addition to Leesport Bank, it operates Madison Bank, Philadelphia Financial Mortgage, the Boothby Group, Essick & Barr Insurance, CrosStates Insurance and Leesport Wealth Management.