PROVO — More than a year after announcing it would build a downtown office tower in Provo, Zions Bancorp. leaders finally broke ground on the project on Monday.

The Zions Bank Financial Center will rise eight stories above University Avenue on the southeast corner of 200 North.

The bank will be the anchor tenant and occupy 36,000 square feet with a branch on the main level and offices on the third and fourth floors.

ParentLink, an information technology company, has signed a lease for the fifth floor. Christopher's Steak & Seafood is expected to be one of the restaurants on the street level.

The project was announced in August 2007 with a completion date of fall 2009. The delay in the start of construction has pushed the scheduled completion date back to early 2010.

Utah's oldest financial institution, Zions Bank is celebrating its 135th anniversary. The bank has 140 full-service branches in Utah and Idaho.

The tower was designed by the Elliott Work Group and was developed by PEG Development in partnership with Earl Corp. For information about commercial leases in the new building, businesses may contact Aaron Cook or Preston Davis, agents with NAI Utah, at 801-234-6800.