Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is preparing to sign a five-year lease to add five floors of space at its Dallas regional office as the agency prepares to increase scrutiny of failing and troubled U.S. banks.

The federal agency, which insures deposits and disposes of failed banks and their assets, will add 125,000 square feet to the 185,000 square feet it rented last year at 1601 Bryan St., a 49- story tower in downtown Dallas. That agency will add about 300 staff at the building, including some of the 69 retirees it is bringing back to help handle the increased workload, said spokesman Andrew Gray.

At least a dozen U.S. lenders and credit unions have been closed by state and federal regulators since last year, and the FDIC said on Aug. 26 it had 117 banks on its ``problem list.'' On Aug. 22, Columbian Bank and Trust Co. of Topeka, Kansas became the ninth U.S. bank to collapse this year.

``Already you've seen nine failures of institutions this year,'' said Gray. ``While historically this isn't a large number, it does represent an increase over the past two years. We anticipate additional failures and thus we would anticipate additional workload.''

Dallas is the headquarters of the agency's Division of Resolution and Receivership, the unit that handles failed banks. The staff additions would bring the total number employees at that location to about 850, he said.

The FDIC last year leased seven floors at 1601 Bryan, also known as Energy Plaza, for 10 years, Gray said. The agency will be completely moved into the space by Nov. 1, he said.

The 1.3 million square-foot skyscraper should have about 300,000 square feet vacant once the FDIC takes its new space, said Carl Ewart, managing director at real estate brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle's Dallas office. Gray said the agency has no plans to expand beyond its current 310,000 square feet, ``but that could change.''

Dallas offers the FDIC an opportunity to have prime downtown office space at a fraction of the rent in coastal cities such as New York, Boston and San Francisco, said Seth Weinstein, managing principal of the Dallas unit of Newmark Knight Frank, a property brokerage. Office rents in downtown Dallas range from $15 to $25 a square foot, he said, compared with more than $80 in Midtown Manhattan.

To contact the reporters on this story: David M. Levitt in New York at dlevitt@bloomberg.net; Alison Vekshin in Washington at avekshin@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 28, 2008 15:17 EDT