2 CORNER BANK BUILDINGS BANISHED FROM BANKING FOREVER Former Washington Mutual Bank Building, 7019 Barker Cypress Rd., Cypress, TexasThis 3,848-sq.-ft. former WaMu at the intersection of Barker Cypress Rd. and FM 529 Rd. has been vacant and on the market for a good 5 years now. It’s surrounded by parking spaces on a 1.152-acre lot and features a spacious 5-lane drive-thru in back. Along with a twin structure at the intersection of Louetta Rd. and N. Eldridge Pkwy. (also for sale), the Cypress building has been forcibly retired from its banking career. Chase Bank, which bought up all the Washington Mutual corner-bank leftovers, spat out locations like these it considered too close to existing Chase banks — with restrictions to prevent another bank from moving in. A few more restrictions potential buyers of the structure at 7019 Barker Cypress Rd. will want to note: You can’t put a burger joint, a nail salon, a hair salon, or a dentist’s office in there either, because any of those (as well as a few other uses) would duplicate the offerings of establishments in the adjacent Signature Kroger shopping center from which the pad site was spun off. Still-asking price: $1.1 million. [The Weitzman Group]

10/08/14 12:30pm

One Comment

  • One less bank branch at least. In the present day of greatly enhanced online services, the proliferation of these banklets seems truly pointless. Yes, there are many folks working in a cash-only economy, but still. The only time I go to a banklet is when someone issues me a paper check, and even that could be handled at an ATM, were I less hidebound. I suspect a quirk in the tax code makes it profitable to build a tiny branch with a staff but little custom.