Chicago-blog Hyde Park Progress takes a look at a building on Chicago's South Side that was recently renovated and turned into a WaMu, which, of course, is now closing.
Now we have a landlord at 1364 E. 53rd who had a bank tenant paying $32/square foot and now has nothing; had he kept the paying tenants cut loose in 2005, he would be in a better position. Instead, he signed with a financial institution that has gone down as the biggest bankruptcy in US history, which has caused the credit markets to freeze up, and a recession to accelerate, all of which make it highly unlikely that he will find a new tenant for the space vacated by the bank that drove the businesses out to begin with.
So, what do we do with all these WaMus? Suggestions?
Shuttered Bank Branch on 53rd a Window on Credit Crisis [Hyde Park Progress]
]]>Hmmm... Given many ex-WaMu customers are looking for a safer place to keep their money, my vote goes to either Mattress Firm or Mattress Giant.
]]>@furseekr: I wasn't talking about how it's calculated.
I was talking about the fact that, for a landlord's bank account, a paying tenant is better than an empty space.
]]>People tend to go to both stores in the same shopping trip. The consignment store is very picky about what they will accept for consignment and I've seen lots of people take boxes of rejected items across the street and donate the to Goodwill. And anything that the consignment store can't sell in 90 days also gets donated to Goodwill.
]]>I second the suggestion for a Qdoba. And put it right next to the Chipotle across the street from my office and maybe between the two of them the lines won't be half an hour long at lunch.
]]>one branch ot too far from me was closed several years ago, and was recently converted into a coffee house (which has since closed down)
In St. Petersburg, FL there is an old banking center that is now being used as an Asian Marketplace - they use the vault for non-food items. (it is kind of creepy walking into the vault)
]]>There's a WaMu branch about a mile from my house that was built but never opened. Now it has "for lease" signs all over it. What a waste.
]]>The local WaMu is less than a block from a Chase location inside a supermarket. In fact, it's served by the same parking lot. Chase should move into the WaMu spot and the supermarket should use the vacant space to sell bulk commodities. It's a sensible solution that would keep both properties occupied and help families manage their food costs. So it probably won't happen.
]]>which will make things cheaper and more available
Hey its a good thing!
]]>@Oranges w/ Cheese: Most consignment shops are very specific on what they accept. For example, an antique mall, or women's designer clothing, etc.
If you have quality, but non-vintage / collectible / antique goods, (home gym equipment, furniture, electronics, jewelry, art) it's almost impossible to find a consignment location to accept them.
In many towns, similar business tend to cluster near each other, (the part of town where all the antique shops are, or the gallery district, car dealers, etc.)
If a store of this type opened next to a Goodwill, the Goodwill store's traffic would likely go way up.
]]>I want some in Missouri too!
]]>1) Big Lots stores
2) Unemployment offices
3) Food Bank
I see where you're going with it being a consignment shop and all - but, wouldn't this cut down competition with local consignment / thrift shops already in business?
]]>@downwithmonstercable: there are no in n outs in chicago(or the subs where I live) so yeah bring them on.
]]>We need a name for this Never-NeverLand bank .
How about SnarkyBanc ?
]]>You get what you get.
]]>Why do WE have to decide what to do with all this commercial empty real estate?? Chicago will come back and businesses (perhaps other smaller banks) will snap these up. Not a problem... in the long term.
]]>@Oranges w/ Cheese: Actually no.
Goodwill and the Salvation Army accept donations. That's great if you need a tax write off, (perhaps to reduce taxes on the multi-million dollar bonus?)
On the other hand, if you're not a bank CEO, then maybe you need to sell stuff to raise money, and if so then you need a consignment store.
Consignment stores can also have standards on what they accept. I don't envision people bringing in old tupperware to sell for a quarter.
I do envision people who are in foreclosure bringing in flat screen TV's and antiques, artwork, leather couches and dining room sets and things that they will lose when they lose their home. Instead of it being set at the curb, or costing them fees to rent storage space, they can convert assets to cash.
Today's economy and high unemployment rate has created a desperate need for people to turn "stuff" into cash, as well as buyers who need "stuff" but must buy very economically.
It also generates tax revenue for the city, fills vacant storefronts and attracts shoppers.
]]>You know what the landlord's biggest problem is? The landlord himself charging THIRTY TWO DOLLARS PER SQUARE FOOT. Flock me sideways. 9_9
How many small businesses and startups would be willing to pay $24? And for the hard of thinking, $24 times 12 months of rent is more money than $32 times zero. Landlords have to start being realistic about rents if they want any tenants.
]]>The one at Ashland and North is kinda funny, because it's directly under a Chase billboard talking about how many ATM locations it has.
]]>@SkokieGuy: Another benefit: purchases would have a direct, local benefit. Good economic stimulus without buying disposable crap. So there would be an environmental benefit as well - less waste all around.
I'd go to a consignment store if they were easier to get to on mass transit, and unused bank branches may have pretty sweet locations, transit-wise.
]]>I think a consignment shop like SkokieGuy suggested will contribute to blight itself, you aren't going to attract a great clientel with junk.
]]>May ~ July --> swimsuit liquidation store
September ~ October --> Halloween costume store
November ~ December --> xmas tree store
January ~ March --> snowboard and ski liquidation store
Well, that's what happens to empty stores here in the Los Angeles area anyways.
]]>PS - Is there any way to get italics so I don't have to look like a yelling 5-year-old to put emphasis on words or phrases?
]]>QDoba's. Though homeless shelters would seem more fitting.
]]>I suspect this commercial real-estate weirdness is (was) an artifact of the credit market, the commercial equivalent of the blighted housing developments that are scattered all over my area half-completed with concrete driveways to nowhere.
I've been thinking lately, though, that we have a twin problem; people stuck with too-high house payments thanks to ARMs, job loss, or whatever, who cannot get out from under them because no one is buying. Also, we have a lot of vacant housing as market demand has tanked. Maybe some kind of community initiative could be started where local businesses and investors fund an organization which buys houses from people who can't afford to have them, then finances their purchase of a smaller place. It could be made financially reasonable by the fact that the "housing credit union" would be essentially getting a big house in exchange for a small house.
Thoughts? The problem of blighted real estate is not going away 'til we figure out something to do with it, and it's something I've been thinking about lately.
]]>@BuddyHinton: Any time I head down to Cali to visit friends/family I make sure I eat there once a day if possible. Gotta get my fill while I can.
]]>I say just let people smash these places up as a sort of tension release. The government will pay for it.
]]><<< wonders if there is a lease agreement and if cha-mu is having to buy itself out of it as would most small businesses.
]]>While I can't speak for this landlord, I do have considerable experience dealing with commerical landlords in general.
During the last boom cycle, many landlords shunned small businesses for the "security" that national tenants were thought to provide. There are countless business districts that lost their character and allure because all the unique, independent stores were replaced by the cookie cutter national tenents. Certainly, these landlords were well within their rights, even though sometimes their choice of tenants was to the detriment of the community.
However, for those that made these decisions and are now without tenants... they deserve it.
]]>Good thing the property can be marketed with a built-in bomb shelter! Bank vaults are good for something (uh, if they have ventilation at least).
]]>I suggest that towns take empty storefronts and turn them into to municipal sponsored "indoor garage sales".
The city pays the utilities, installs the cash registers, pays the salaries.
City residents can bring items for sale. The city collects a (20%?) of the sale to cover their costs.
A). Most cities limit garage sales to once or twice a year, limiting resident's ability to raise cash by selling excess posessions.
B). People drop off items and they are available for sale, even when the seller isn't.
C). Works for people not able to use craigslist or similar (non-internet users, not home to meet buyers, etc.).
D). Generates sales tax revenue for city
E). Creates jobs for shop employees
F). Fills a vacant storefront, reduces blight
G). Attracts shoppers to the area, potential boost to other business, (resturaunts, gas stations, etc.)
H). Set-up can be designed to be quickly re-locatable when space is rented and simply moves to new location in the area., (Think of half-price bookstores that typically take short-term leases in vacant spaces).
This could also be done by mall operators with vacant storefronts. Think about the extra traffic it will bring to the mall!
]]>I guess franchised-theatre is the next step, no?
]]>How about we find people that want somewhere to live and we offer the WaMu buildings to them? Now these people might not be in the best financial shape, so what we do is tell the people writing their loans that they make much more than they do.
Dude, I can't believe no one's thought of this before!
]]>57 in-n-outs would be awesome. That gets my vote. Maybe they'd close some in WA and we'd finally get in-n-out up here too
]]>/responding to self
]]>They could also be retrofitted/subdivided back to smaller storefronts, which could then be leased to small businesses that couldn't fill something the size of the bank branch.
Sell the land to a developer, who can turn it into condos. Wait, that's what got us into this mess in the first place...
]]>