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A Chase branch, opened around 2011 at the corner of Mission and 21st streets, is slated to close permanently next Tuesday.
On a drizzling Monday afternoon, about a dozen customers waited in the bank lobby at 2500 Mission St. During its busiest days, some 150 to 200 people visit the branch, sometimes more, said Sanjay Bhupthi, a security guard at the bank.
Bhupthi started work two weeks ago, and faces uncertainty about his future shifts — he will work at other locations if his security company gets more contracts, he hoped. The Chase employees at the branch, he said, will be shifted to other branches.
Closure notices were posted at the bank entrance, on ATM screens and at the counter, informing customers to visit the closest branch at Mission and 25th streets in the future. Consolidating the two branches, a Chase spokesperson said, is part of Chase’s efforts to “optimize our branch network.”
This location is the only Chase branch that will close in San Francisco this year, according to the spokesperson.
Closing the 21st Street location leaves the Mission with one less bank. Earlier this year, the Wells Fargo at 16th and Mission streets also closed its doors.
Chase bank branches in the Mission
Chart by Junyao Yang.
Customers received a notice about the branch’s closure in mid-September. Banks are required by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to mail a notice of closure to customers at least 90 days before the closing date.
Still, Chloe Beebe, who lives close by, did not realize the branch was closing until she came by on Monday. “I get quarters here for my laundry,” she said. On every visit, she usually gets $20 worth.
She will now have to go down to 25th Street — the next closest branch on 14th and Valencia streets doesn’t exchange coins, she said.
Earlier this year, a car ran into the front of the bank branch, damaging the concrete columns and metal guardrails. The store’s facade remained unfixed for months, its rebar exposed and the damage lightly protected by yellow caution tape.
Repair on the facade started on Tuesday morning, a week before closure.
Edmond Lim, landlord of the property, did not know about the damage to the building as of Monday, nor was he sure about when the bank would close. Lim was not worried about finding the next tenant for the space. At least, “not yet,” he said.
There are ample reasons to be worried, however. Commercial spaces on Mission Street, many with larger square footage, are more difficult to fill compared to counterparts on Valencia or 24th streets. A similar corner space on Mission and 17th streets, for example, has been sitting vacant for over six years.
During an election year, some empty bank branches were occupied as campaign headquarters. Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie’s headquarters in the Inner Sunset was once a Bank of America branch. Ahsha Safaí’s campaign took up the U.S. Bank space on 22nd and Mission.
Once again, these large spaces, some with an interior vault, are vacant. And, by the end of 5 p.m. next Tuesday, the corner of 21st and Mission will join them.
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Source: missionlocal.org