Chase Bank's historic downtown location will close Saturday

Chase Bank will complete a long-planned consolidation of its downtown Colorado Springs operations Monday. It will reopen a branch at 28 E. Boulder St. after a $4 million renovation that bank officials hope will spur further redevelopment in downtown’s north end.

As part of the move, Chase is leaving its longtime location at Pikes Peak Avenue and Tejon Street, where its predecessor bank was founded in 1874. The branch at 30 E. Pikes Peak Ave. closes at noon Saturday. First National Bank of Colorado Springs anchored the corner for more than 100 years before it changed its name to Affiliated National Bank and was later acquired by Bank One Corp. Chase parent JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired Bank One in 2004.

“This is a strategic investment that shows our belief in Colorado Springs. It made sense because we own the property, and it has lots of parking and room for six drive-through banking lanes that were not available at our other downtown location,” said John Kitchen, who heads the bank’s Colorado Springs operations. “Hopefully, this will prompt more development on North Tejon Street, just like some of the redevelopment has on the south end of downtown.”

Ron Butlin, executive director of the Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs, said: “Anytime someone invests in an asset like this, it does have an impact on the properties around it. These types of projects show that the owner believes in the future of the area.”

Chase began the renovation project eight months ago but the company had been discussing what to do with the building for at least five years, Kitchen said. The renovated branch will accommodate the 42 employees who work at both branches, including those in the bank’s consumer and business banking as well as JP Morgan’s local investment offices. An existing drive-through banking facility will be demolished to increase available customer parking, Kitchen said.

The consolidation leaves Chase with 14 branches in El Paso County and 122 statewide. JPMorgan Chase has assets totaling $2.04 trillion and operates its banking, investment and other financial services units in more than 60 countries.

—

Contact the writer at 636-0234