Washington Federal Savings, a regional bank with Pacific Northwest roots that go back 91 years, has bought land in Liberty Lake, where it plans to erect its first Eastern Washington branch, the bank says.


The Seattle-based bank has bought a 1.3-acre site at 21701 E. Country Vista Drive, says Guy Byrd, broker and co-owner of Spokane-based Cornerstone Property Advisors LLC, which handled the transaction. The property is on the north side of Country Vista, in front of the Home Depot Inc. outlet there, Byrd says.


Washington Federal might build a multitenant structure on the property or divide the land so that it can build a stand-alone branch there and sell or lease the rest of the site, he says.


Cathy Cooper, Washington Federals spokeswoman, says the bank has no immediate starting date scheduled to begin building the planned new branch here.


It could be a year. It could be two years, Cooper says.


In addition to the Liberty Lake site, the bank might look for other potential branch sites in the Inland Northwest, she says.


We dont have a branch in Eastern Washington or North Idaho, Cooper says. Its a void we would like to expand into.


Washington Federal specializes in offering home mortgages and construction loans, Cooper says. Most of our home loans are conservative, 30-year fixed-rate loans, she adds.


The banks parent, Washington Federal Inc., listed assets of $11.7 billion as of March 31, up from $9.9 billion a year earlier. Its deposits at that date were $7.1 billion, up from $6 billion a year earlier, and its loans totaled $9.3 billion, up from $7.8 billion. For perspective, Sterling Financial Corp., Spokanes largest bank holding company, had assets of $12.7 billion as of March 31.


Washington Federal currently operates about 150 branches in eight Western states, including 43 in Western Washington, and has been interested in entering the Spokane-area market for several years, she says.


Other than in Western Washington, the closest Washington Federal branch to Spokane is in McCall, Idaho, she says. The bank also has branches in Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.


The origin of Washington Federal dates back to 1917, when it was incorporated as Ballard Savings & Loan Association. It changed its name to Washington Federal Savings & Loan Association in 1958, when it merged with a Bothell, Wash.-based institution with a similar name. The association converted to a publicly owned bank in 1982 and formed a holding company in 1995.


Contact Mike McLean at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at mikem@spokanejournal.com.