Wheatland Bank, of Spokane, plans to move its downtown branch to a more prominent location in the same building and also plans to move its corporate headquarters there formally.


Susan Horton, Wheatlands chairwoman, president, and CEO, says the bank has agreed to lease about 3,000 square feet of floor space on the ground level of an office building at 222 N. Wall, in the citys core, that formerly housed the downtown branch of AmericanWest Bank, of Spokane.


Wheatland plans to move its downtown branch there from the third floor of that building.


That office building is named River Park Place, but Horton says the building owner has given Wheatland permission to call it the Wheatland Bank Financial Center.


AmericanWest Bank moved its downtown branch to the new AmericanWest Bank Building, at 41 W. Riverside, last fall.


When it became evident two years ago that AmericanWest might move, Wheatland obtained a first right-of-refusal on the space.


Horton says she expects the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to approve Wheatlands move of its downtown branch in the coming weeks, and the bank will begin remodeling the space later this month. She expects the branch to open in its new space by May.


The downtown branch, which also will be home to Wheatlands mortgage center, will employ a total of eight people, including four new hires, Horton says.


In addition to the branch space, the bank has leased the buildings drive-through area and 690 safe-deposit boxes in the buildings basement. Horton says the drive-through area also will be reconfigured to accommodate a couple of customer parking slots and two drive-through lanes.


Wheatland also has applied to the FDIC for approval to move its headquarters office to Spokane from Davenport, Wash., a move that Horton describes as being in form only. The banks administrative offices have operated in Spokane, on the third floor of River Park Place, since 1999, and the formal transfer of the banks headquarters wont result in any job gains here or any job losses in Davenport. The banks data-processing operations will remain in Davenport, she says.


Meantime, Wheatland has received FDIC approval for its previously announced new branch on Spokanes North Side.


That branch, which is to be constructed in the Pine Water Plaza development, at the junction of Nevada Street and U.S. 2, is scheduled to open in June, Horton says.


Wheatland currently has eight branches in Eastern Washington, including two in the Spokane area.


As of Dec. 31, the bank had $115 million in total deposits and $113 million in total loans.