WEST CHATHAM — Customers visiting the Chatham Market Mall will soon have three banks to choose from, including a Chase Bank, which plans to open May 5.
BMO Harris Bank opened a branch at the mall, 8300 S. Holland Road, in December, and Chase is building a branch next to Harris. A Bank of America branch sits across the street at 250 W. 83rd St.
Wal-Mart anchors the mall, which is in Ald. Howard Brookins' 21st Ward.
"I think we [now] have every bank located in the 21st Ward except Citibank," Brookins said. "Banks want to be near retail, and that is why I fought so hard to get a Wal-Mart store in my ward."
Chase plans to move a branch at 309 W. 79th St. to the Chatham mall due to the pending foreclosure of the building. Tattoo World Studio and a convenience store that are also in the building also must move out. A foreclosure notice was filed Dec. 19, 2012, against the owner, Sabina Center LLC, according to the Cook County Recorder of Deeds office.
The Chase branch first opened in 2004 as a Bank One branch before it was sold to JP Morgan Chase, said Christine Holevas, a spokeswoman for JP Morgan Chase & Co.
David Salinas, a portfolio manager with Chicago Real Estate Resources LLC, which manages the building, confirmed that the "property is currently in foreclosure litigation."
Melinda Kelly, executive director of the Chatham Business Association, said she was unaware that the building was in foreclosure, but was happy that Chase will maintain a branch in the West Chatham neighborhood.
