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Repurposed bank: when coffee takes over, do they send the lattes via pneumatic tube?

For most of the history of the American built environment, banks have been banks, and when one bank vacates a bank building, another bank swoops in to take this highly bankable space. The structures have customarily operated on corners (rather than mid-block), with Classical Revival architectural features etched into limestone, Roman lettering on the pediment, Doric columns, and, in particularly fancy banks, a portico entrance. These ornamentations signified banking so powerfully that other businesses didn’t dare encroach, partly out of fear that their own brand wouldn’t shine through. A repurposed bank building into some new business was unheard of. It also didn’t help that these structures, while undeniably sturdy, likely cost more to maintain: indoor air temperature, securing the valuables within, retaining a general visage of opulence to both the interior and those durable façades. Perhaps most importantly, other businesses rarely claimed the space from a shuttered bank because, generally speaking, banks didn’t shutter. Those Classical allusions to timelessness and permanence weren’t just institutional preening; banks are beloved among main street revitalization organizations because they stick around a long, long time. Even when bank corporations don’t construct their own Greco-Roman edifices, property managers love them because they’re reliable tenants; they’ll give plenty of notice when they’re ready to relocate, and they’ll always pay the rent. A repurposed bank hasn’t just been rare because it was tricky; it was also tricky because it was rare.