Washington Mutual Inc. has signed a lease for an additional 47,088 square feet of office space next to its regional headquarters in Irvine.
The Seattle-based thrift signed a 10-year deal valued at $10.4 million for the building, previously occupied by Met-RX USA, according to CoStar Group Inc.
Washington Mutual needs the extra space since it has been expanding locally. It took over American Savings in 1996, Great Western in 1997 and Home Savings of America in 1998. And Washington Mutual recently acquired mortgage lender Long Beach Financial Corp.
Officials reported that the thrift’s Orange County employment grew 87% in the past year, from 1,350 to 2,524 employees. The growth has been due to increased mortgage banking, financial services and securities operations, according to the thrift.
But while Washington Mutual’s employment has grown, the thrift’s deposits are down 8% from last year, almost a $500 million loss, which the company attributed to increased demand in non-deposit products such as certificates of deposits and money market instruments. The thrift also lost 8% of its deposits the year before. Company executives declined to comment for the story.
Washington Mutual’s Irvine operations last month saw the departure of its key executive, Michael Amato, when the thrift’s headquarters tapped him to serve as a marketing executive for its consumer business. Washington Mutual originally sent Amato to Southern California to handle its acquisition strategy. George Kaye, a former San Diego area manager, has replaced him. n
