 | Lone Star Bank's new location | 2975 N Parkway Blvd Odessa, TX |
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Banking on Gerardo's
From lunch specials to loan rates
The sign outside the building at 2975 N. JBS Parkway still reads Gerardo's Casita, but inside there's little resemblance to the Mexican restaurant that once occupied the location.
The gutted building will soon give way to a bank with a King Ranch-style interior, said Meghan Pry, marketing director for Lone Star State Bank. The bank will soon leave its temporary location in a shopping center on Eastridge Road for the former restaurant site.
"It's not going to be a stuffy and uptight kind of bank," Pry said. "It's going to be someplace people feel comfortable."
But the outside of the building will keep the Spanish-style design noticeable to fans of Gerardo's, Pry said.
Bank president Brent Beakley said the reason for moving into an existing structure was simple - location, location, location.
"We wanted to be on Parkway, and we really wanted to be across the street from UTPB. That narrows it down," he said. "The building is in good shape, so we had something
Now that the inside of the building has been stripped down to studs, Beakley said it would be built back in with offices.
Security isn't a problem with the building, Beakley said. The bank plans to install a pre-fabricated vault.
He hopes to have the new branch open by mid-September.
In addition to its Odessa branch, Lone Star has locations in Lubbock and Big Spring. It'll open a branch in Brownfield Oct. 1.
The building was formerly an El Chico restaurant before sitting vacant for years. Gerardo's owner Jerry Morales said the building has taken abuse over time.
"My best advice would be to scrap it and start from scratch," he said. "The restaurant business puts a lot of wear and tear on it."
Morales said he closed the Odessa location because of a shortage of workers and high-energy prices. But with Midland restaurants to run and a recent election to the city council there, he hasn't had much time to think about it.
"From a personal standpoint. It's been sad to leave that established market," he said. "You put five years of hard work into it."
