Olympia, Wash.-based Washington State Employees Credit Union says it plans to move one of its two Spokane branches to 12209 E. Mission, from its current location at 4202 E. Sprague, early in the spring.

Credit union spokeswoman Ann Flanigan says the statewide institution will move the branch to a larger location that also will give it visibility from Interstate 90. The new location, near the I-90 exit at Pines Road, formerly housed a Banner Bank branch and has about 3,000 square feet of floor space, about 1,000 square feet more than the branch's current location.

The new location also will enable better access for customers, with two drive-up lanes as well as a drive-up automated teller machine, Flanigan says. The current branch has just one drive-up window, she says.

The credit union, which also has a branch at 2523 W. Northwest Boulevard in Spokane and one in Medical Lake at 205 E. state Route 902, doesn't plan to hire any additional employees because of the move, Flanigan says.

Because the new location was a former bank branch, it has "good bones" for another financial institution to move in, Flanigan says. She says the credit union currently is seeking an architect to design the remodeling and hasn't selected a contractor yet to do that work. It hopes to complete its tenant improvements by the end of March and move the branch at that time.

David Dowers, of Dowers Commercial Real Estate Group Inc., of Spokane, handled the lease transaction for the credit union, Flanigan says.