BANKING / FINANCE : Westcorp and Its S&L; Plan to Move Main Office to New Building in Irvine

With operations spilling over to four office buildings near their headquarters in Orange, Western Financial Savings Bank and its parent company, Westcorp, are pulling up roots and moving their main office late next year to a $12-million building they are constructing in Irvine.

They will consolidate its operations in a new four-story building along the San Diego Freeway near the Sand Canyon Avenue exit, said Stephen W. Prough, the S&L;’s president.

The building will have 118,000 square feet of office space, nearly four times the amount at current headquarters, Prough said. The space is more than what the organization figures it will need a year from now but should be enough to handle future growth. Meanwhile, space will be leased short term to other firms, he said.

“The city of Orange decided a few years ago that we couldn’t add more stories to our building, so we had to look elsewhere,” he said. “We looked at some 100 locations before we bought this 4-acre site from the Irvine Co. last year.”

The S&L;’s branch in its building in Orange will remain open after the move, Prough said.

With $2 billion in assets, the S&L; has 21 branches and 12 real estate loan offices.