Failed bank's ‘White House' for sale

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By J. Scott Trubey

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Who says the White House can’t be bought?

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Automobiles drive by along Old Norcross Road in front of the former main branch of the failed American United Bank Friday afternoon in Lawrenceville, Ga., Aug. 27, 2010. The branch is modeled after The White House.

Jason Getz, jgetz@ajc.com Automobiles drive by along Old Norcross Road in front of the former main branch of the failed American United Bank Friday afternoon in Lawrenceville, Ga., Aug. 27, 2010. The branch is modeled after The White House.

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No, not the real one, nor even the famous Atlanta replica off Briarcliff Road.

This White House is the former home of the failed American United Bank in Lawrenceville. And it’s on the market, though a price hasn't been set.

The 13,000-square foot bank building, modeled after the president's residence, lacks the Oval Office and stately Rose Garden, but 1888 Old Norcross Road does have something 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. doesn’t: a drive-through window.

“There’s no bowling alley, there’s no Lincoln bedroom,” said David Walmsley, of the Robert S. Jordan Company, the listing broker. Here the presidents slept in the vault, not the first family's private quarters.

Still, step inside and try not to hear the strains of “Hail to the Chief” inside your head.

“It’s probably not for everyone, but I don’t think we’ll have a shortage of interest in the site,” Walmsley said, adding that a user will probably be a business that “wants to project a patriotic image.”

The building’s general commercial zoning makes it available for just about anything from a law office to a tattoo parlor.

Walmsley, whose firm represents the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in the sale, said the company is awaiting an appraisal before setting the price.

Fred Milani, an Atlanta developer, built as his own home the White House replica on Briarcliff Road in DeKalb County. Milani briefly put the home on the market during the height of the housing crisis, but took it off before it sold.

“It takes a special person, with a special reason to buy,” Milani said.