It’s been a year since the Boulder Cafe ended it’s two-decade run on the Pearl Street Mall; seven months since landlord Stephen Tebo announced that a bank would fill the space at 1247 Pearl St., still sitting empty.

It will be at least another five months before the doors are open again, but they mystery of what will be inside them is finally solved.

Is it a bank? Kinda. It’s also kind of a cafe.

It’s Capital One Cafe, a millennial-focused concept from the credit card company where the banking is done on iPads and you’re more likely to be greeted by a barista than a teller.

“Capital One heard from their customers they want a simple, easy banking experience: They don’t want bank-speak, or to be nickel-and-dimed by fees,” said a spokesperson for the company, via email to the Daily Camera.

“Most of the time, they want their bank in their pocket. But sometimes, they need help and that’s when they want to be able to turn to an open, welcoming place where they can speak with real people.”

There are 11 Capital One Cafe’s across the U.S., clustered in big cities such as Boston and New York. It was after visiting one in San Francisco that Tebo decided he wanted to bring one to Boulder.

“I wasn’t going to agree to it until I saw what it was because I didn’t want another ‘bank,'” the developer said. “It was 3 in the afternoon and this place had to have 40 to 50 people in it. I asked the gal, ‘Is it always this busy?’ She said, ‘This isn’t even busy; wait until 5 or 6 tonight.’

“So I was very impressed. It’s more than just a bank; it’s a meeting place, a gathering place.”

The cafe concept is part of a larger effort by Capital One to cut costs at branches by reducing tellers as customers move more of their banking to online and mobile services. Bank of America Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and other banks are making similar moves, according to a 2015 article by the Wall Street Journal.

There were 94,725 bank branches nationwide in 2014, the lowest since 2005, according to a 2015 report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Tebo said Capital One hopes to be open by November, owing to the need for a major remodel, despite his wishes that the corner spot be open during the busy summer season.

The spot has been empty since last June, when Boulder Cafe closed after 23 years in business. Last month, the cafe’s former owner Dave Jablonksi, a Longmont resident, passed away at the age of 74.

Tebo is hopeful the cafe will draw more of Boulder’s college crowd to the mall and “get them more involved in what’s going on downtown.

“I think it’s going to add vibrancy.”

Shay Castle: 303-473-1626, castles@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/shayshinecastle