Chase Bank sets opening date for newest downtown Bethesda branch

The number of banks continues to multiply in downtown Bethesda, with the newest competitor to enter the market now preparing to open its second downtown branch. Chase Bank will open August 13, 2019 at 7901 Wisconsin Avenue. The opening comes just months after their first downtown location debuted at 4749 Bethesda Avenue.

Inside 7901 Wisconsin, everything from furniture to counters and ATMs appears to be in place for next week's opening. Signage has also just been installed on the exterior of the building, and inside the bank. This space was previously home to another bank, Wells Fargo.

Second Chase Bank branch coming to downtown Bethesda (Photos)

Banks are taking over downtown Bethesda, filling many of the spaces that were - or were expected to be - home to restaurants and retail. In some cases, major banks are doubling down on the overkill. The most recent was TD Bank, opening two branches a few blocks from each other. Now JP Morgan Chase is taking a cue from their rival, and opening a second branch at 7901 Wisconsin Avenue, just blocks from their soon-to-open branch at 4749 Bethesda Avenue. 

While Chase demolishes the interior space of the new Wisconsin branch where Wells Fargo used to be, they've set up an ATM in the parking lot. You've got to give Chase credit for finding a location by Chase Avenue.

Montgomery County's moribund, job-shedding economy has clearly opened a vacuum in vacant retail spaces that banks are stepping in to fill - much to the chagrin of residents seeking new dining and shopping options. The bank takeover is yet another - if lesser - example of how the disastrous Bethesda Downtown Plan has failed the community. Like most sector plans produced by our corrupt Planning Board and County Council, it was tailored behind-the-scenes to a specific set of developers' plans - not to a vision of creating a unique and vibrant urban area like County leaders had in the 1980s and 1990s, before the Montgomery County cartel seized power in 2002 with their "End Gridlock" [insert hysterical laughter and car horn sounds here] slate.

Chase Bank sets opening date in Bethesda

The first Chase Bank branch in Bethesda at 4749 Bethesda Avenue is now officially scheduled to open on May 14, 2019. Finishing touches are being completed on the interior, and ATMs have now been installed. Even the doormat is in place.

Sign installed at Chase bank branch in Bethesda

The permanent sign is up at the future Chase bank branch at 4749 Bethesda Avenue. Workers installed it yesterday, and it's now a dominant sign at that busy intersection. As banks go, J.P. Morgan Chase is about as big as it gets. But yet another bank branch in downtown Bethesda is an underwhelming result for the promising new 2-story building, which has a rooftop deck and room for outdoor patio dining at street level.

Here's hoping for a more-exciting tenant for the remaining space in the building. But the cratering of the County's nighttime economy at the hands of the County Council's Nighttime Economy Task Force certainly isn't helping attract hot nightlife tenants. Heckuva job, Brownie!

JP Morgan Chase Bank leases space at JBG Smith's 4749 Bethesda Ave. retail building

After Dean & DeLuca quietly backed out of their lease at JBG Smith's new two-story retail building at 4749 Bethesda Avenue, the question has been, who will take over the distinctive structure. JP Morgan Bank has now leased 2853 SF at the building for a new Bethesda branch.

JP Morgan Chase announced in April that it planned to enter our region's banking market in a big way, with 70 branches expected to open in the D.C. area. A month later, it purchased the Bowen Building in the District, as its new regional headquarters. The seller of the Bowen Building was...JBG Smith.

Bethesda was on the list of branch locations in April, but now we know where it will be. 4749 Bethesda is part of the larger 4747 Bethesda Avenue office tower development now under construction adjacent to the unique train station-inspired retail building.