Thursday, April 14, 2016

2 TD Banks to open Friday in Bethesda (Photos)

The two TD Bank branches started construction at different points in downtown Bethesda, but they will open the same day - this Friday, April 15. A grand opening celebration will be held on Saturday, April 16 at both locations, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Attendees will enjoy free food, entertainment and giveaways.

From what I understand, TD Bank does continue the bank traditions of offering free pens and lollipops to customers. What's different are their more modern hours. This will present quite a contrast at their 7628 Old Georgetown Road branch, where HSBC across the street closes at 4:00 PM sharp, and has no weekend or evening hours.

The other location is at 8101 Wisconsin Avenue, formerly home to Bethesda's "last gas," the BP station. Here is a tour of the Old Georgetown Road exterior, interior and drive-thru. Once again, take note of the impressive art piece that depicts the historic Bethesda Theatre.
Expect the jiffy johns to
vanish by Friday
 
Right this way to the
drive-thru
There's the Christopher
condominium building in
the background
The canopies at TD Bank drive-thrus
have solar panels on top
 


I have to say the drive-thru
is well-lit for after-hours use
The "green" theme continues with
this advice to cut your engine while
banking; not sure I would take
that advice working with cash
outdoors at night





LEED certified
Bank on your bike




HSBC has some serious
competition from its new
neighbor

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like TD Bank and these are really nice branches, but are also really out of place (well the Old Georgetown one at least).

It would have been much, much better if the Old Georgetown branch was on the ground floor of a 200 ft. residential high-rise with no drive-through and beside a restaurant/entertainment business open past 10pm.

Anonymous said...

Or maybe they just wanted to buy and hold. Build a little bank and get a phenomenal price later on. I don't think that corner will get less valuable.

Anonymous said...

The county should have forced the gas stations to stay here.

Anonymous said...

Hope the Christopher Condo losers are happy.

Anonymous said...

Someone here or on Bethesda Magazine noted that the very small lot size would make it hard to build an underground garage there, thus making a high-rise less feasible.

Anonymous said...

Who needs a high rise? Heck decent retail or restaurant options would be more welcome. Maybe something open pass 6PM. Dead block adjacent to the Metro station. Crazy.

Anonymous said...

Even if they couldn't do a high rise, two or three stories would be better than a standalone one story bank. But the county can't force it. :(

Totally dead block between Woodmont Triangle and Bethesda Metro.

Robert Dyer said...

11:59: Yeah, and the Metropolitan is like a brick wall on the other side, and then Peet's and retail on the end of the previous block are dark at night. A disaster in terms of pedestrian urban environment.

Anonymous said...

It's not just any bank. I haven't seen any bank take being green as serious as TD.
Very interesting to see all the ways they take the environment into account!

Anonymous said...

oh and that makes it suddenly better? No, not really. Still crappy to have single story banks there.

Anonymous said...

Once they add some EV charging stations, no one will miss those crappy old gas stations.

Maybe they could sell soda, candy and hot dogs, too.

Wrol said...

Actually I am surprised they didn't include EV charging stations. Would have been a good marketing piece.

I checked out the Wisconsin branch today. It's a really tiny building but nice inside and out. They didn't really take advantage of the lot at all - aside from the "they should have gone multi story" bit, the parking is limited for the amount of space they had to work with and the grading is strangely sloped even lower than street grade, presumably for some water runoff system as part of their LEED certification.

The landscaping and brick sidewalks are nice, but the side street sidewalk is crazy wide without any adornment whatsoever. Plus there's an ugly metal railing there. Could definitely use some green, whether it's trees or planter boxes or something!

Also the huge parking lot behind the bank is completely separated with a drop off retaining wall and no access point or stairs or anything.

Anonymous said...

Seems like a really elaborate billboard. I think they care more about people seeing the bank then going online than going in.

Anonymous said...

#rethinkTDbank!!!

Anonymous said...

Nothing to see or excite us here, just another unnecessary bank few people will use, move along...

Anonymous said...

Free smoothies, snacks, water bottles, back rubs, face painting, and harp music at the Old Georgetown branch.

Free crepes, balloon animals, water bottles, games, tall lady, and steel drum at the Wisconsin branch.

#rethinktdbank but they had me at free.

Anonymous said...

I had a strawberry-Nutella crepe at the Wisconsin branch. Yum!

Too bad the party wasn't going at 3 AM when Dyer makes his rounds.

Anonymous said...

A waste of prime real estate, period!