Bank branches seemed to be opening every other day around Bethesda in recent years. These days, they're more often closing. SunTrust closed its newest downtown Bethesda branch yesterday, after only three years of operation. Less shocking is the closure of the EagleBank branch on the corner of Woodmont and Fairmont Avenues. Its site is being redeveloped as one of the tallest buildings in Montgomery County.
SunTrust customers at this branch are being directed to a new hybrid branch SunTrust has moved into with BB&T at 7220 Wisconsin Avenue. The two banks have merged, and will rebrand as Truist later this year, so you'll probably see that name at that branch in the future. This does end SunTrust's presence in the Woodmont Triangle area, however. EagleBank customers are being directed to their new branch at 7735 Old Georgetown Road.
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| The new location of SunTrust at 7220 Wisconsin it will now share with BB&T - until rebranding as Truist |
6 comments:
It took the pandemic to totally reverse downtown Bethesda's bank boom.
Further decline of downtown bethesda
I remember when you were all upset because banks were replacing the beloved gas stations of Bethesda.
Also, BB&T bought Sun Trust back in 2019.
http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2019/05/second-chase-bank-branch-coming-to.html
I’m not sure the Eagle Bank on Wisconsin was closed because of a new high rise multifamily mixed use building just yet. That project is not even partially approved at this point, and it would be at least a year or two before it would be fully approved, schematic design, design development, and construction documents completed, and bid before you will see any demo or new construction. All that exists at this point are just some renderings, and the glint in a developers eye.
With the Bethesda Sector Plan density caps getting consumed rapidly by developers, I think you will see lots of projects entitled, before all of these density bonuses are exhausted, and placed on a dusty shelf. At that point, developers will sit on their plans until they feel the economy is strong enough to proceed, or simply let their entitlements expire.
I think this is also true of the Capital One bank on Bethesda Avenue. I suspect EYA will negotiate a deal and expand their proposed 22 story high-rise to included the adjacent bank site. The newer one story TD Bank’s on Woodmont and Wisconsin are clearly short term uses of prime real estate as well.
The sudden closures of many area banks is not the result of the local economy, but more to the changing habits of their customers. More, if not most banking activity since the start of the pandemic has been digital. As a result more banks are shuttering an increasing number of their brick and mortar locations. The WBJ's recent article notes the trend. https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2021/02/26/capital-one-td-bank-jpmorgan-citibank-branches.html
10:14 AM
Banks simply closed branches during the pandemic, whether customers wanted them or not.
I never went into a branch often, but when I had to there seemed to be a steady stream of "regulars". You could tell the number of tellers were reduced to -- usually one or two. The customer numbers have dwindled over the past decade, but I wonder where those people go now for their free lollipops.
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