Chase Bank is renovating the former Banana Republic location at 628 King Street, and hopes to have construction completed by November, contractors and bank representatives told ALXnow.
The Chase Bank at 106 N. Washington Street will be moving to the new location, according to Caroline Evert, Chase Bank’s executive director of external communications.
The interior of the former Banana Republic has been gutted and will resemble the interior of other Chase Banks.
“We’ve been looking for a larger location,” Evert said. “It’s going to look like the old bank (at 106 N. Washington Street), just bigger.”
Evert said that the bank wants to hold a ribbon cutting for the new bank in January.
The building at 628 and 622 King Street was constructed as a 600-seat theatre in 1854. During the Civil War, the building was named Washington Hall General Hospital, and contained 100 beds for Union soldiers. The building would become a laundromat and insurance firm before burning down.
Banana Republic and The Gap rented both spaces for decades until early last year, when Gap Inc. closed both locations. The spaces are now being individually rented.
Renderings of the new bank were not available by ALXnow’s deadline.
Potomac Yard’s microbrewery Hops Grill and Brewery didn’t live to see the new Potomac Yard Metro station open, but the Washington Business Journal reported the location at 3625 Richmond Highway could see new life as a bank.
The Business Journal reported that JPMorgan Chase & Co. has leased the microbrewery as part of a broader push throughout the region.
The bank won’t take up all of the 6,900-square-foot space, the Business Journal said, as about half of it will be subleased.
The new location is not far from the planned Virginia Tech campus and a stone’s throw from the new Potomac Yard Metro station that opened last month.
Image via Google Maps
A 27-year-old Maryland man has been charged with robbing two separate Alexandria banks in March and April.
Jaquan Royal, of Prince George’s County, was arrested on May 24 in connection to the robbery at the Wells Fargo Bank in Arlandria (3506 Mount Vernon Avenue) on March 23, and at the Bank of America in Carlyle (415 John Carlyle Street) on April 3.
In both cases, the suspect allegedly handed the teller a note demanding cash and fled with an undisclosed amount. No one was injured in either robbery.
Royal is being held in another jurisdiction and goes to court on June 12.
The Alexandria Police Department is continuing to investigate the incident and asks anyone with information to contact Detective John Brattelli at 703-746-6699, at [email protected], or by calling the APD non-emergency number at 703-746-4444. Callers can remain anonymous.
News Release:: APD Makes Arrest in Connection to Two Bank Robberies
The Alexandria Police Department has charged a man in connection with two bank robberies in the area.
Read more: https://t.co/OfQKjfA0T0 pic.twitter.com/RFDHsoR5B5
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) May 26, 2023
(Updated 2 p.m.) The Alexandria Police Department is responding to another bank robbery at the Wells Fargo Bank at 3506 Mount Vernon Avenue.
The same bank was hit with a robbery in March.
According to the scanner, the man walked into the bank and passed a note to a clerk. Alexandria Police spokesman Marcel Bassett said an unknown amount was handed over to the suspect. Police said on Twitter that no injuries were reported in connection with the incident.
Bassett said around 2 p.m. that police had taken a person of interest into custody but are awaiting positive ID before any formal charges are made.
Notification:: In response to a commercial robbery, there is a moderate police presence in the 3500 block of Mount Vernon Avenue. No injuries were reported in connection with this incident. APD is on scene and investigating. pic.twitter.com/K5Hnuxb3sN
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) May 12, 2023
James Cullum contributed to this story
No one was injured after the Bank of America at 415 John Carlyle Street was robbed late Monday morning.
Alexandria Police were dispatched to the bank at around 11:15 after a man wearing a black puffy jacket and a blue surgical face mask reportedly handed the teller a note demanding cash. The suspect fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash.
No suspect description was provided, and police said to expect activity in the area. No one was reportedly injured in the incident.
Anyone with information on this incident can call the Alexandria Police Department non-emergency number at 703-746-4444. Callers can remain anonymous.
(Updated 2:15 p.m.) The Alexandria Police Department is responding to reports of a bank robbery at the Wells Fargo on the 3500 block of Mount Vernon Avenue in the Arlandria neighborhood.
Scanner traffic indicated the call for the robbery came in around 11:54 a.m. There were no injuries and no weapons reported in connection to the robbery.
Alexandria Police spokesman Marcel Bassett said a suspect left the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash and there is currently no suspect in custody.
According to a release:
In response to a bank robbery, there is a heavy police presence in the 3500 block of Mount Vernon Avenue. No injuries or weapons were reported in connection to this incident. APD is on scene and investigating.
As of 12:40 p.m., traffic on Mount Vernon Avenue was shut down at the Glebe Road intersection.
James Cullum and Vernon Miles contributed to this story
Image via Google Maps
After 10 years, EagleBank is closing its Alexandria branch on Friday, March 3.
The EagleBank branch at the Atrium building (277 S. Washington Street) will then transfer all its accounts to its Ballston Branch (4420 N. Fairfax Drive).
Customers received the news in a Dec. 27 letter from Conchita Lumpkins, EagleBank’s director of community banking.
“It has been an honor and pleasure to serve your banking needs at this location for many years,” Lumpkins wrote. “We look forward to continuing to serve you at the Ballston location or any of our branch offices.”
EagleBank CEO Susan Riel told the Washington Business Journal in November that the company faces staffing issues, real estate lending challenges and rising interest rates.
Last year, EagleBank and its former CEO Ronald D. Paul were fined millions for violating insider lending regulations, and Paul was banned from banking.
The Old Town branch opened in 2013. No official reason for the closure was provided. The bank, which lists 25 branches on its website, reportedly closed two other locations in 2022.
Burke & Herbert Bank has been an iconic institution in Alexandria since 1852, but the financial institution has been cozying up to the city’s southern neighbor with a new centralized office.
Similar to how the city is consolidating its services in a new West End facility, Alexandria’s Burke & Herbert Bank is planning to centralize just south of the border with Fairfax.
While the bank’s headquarters will remain at the historic building in Old Town (100 South Fairfax Street), much of the rest of its operations will be shifted to a new headquarters at 5680 King Centre Drive in Franconia.
The bank said in a release that the local workforce is currently scattered around the region, and the new building will allow it to become more centralized.
“Consolidating our team under one roof allows us to improve collaboration, work much more efficiently, and continue to strengthen and build the Bank’s signature culture of community as we embrace future expansion,” said David P. Boyle, the Bank’s President and Chief Executive Officer, in the release. “The acquisition of this building is consistent with our plans for growth as we continue to execute our strategic priorities.”
The release said the new office will bring together the several branches within the bank under one roof.
“The new office will house employees from several departments, including commercial, treasury management, retail banking, human resources, operations, finance and accounting, credit risk management, marketing, digital strategy, and information technology,” the release said. “The new location is more centrally located for its expanding workforce; is certified as a LEED Gold level building, and provides additional visibility for the Bank.”
Chanting and holding signs, a local environmental group protested Chase Bank and Wells Fargo with ‘die-ins’ at their Old Town branches.
On Monday afternoon (April 4), more than a dozen protestors from the group TH!RD ACT-VA walked into both banks and chanted “What do we want? Climate change! What do we need? System change!” and delivered letters to local branch managers to forward to Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Wells Fargo CEO Charles W. Scharf. The letters demand that the banks “divest from fossil fuels this year.”
JP Morgan Chase & Co. is the top arranger of bonds for fossil fuel companies in the world, followed by Citibank, Wells Fargo and Bank of America. Last year, each of those banks joined the United Nations’ Net Zero Banking Alliance, pledging to have their investment portfolios represent only companies with no emissions by 2050.
But the banks have a long way to go, said TH!RD ACT-VA organizer Deborah Kushner.
“Chase’s business plan is planetary death and destruction,” Kushner said. “It’s up to us to wake Chase. If Chase Bank does not stop all fossil fuel funding by the end of this year, we pledged to close all their accounts with Chase.”
TH!RD ACT-VA is made up of senior citizens from across the state, and has conducted similar protests in Richmond and Charlottesville. Their main online presence is on Facebook, and they ask that supporters sign an online pledge against banking with the lenders.
Organizer Bill Muth, of Richmond, brought his young grandchildren to the event, and said they participated in the die-in because the issue of climate change concerns future generations.
“I cannot stand by and watch an institution fund industries that are destroying the air supply of my grandchild,” Muth said, and then played dead with them and other protestors on the red brick sidewalk.
Credit Union cuts ribbon on HQ in Alexandria — “United States Senate Federal Credit Union celebrated the opening of its flagship HQ branch in Alexandria with a ribbon-cutting Wednesday.” [Alexandria Living]
Weekend single tracking to impact Metro travelers in Alexandria — “Single tracking between the Braddock Road and National Airport (stations) will happen this weekend due to Potomac Yard Metro construction.” [Patch]
Shop and stroll with the Old Town Boutique District — “Pick up a passport at an Old Town Boutique District (OTBD) shop, then visit six stores to be entered to win a $500 gift card to an OTBD store of your choice, or visit twelve stores to be entered to win $1,000 gift card to an OTBD store of your choice. Stop by Hummingbird and Fontaine for a signature cocktail or mocktail during the stroll. Turn in your passport to the last store you visit. Winners will be selected on Monday, September 27. No purchase necessary to participate.” [Visit Alexandria]
Today’s weather — “A mainly sunny sky. High 74F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph… Clear skies. Low 54F. Winds light and variable.” [Weather.com]
New job: Entry-level personal fitness trainer — “We are looking for coachable, enthusiastic, and dependable people who want to enter the field of personal training. No prior fitness experience or fitness education is required! We will hire and teach you everything you need to know to become a Certified Personal Trainer with The Perfect Workout!” [Indeed]
