Chesapeake Bank will remodel a Patterson Avenue building for its first local retail branch. Photo by Michael Schwartz.
A new financial district seems to be forming in Richmond.
Kilmarnock-based Chesapeake Bank plans to spend millions to transform an old office building at 5501 Patterson Ave. into an 8,000-square-foot full-scale branch and a base for its Richmond operations.
With work set to begin on the project in the next month, it’s yet another sign that the Libbie, Patterson and Grove avenues corridor is a hotbed for banks.
“It’s a good, vibrant area,” said Frank Bell, head of Chesapeake Bank’s Richmond operations. “It’s a sought-after area.”
Chesapeake Bank’s new building is next door to where Charlotte, N.C.-based Park Sterling Bank will soon open its own first Richmond branch in the former Kelley’s Gift Shop space.
And not far away, a neighboring branch at Libbie and Patterson will soon be home to Bank of Lancaster’s first Richmond outpost.
Add to that the established BB&T and Gateway Bank branches just up the street and a fairly new Middleburg Bank branch on Libbie, and there are at least six banks vying for market share within a few hundred yards of each other.
Barely a mile away, SunTrust and Wells Fargo have branches across the street from each another near the Libbie and Grove avenues intersection.
A rendering of the branch.
And more competition could be on the way in the neighborhood from one of the biggest banks in the state. Hampton Roads-based TowneBank may look to carry on with plans first filed by Franklin Federal Savings Bank to build a branch where two homes currently sit near Libbie and Patterson.
Bell said the neighborhood’s active retail scene and its short distance to St. Mary’s Hospital, University of Richmond and Willow Lawn make it a draw.
Chesapeake Bank paid $1.76 million for the property in a deal that closed in May. It’s planning major renovations, including tearing off about 2,000 square feet of the present 10,000-square-foot property.
All told, Chesapeake Bank plans to spend about $4.1 million on renovations, CEO Jeff Szyperski said.
“You won’t recognize it as the same building,” he said.
Bell, who joined Chesapeake Bank to launch its operations in Richmond in 2011 and has since worked out of a small office in the West End, said getting a visible presence will be an important step for the $655 million bank’s efforts in Richmond.
“It’s a big deal to be able to say this is where are as opposed to an obscure office,” said Bell, who was previously CEO of Bank of Virginia. “It’ll be a nice permanent home for us.”
In addition to giving Chesapeake Bank its first retail banking presence in the area, the branch will house the company’s local wealth management, residential mortgage and commercial lending operations.
And the branch will give the bank its first chance to go after Richmond deposits. It has so far only done lending work here from its office off Glen Forest Drive.
Chesapeake Bank will look to begin construction this year once the office building’s final three tenants move out, with a planned completion by summer 2015.
It will move its current trio of employees into the new office and will add a full staff to man the branch.
Fred Thompson from locally based Architects Dayton Thompson and Associates, along with Tom Tingle of Guernsey Tingle Architects in Williamsburg, designed the property.
RVA Construction is the general contractor for the project.
As for all the surrounding competition, Szyperski said the 114-year-old bank won’t have trouble grabbing its slice.
“There’s plenty of market share up there for all of us,” he said.
Chesapeake Bank will remodel a Patterson Avenue building for its first local retail branch. Photo by Michael Schwartz.
A new financial district seems to be forming in Richmond.
Kilmarnock-based Chesapeake Bank plans to spend millions to transform an old office building at 5501 Patterson Ave. into an 8,000-square-foot full-scale branch and a base for its Richmond operations.
With work set to begin on the project in the next month, it’s yet another sign that the Libbie, Patterson and Grove avenues corridor is a hotbed for banks.
“It’s a good, vibrant area,” said Frank Bell, head of Chesapeake Bank’s Richmond operations. “It’s a sought-after area.”
Chesapeake Bank’s new building is next door to where Charlotte, N.C.-based Park Sterling Bank will soon open its own first Richmond branch in the former Kelley’s Gift Shop space.
And not far away, a neighboring branch at Libbie and Patterson will soon be home to Bank of Lancaster’s first Richmond outpost.
Add to that the established BB&T and Gateway Bank branches just up the street and a fairly new Middleburg Bank branch on Libbie, and there are at least six banks vying for market share within a few hundred yards of each other.
Barely a mile away, SunTrust and Wells Fargo have branches across the street from each another near the Libbie and Grove avenues intersection.
A rendering of the branch.
And more competition could be on the way in the neighborhood from one of the biggest banks in the state. Hampton Roads-based TowneBank may look to carry on with plans first filed by Franklin Federal Savings Bank to build a branch where two homes currently sit near Libbie and Patterson.
Bell said the neighborhood’s active retail scene and its short distance to St. Mary’s Hospital, University of Richmond and Willow Lawn make it a draw.
Chesapeake Bank paid $1.76 million for the property in a deal that closed in May. It’s planning major renovations, including tearing off about 2,000 square feet of the present 10,000-square-foot property.
All told, Chesapeake Bank plans to spend about $4.1 million on renovations, CEO Jeff Szyperski said.
“You won’t recognize it as the same building,” he said.
Bell, who joined Chesapeake Bank to launch its operations in Richmond in 2011 and has since worked out of a small office in the West End, said getting a visible presence will be an important step for the $655 million bank’s efforts in Richmond.
“It’s a big deal to be able to say this is where are as opposed to an obscure office,” said Bell, who was previously CEO of Bank of Virginia. “It’ll be a nice permanent home for us.”
In addition to giving Chesapeake Bank its first retail banking presence in the area, the branch will house the company’s local wealth management, residential mortgage and commercial lending operations.
And the branch will give the bank its first chance to go after Richmond deposits. It has so far only done lending work here from its office off Glen Forest Drive.
Chesapeake Bank will look to begin construction this year once the office building’s final three tenants move out, with a planned completion by summer 2015.
It will move its current trio of employees into the new office and will add a full staff to man the branch.
Fred Thompson from locally based Architects Dayton Thompson and Associates, along with Tom Tingle of Guernsey Tingle Architects in Williamsburg, designed the property.
RVA Construction is the general contractor for the project.
As for all the surrounding competition, Szyperski said the 114-year-old bank won’t have trouble grabbing its slice.
“There’s plenty of market share up there for all of us,” he said.
Nice to see Chesapeake Bank expanding in the Richmond area! Wishing them the best of luck in their new location.