VACU’s branch will occupy the Berkeley’s former banquet hall. (BizSense file photo)
Virginia Credit Union’s city branch blitz continues, this time in Shockoe Slip.
The region’s largest credit union this week confirmed its plans for a new branch on the ground floor of the Berkeley Hotel at 1204 E. Cary St.
It would be the fifth outpost VACU has opened in Richmond since 2022, when it set out on an aggressive expansion plan within the city limits.
It already has opened spots in Carytown, Scott’s Addition and the Arts District, and has another in the works in Church Hill.
VACU spokeswomen Deb Wreden said the Berkeley Hotel branch is expected to open later this year and would be the credit union’s last branch planned for the city in 2023.
The $5 billion credit union will occupy the hotel’s old banquet hall space fronting Cary Street. The branch will be around 1,200 square feet. VACU also has applied for permission from the city to install a walk-up exterior ATM, to be punched through a wall of the hotel. It took a similar approach with its recently opened Arts District branch at 27 W. Broad St.
VACU’s Arts District branch included the addition of an exterior walk-up ATM. (BizSense file)
VACU has hired architecture firm Adrenaline to design the Shockoe branch. Team Henry Enterprises is the general contractor.
VACU’s landlord at the Berkeley will be Henrico-based Kalyan Hospitality, which bought the 55-room hotel last year for $6.2 million.
Kalyan President Nick Patel said the company also has a round of room renovations set to begin in the coming months and an elevator modernization underway.
He said the company is still searching for another commercial tenant to take over the Berkeley’s 2,900-square-foot former restaurant space at the corner of 12th and Cary streets.
VACU’s branch will occupy the Berkeley’s former banquet hall. (BizSense file photo)
Virginia Credit Union’s city branch blitz continues, this time in Shockoe Slip.
The region’s largest credit union this week confirmed its plans for a new branch on the ground floor of the Berkeley Hotel at 1204 E. Cary St.
It would be the fifth outpost VACU has opened in Richmond since 2022, when it set out on an aggressive expansion plan within the city limits.
It already has opened spots in Carytown, Scott’s Addition and the Arts District, and has another in the works in Church Hill.
VACU spokeswomen Deb Wreden said the Berkeley Hotel branch is expected to open later this year and would be the credit union’s last branch planned for the city in 2023.
The $5 billion credit union will occupy the hotel’s old banquet hall space fronting Cary Street. The branch will be around 1,200 square feet. VACU also has applied for permission from the city to install a walk-up exterior ATM, to be punched through a wall of the hotel. It took a similar approach with its recently opened Arts District branch at 27 W. Broad St.
VACU’s Arts District branch included the addition of an exterior walk-up ATM. (BizSense file)
VACU has hired architecture firm Adrenaline to design the Shockoe branch. Team Henry Enterprises is the general contractor.
VACU’s landlord at the Berkeley will be Henrico-based Kalyan Hospitality, which bought the 55-room hotel last year for $6.2 million.
Kalyan President Nick Patel said the company also has a round of room renovations set to begin in the coming months and an elevator modernization underway.
He said the company is still searching for another commercial tenant to take over the Berkeley’s 2,900-square-foot former restaurant space at the corner of 12th and Cary streets.
A few questions. First, I am very pro-credit union, but $5 Billion! Why in the world does a not-for-profit financial institution need to be that big? Second, How many branches is enough? Is VACU trying to squeeze out the smaller local credit unions in the city?
Maybe the SCC should consider breaking up VACU into 4 or 5 smaller credit unions. That would still be $1 Billion each. Still very big for a credit union.
Credit Unions should not act like big banks.
Just to add context to credit union sizes. The National Credit Union Administration has 6 peer groups for credit unions by asset size.
< $2,000,000
$2,000,000 — <$10,000,000
$10,000,000 – <$50,000,000
$50,000,000 — <$100,000,000
$100,000,000 — <$500,000,000
$500,000,000 or more
In other words, if VACU was split up evenly into 10 seperate credit unions, all of them would still be in the largest peer group.
Smaller Credit Unions seem to be scared of the giant VACU. Partners’ Financial is set to merge into Argent Credit Union unless their members vote against it. The special membership meeting is set for Tuesday 08/29/2023 at 6:00 PM at Biltmore Baptish Church, 1300 New York Ave., Glen Allen. In my opinion this is a bad idea. This will be one less credit union for the people of the Richmond metro to choose from and another step for VACU to be the only game in town for people that don’t want to deal with a bank. Partners Financial 804-649-2957 Johnna… Read more »