Business Ins & Outs: Capital One, Former Exxon Site, Nike
By • February 22, 2022 0 1682
Out: Capital One Checks Out May 18
The Georgetown branch of Capital One Bank at 1545 Wisconsin Ave. NW will close May 18 at 5 p.m. “for good,” the local banking giant told its clients in a farewell letter, dated Feb. 14. “We understand that this news may be disappointing — please know we did not make this decision lightly.”
The corner property at Wisconsin Avenue & Q Street boasts a two-story, federal-style building with a parking lot in the rear. It was built in the 1990s and was at first a Chevy Chase Bank.
Another Georgetown branch of Capital One exists at Wisconsin Avenue & M Street. It features a more up-to-date concept — with no human tellers, no parking, but with a coffeeshop, lounge area and meeting rooms.
Key Bridge Exxon Property Faces Foreclosure
The shuttered Key Bridge Exxon gas station property — at 36th & M Streets NW, next to the foot of the Exorcist Steps — was poised to be redeveloped as condominiums as well as a possible spot for the Georgetown terminus of the imaginary aerial Georgetown-Rosslyn gondola. It may be foreclosed March 17.
“A foreclosure notice was filed Monday on the property, located at 3601-3607 M St. NW, according to the D.C. Recorder of Deeds. Those documents say there is an $11.46 million balance owed on the note, held by local gas station magnate, part D.C. United owner and budding developer Eyob “Joe” Mamo, according to a related foreclosure affidavit,” reported the Washington Business Journal last week.
“The entity in control of the parcel, 3601 M Associates LLC, is an affiliate of Arlington-based Altus Realty and Fairfax-based DYNC Atlantic Property & Investment, according to public records. Those developers have been trying for five years to construct a condo building on the site, to no avail.
Altus Principal Charlie Kehler said in an email the owners would seek to resolve the debt.”
The land has been the subject of many Georgetowner stories — whether as a site for condos or the landing site for the so-called Georgetown gondola.
Nike to Run Away from Georgetown?
“Nike missed a deadline earlier this year to exercise a renewal option for its roughly 33,600-square-foot space at 3040 M St. NW, according to a source familiar with the situation,” according to the Washington Business Journal.
“It’s unclear whether it was an oversight or whether the retailer intentionally missed the deadline with the intention of giving back its space or renegotiating for a smaller footprint in the 44,000-square-foot building, according to the source, who was not authorized to speak on the record about the situation,” the Journal continued. “Its current lease is slated to expire in the first quarter of 2023.”
According to the business report, “Lincoln Property Co. is seeking replacement tenants for Nike Inc.’s Georgetown retail store, more than a decade after the athletic apparel giant inked a deal to fill the gap created by Barnes & Noble.” Nike inked its lease in 2012.
The building at the corner of M & Thomas Jefferson Streets NW was previously owned by an affiliate of Vornado Realty Trust. In the 1970s and ’80s it contained the movie theater, Cerberus — and, before that, a car dealership.
