By Dan Brendel – Staff Reporter, Washington Business Journal

Nov 14, 2024

Eagle Bancorp Inc., the parent company of EagleBank, has announced plans to move its headquarters into in a well-known building in Bethesda, a consolidation it hopes will be conducive to growth

The bank currently has headquarters functions spread across two buildings in Bethesda and Rockville. The move to 7500 Old Georgetown Road, anticipated to occur inSeptember, will bring about 200 employees from those locations under one roof.

EagleBank will put its name on the building and occupy 65,000 square feet across three floors — the fourth, fifth and the top floor, the 15th. It inked the lease with In-Rel Properties, which acquired the property in 2023, on Oct. 24. The fourth and fifth floors will begin to receive renovations in January, while the top floor has already received a refresh.

The move won’t represent a major increase or decrease in leased space, except that now it’ll all be in one place, EagleBank President and CEO Susan Riel told me in an interview. It’ll also provide the company room to grow over time, she said.

Clark Construction used to be the 335,000-square-foot building’s anchor tenant, with its name on the building, before decamping to Tysons. 

The deal is a success story for Lake Worth Beach, Florida-based In-Rel, which has increased the building’s leasing from 42% when the company bought it a year ago to 78% now, including the EagleBank deal, Jackson Siegal, an In-Rel principal, told me in an interview. In-Rel bought the building for a steal — $29.9 million in 2023, slashed from the $133.8 million it traded for in 2019.

The building at 7500 Old Georgetown Road is In-Rel’s first acquisition in the D.C. region, though Siegal said the company is seeking additional, similar value-add office acquisition opportunities in the region.

“We’re delighted with our investment in Bethesda, and EagleBank taking so much space here is a testament to the resiliency of the submarket,” Siegal said.

Riel said the move doesn’t involve any state or county incentives. Siegal declined to say whether there were lease concessions.

“We look at ourselves as a Bethesda bank, a Maryland bank,” Riel said.

Riel said the new digs will improve transportation options for employees, providing more parking and immediate access to the Red Line’s Bethesda Metro station. The building’s large conference room will also provide EagleBank a place to hold big meetings, which previously it’s had to hold off-site, she said.

The building was constructed in the 1980s but renovated in 2019. Since buying it a year ago, In-Rel has also renovated some common spaces and built out some spec suites, Siegal said.

EagleBank is the ninth-largest bank in Greater Washington based on metro-area deposits, according to Business Journal research. Its $8.3 billion in local deposits account for a market share of 2.85%.