Home | Newsletter | Advertise

Chase Bank Will Occupy Former Palena Space in Cleveland Park

  • February 10th 2020

by Nena Perry-Brown

✉️ Want to forward this article? Click here.

3529 Connecticut Avenue NW. Click to enlarge.

In the nearly six years since Palena, an early contributor to DC's then-burgeoning dining scene, closed on Connecticut Avenue, the Cleveland Park space has remained vacant. Now, it looks like a bank is slated for the site.

Federal Realty and Chase Bank have applied for zoning approval to bring a new location of Chase Bank to 3529 Connecticut Avenue NW (map). A special exception is required to allow for financial services use in the NC-3 zone, which is specific to the Cleveland Park commercial corridor. Popville also reported last month that a School of Rock location is coming to a separate portion of the Palena space. 

The Chase bank would occupy 3,287 square feet and would have entrances on Connecticut Avenue and from the parking lot. Because there is a Capital One bank two doors down in the same retail strip, a special exception is needed as the combined square footage would exceed the 20% maximum permitted share of the ground floor for financial service uses.

Part of the application's explanation for why a special exception is needed is that there have been difficulties in leasing the space since Palena's closure.

"The Applicant has made good faith efforts over the years to lease the retail space to a use that would not require special exception relief. The tenant space has been vacant since 2014, and since that time, many letters of intent were pursued for a variety of uses, but none were successful."

These plans are the latest in a recent wave of financial institutions clustering together and taking over prominent real estate in DC and elsewhere, including the Capital One Cafés in Chinatown and Georgetown (and other banks slated for Georgetown). A bank might also replace a Starbucks that recently closed in Chinatown.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.production.logicbrush.com/articles/blog/chase-bank-will-occupy-former-palena-space/16443.

Pipeline: New Condos & Apartments Coming to the DC Area

DC Real Estate Guides

Short guides to navigating the DC-area real estate market

We've collected all our helpful guides for buying, selling and renting in and around Washington, DC in one place. Start browsing below!

First-Timer Primers

Intro guides for first-time home buyers

Red Flags Revealed During a Home Inspection Top 5 Tax Breaks For Homeowners Tax Relief for DC Homeowners
Condo Fee Tutorial What is a Rent Back? 10 Ways To Tell If a Home Renovation is Well Done
Obtaining a Basic Business License For Your Rental What is an Adjustable Rate Mortgage? The Splitting the Rent Formula
How Much Cash Do You Need to Buy a House? Is This Condo Building Financially Healthy? Interest Rates and Mortgage Points
The Scoop on Mortgage Insurance

Unique Spaces

Awesome and unusual real estate from across the DC Metro

The Most Intriguing Loft in DC The R Street Firehouse DC’s One-Room House
Dupont Circle’s Old Frat House To Become Alley Home Best Transition From a Garage To a Home The Roundhouse
Tilden Gardens Restaurant-Turned-Home Hits Market Next Week Logan Circle’s Most Intriguing Garage Frank Lloyd Wright Goes Green in Kensington
Sears Bungalow Gets a Modern Makeover Old Town General Store Becomes Three-Level Home Making the Most of a Skinny House
A Studio 27 Renovation on Capitol Hill Once a Carriage House, Now a Home The Bank that Became a Home
From Pie to Hooch to Heroin to Home The Live-Aboards of Gangplank Marina A Treehouse with Rock Creek Park As A Backyard
Modern Tranquility in Sperryville Saddle Up For Stable Living Throwing a Curve at 550 Square Feet
A Modern Hilltop Retreat Tilden Street Restaurant Becomes Spacious Home Focus on Design: A Vastu Unit at 22 West
The DC Area’s First Net Zero Home A Yankee Goes Green DC’s First Carbon Neutral Home
Eco-Friendly Alley House Off H Street The Gym, The Stables and The Firehouse