SunTrust Bank says it will stay in current location in downtown Richmond

 SunTrust Banks Inc.  announced Monday that its Virginia Division headquarters will remain at its current location at 919 E. Main in downtown Richmond. This represents a reversal from a previous announcement earlier this year when the bank said it would leave its longtime home and be the anchor tenant in a 21-story, mixed-use riverfront development called The Locks 321.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement to remain in downtown in updated offices at our current headquarters building,” John Stallings, Virginia Division president for SunTrust, said in a statement. “Our prominent signs atop the building and our branch will remain in their current locations. Extensive renovations of our existing space are planned to update and modernize our facilities to accommodate the needs of our businesses and teammates.”  

 According to Stallings, SunTrust’s current lease at 919 E. Main was set to expire at the end of 2017. While the company will not be a part of the Locks development, staying in its current space reduced the company’s risk of not having available space prior to the lease’s expiration.  The Locks, a project proposed by Dominion Realty Partners, is planned at the corner of 10th and East Byrd Streets at an old warehouse site. SunTrust had said earlier that it would occupy 53,000 square feet of space in the commercial part of the Locks building.

919 E. Main Street is owned and managed by Parmenter. SunTrust will lease 75,000 square feet at the building through mid-2028. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to have SunTrust Bank maintain such a significant presence at SunTrust Center,” stated John Davidson, regional managing principal for Parmenter. “We still have an attractive block of approximately 120,000 square feet of office space to attract a potential new tenant and look forward to the opportunity of adding another meaningful tenant to SunTrust Center’s prestigious rent roll.”

SunTrust’s previously announced consolidation of three suburban offices into one facility, currently known as WestMark I on W. Broad Street in Richmond’s west end, is not affected by this move. The SunTrust branch network, SunTrust Mortgage campus on Semmes Ave. and SunTrust Innsbrook are also not affected.