Eagle of Maryland Adds Fourth Northern Virginia Branch

Eagle Bancorp of Bethesda, Md., has opened its fourth office in northern Virginia and is planning to establish a fifth later this year.

The $2.8 billion-asset parent of EagleBank said Monday that it has opened a new office in Reston to go along with two Virginia offices it opened in Arlington last year and another it has operated in Tysons Corner since 2008.  The company also intends to add an office in Merrifield, Va., later in 2012.

"The opening of the Reston office extends our coverage in Fairfax County, a market that presents extraordinary opportunities for EagleBank," said Thomas D. Murphy, EagleBank's president of community banking. "This is another important step in our growth strategy for northern Virginia."

Eagle had been planning to more aggressively expand in Virginia through acquisitions, but a deal for Alliance Bank Corp. it announced last summer collapsed a few months later when the two sides could not agree on a price.  Eagle Chief Executive Ronald Paul has said that while he would not rule out an acquisition, the company is content to grow in Virginia through de novo branching.

Along with the Virginia branches, Eagle has eight offices in Maryland — all in affluent Montgomery County — and five in Washington, D.C.