photo by: AdobeStock

A Chase Bank is shown in Minnesota in this AdobeStock image.

One of the largest — and oldest — banks in America has plans to open its first Lawrence branch.

Chase Bank is seeking City Hall approval to open a bank branch at the northwest corner of 23rd Street and Naismith Drive in a building that formerly was occupied by Truity Credit Union.

If you are not familiar with Chase, maybe you are familiar with some of the names behind the bank. They include J.P. Morgan, and even Aaron Burr.

The full name for Chase Bank is actually JPMorgan Chase Bank, but its retail banking branches simply operate under the name Chase. JPMorgan Chase is generally regarded as the largest bank in the U.S., with more than $3.3 trillion in assets. It bests Bank of America, the second largest U.S. bank with about $2.4 trillion in assets. Bank of America does operate a couple of branches in Lawrence.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Plans have been filed to convert the former Truity Credit Union building at 23rd and Naismith Drive into a Chase Bank branch.

So, if you are keeping track, the two largest banks in the country soon will have a presence in Lawrence. It might come as a surprise to some. Most banking companies have not been looking to grow their number of branches, as online banking has become more prevalent. Chase, however, has been a notable exception to that rule.

The company in February announced that it intends to open more than 500 new branches during the next three years. That is in addition to 650 branches that it has added in the last five years. Chase officials said they were particularly interested in expanding into some rural communities and communities where Chase doesn’t currently have a presence.

While Chase serves as the banking partner for some of the largest companies in the world, the company says its branches are set up like many other community banks, and “lend to businesses of all sizes.”

“When we open a branch, we’re not only investing in the financial health of residents, we’re committed to the health and vitality of the entire community,” Marianne Lake, CEO of Consumer & Community Banking for Chase, said in February when the company announced its nationwide expansion plans.

Chase currently is the only bank to have branches in all 48 lower states of the U.S. Lawrence will be the fourth Kansas metro area where the company has located. Chase has several branches in Johnson County in the Kansas City metro, and also operates single branches in Wichita and Manhattan.

I’ve been given no timeline on when the project may open in Lawrence. As for the approvals Chase is seeking from City Hall, they are fairly routine. Chase proposes to keep the existing building, remodel it, and rearrange some of the parking spaces and landscaping on the site.

The site at 1300 W. 23rd St. has been vacant for several months, as Truity closed the branch as part of its decision to build a new banking center on the University of Kansas’ West Campus. As we reported in April, Truity is building a full-service branch just north of the 21st and Iowa intersection on land owned by KU Endowment. Construction is well underway on that project.

What’s that? You want to know about Aaron Burr and Chase Bank? Well, spoiler alert, he doesn’t play much of a role in the bank’s management these days. But several histories of JPMorgan Chase date back to the founding of The Manhattan Company in 1799. Generations later, through mergers, it would become JPMorgan Chase. Aaron Burr — the third vice president of the United States but better known for a starring role in the musical “Hamilton” — was the founder of The Manhattan Company. The Manhattan Company ended up being a chief rival to the Bank of New York, which was founded by Alexander Hamilton. The history lesson could go on, but I would have to warn of a spoiler alert to those of you who haven’t yet seen the musical “Hamilton.” Suffice to say, Hamilton and Burr could still be the subject of HR videos on improper conflict resolution.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Construction was underway on a new Truity Credit Union building north of 21st and Iowa streets in Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024.

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I have a brief but intriguing note to pass along about an aerospace company that may be expanding in Lawrence.

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, recently sent out a constituent newsletter that briefly mentioned that company by the name of AeroVironment plans “move into a new facility in Lawrence that will double their production space in Kansas.”

The letter, which the Journal-World saw a portion of from a reader, doesn’t provide additional details, other than to say that Moran received the news from AeroVironment’s chief executive officers.

AeroVironment is a publicly traded aerospace company headquartered in Virginia. It indeed does have a small office in Lawrence currently. It has a space at 450 N. Iowa St. I stopped by the office this afternoon, but it wasn’t staffed at that moment.

As for what AeroVironment does, it is a defense contractor that builds drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles.

I’ll certainly do more checking about AeroVironment’s plans in Lawrence, and report back any news I find. Moran’s letter did say that the company already has a relationship with KU and its engineering school, which has a department that specializes in aerospace.