How turmoil in the office market is raising alarms for Greater Washington’s small banks

EagleBank is known around the D.C. region as being an active lender to owners and developers of commercial buildings, but lately the Bethesda bank has been shying away from financing one particular type of property: offices. Office vacancy levels have crept up since the pandemic hit in 2020 and changed the way many of us work, and all of that empty space has depressed property values — bad news for landlords and the banks that lend to them.