Leesburg BAR approves exterior changes for Dunkin' conversion at 607 Potomac Station Drive

The Leesburg Board of Architectural Review on June 2 approved exterior alterations for a deferred case, TLHP BR 20250023607, to convert a former bank at 607 Potomac Station Drive NE into a Dunkin' restaurant, voting 6–0–1 with one member absent.

The approval, moved by Helen Aikman and seconded by Judd Fudo, includes conditions requiring the applicant to work with staff on lighting, to use Trex material for the refuse-enclosure doors, to retain window muntins (which the applicant removed from the proposal), and to revise end-elevation doors to a centered single door with symmetrical sidelights and a transom. The board also adopted a written finding allowing the applicant to paint a narrow orange band on an existing frieze element at the drive‑through canopy, provided the finding ties that allowance to the specific physical characteristics of the canopy and surrounding context.

Why it matters: The parcel is in a gateway shopping center and the board said the project raises precedent and historic‑character issues because it adapts a late‑20th century classical‑revival bank building to a drive‑through restaurant. The conditions are intended to balance corporate branding needs with the town's guidelines for historic character and gateway commercial areas.

Board discussion and…