New banking center approved for South Walton Boulevard in Bentonville

Construction of a new banking center will soon begin at the southwest corner of Walton Boulevard and Southwest 28th Street in Bentonville.

At its July 5 meeting, members of the Bentonville Planning Commission approved the large-scale development plan submitted by Springdale-based Legacy National Bank, which included a single-story, 7,600-square-foot building.

Bank president and CEO Don Gibson said groundbreaking for the project could come as early as the end of August, pending approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

“I expect it will be a nine-month building cycle, and we are truly excited about being in Bentonville,” Gibson said.

Legacy paid $2 million for the 2.29-acre site at 2904 S. Walton Blvd. last November. The property belonged to the Elizabeth A. Bolte Trust. The site is catty corner from Tractor Supply Co. and includes a 2,680-square-foot residence that will be razed.

A Bentonville location will be Legacy’s sixth banking center, joining others in Springdale (3), Fayetteville and Rogers. Gibson said Fayetteville architectural firm Ken Shireman & Associates handled the building design, which will be similar to the bank’s 6,000-square-foot banking center on Joyce Boulevard in Fayetteville that opened in 2013, and a Rogers location that opened on Pauline Whitaker Parkway in 2014.

Gibson said the bank has also hired longtime Benton County banking executive Jeremy Woody to lead Legacy’s day-to-day operations at the Bentonville and Rogers locations.

Woody, who worked for Simmons Bank for nearly two decades, officially started with Legacy on July 10.

“You can build all the beautiful buildings in the world, but unless you put beautiful people in them, it doesn’t work,” Gibson said. “We are very excited to have Jeremy with us.”