Missouri bank buys land for 16,000-SF branch in Fayetteville

Missouri-based Sterling Bank, a $1.27 billion-asset lender headquartered in Poplar Bluff, closed a real estate deal in October to begin the development of a full-service branch in Northwest Arkansas.

The company paid $1.9 million for 3.21 acres at 3453 N. Steele Blvd., in Fayetteville’s CMN Business Park. The purchase price equals $13.59 per square foot. MB007 Trust, whose trustees include Marjorie Brooks, sold the lot, just south of Bassett Home Furnishings.

Sterling Bank will develop the land to include a three-story, 16,000-square-foot building. The bank chose Commerce Construction of Springdale to be the general contractor and the company had a small groundbreaking for the project Nov. 5. It’s expected to take 12 months to complete. Commerce Construction, Crafton Tull (engineer), Case Engineering and Dille Pollard Architecture (design) are leading the project. Emma Lambeth Designs will provide interior design services.

Sterling Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sterling Bancshares Inc. The company entered the Arkansas market this year by opening a loan production office at 1607 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville. The office is in leased space and opened June 1. On Oct. 15, the office started taking deposits and became a full-service branch.

Arkansas native Johnathon Welch of Fayetteville oversees the bank’s market expansion, with assistance from operations manager Charles Johnson. Sterling Bank plans to eventually open full-service locations in Fayetteville, Bentonville and Rogers. Members of the bank’s new community board include Welch, Eric Arthur (chairman) Dan Cheek, Alan Cole, Dan Ellis, Cory Scott and Holland Weaver.

Sterling Bank has filed a development plan to build a branch in Rogers on 2.38 acres north of Aloft Hotel at the intersection of South 52nd and Magnolia streets. It will be similar in size to the Fayetteville branch. A construction date in Rogers has not been determined. The bank’s Bentonville location is part of a Colliers International Arkansas redevelopment on Walton Boulevard.

Sterling Bank, established in 2004, has 11 locations in Missouri and a branch in the Chicago suburb of St. Charles, Ill.