Missouri bank chooses spot to build 16,000 SF branch in Rogers

Sterling Bank, a $1.24 billion-asset lender headquartered in Poplar Bluff, Mo., has filed a development plan with the city of Rogers for technical review, signaling its intention to build a 16,000-square-foot branch location in Benton County.

According to preliminary planning documents, the bank wants to build at the southeast corner of the intersection of South 52nd and Magnolia streets in Rogers. The 2.38-acre lot sits north of Aloft Hotel. Danville-chartered Chambers Bank is under contract to sell the property to Sterling Bank. Chambers acquired the land in 2016 for $1.7 million ($16.40 per square foot).

The plan will go before the city’s planning commission at a later date for consideration.

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.

Arkansas native Johnathon Welch of Fayetteville oversees the bank’s market expansion, which includes plans to eventually open full-service locations in Fayetteville, Bentonville and Rogers.

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