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Southern Bank is expanding into the second floor of the Gardner Capital building it purchased this month.
SBJ file photo
Southern Bank is expanding into the second floor of the Gardner Capital building it purchased this month.

Southern Bank buys Gardner Capital building

Posted online

Last edited 9:08 a.m., Oct. 18, 2018

Poplar Bluff-based Southern Missouri Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: SMBC) purchased the south Springfield building that’s home to its regional corporate office.

Justin Cox, Southern Bank’s regional president for the west, said the banking company bought the roughly 16,000-square-foot, three-floor building at 4803 S. National Ave. for undisclosed terms from Springfield-based Gardner Capital Inc. The property switched ownership on Oct. 1, according to Greene County assessor records. A warranty deed between Southern Bank and Gardner OB LLC on file with the county recorder’s office does not list a note amount.

“We continue to need space and room to grow,” Cox said. “We were out of space on the first floor.”

Cox said Southern Bank now will occupy the approximately 11,000 square feet that covers the first and second floors of the building. Staff already working in the building, as well as those being brought in from other locations, are gradually moving into the second floor, he said, noting there’s space to grow.

With the purchase, Gardner Capital, an investment, affordable housing and renewable energy firm, became a tenant of the building, Cox said. Gardner Capital previously used part of the second floor and now is leasing the entire top floor, which is about 5,000 square feet, he said. Cox said Gardner Capital owner Mark Gardner approached Southern Bank about the sale.

Gardner and Gardner Capital CEO Michael Gardner did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.

Springfield First Community Bank financed the $4.8 million construction of the building in 2015, according to Springfield Business Journal archives. A release deed between Springfield First Community Bank and Gardner OB is dated Oct. 17 in a Greene County recorder filing.

Cox said Southern Bank currently employs 13 in the South National office building. The west region he leads has 11 branches, he said. As of June 30, Southern Bank held $319.3 million in deposits in the Springfield metropolitan statistical area, making up 3.2 percent of the total in the region, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data.

SMBC shares were trading at $37.23 as of 10:22 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $33.71 to $41.49.

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