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The sidewalk in front of the former Gunter and Peel Funeral Home location at the corner of College and Ninth Street South has been fenced off since July when renovations began on the building.
BankFirst purchased the building in 2021, though at the time, the bank hadn’t defined exactly how it would utilize the space. Now the building is receiving a total renovation, plus a 6,500 square-foot addition.
How will the bank use the building? When will the project be finished? Why does BankFirst need extra space?
How is the bank renovating the building?
Chief Experience Officer and Executive Vice President Jim McAlexander said the building will serve as the bank’s corporate headquarters and training facility. Retrofitting the two-story building to meet those needs, he said, will require some work.
“It’s roughly going to be around a little over 19,000 square feet,” he said. “To put that in perspective, that’s probably a renovation of around 13,000 square feet, and then an add-on of another 6,500 square-feet.”
BankFirst retained the two-floor layout, but beyond that and a few remaining restrooms, the building was completely gutted, McAlexander said.
“It’s about 20% complete at this point,” he said “… The timeline says that what we consider substantial completion is hopefully about December 2025 and then actual occupancy sometime in the first quarter of 2026.”
Why does the bank need the space?
BankFirst Capital Corporation, the bank’s holding company, has about $2.8 billion in total assets as of September. Currently, BankFirst operates about 40 branches across Mississippi and Alabama as well as four loan production offices, McAlexander said.
Along with the main branch location on Main Street, BankFirst also has offices in the old Gunter and Peel annex building facing 10th Street South, which it purchased in 2016. Now the bank owns all the property on that block.
Having room to expand corporate operations at a central location in Columbus will be crucial as more banks are opened, he said.
“When you have a merger or an acquisition of a bank, you kind of have a command central station,” he said. “We may have people that come in for a week from other locations that are here helping us flip that switch. So we need the space available to do that.”
Extra office space will also be necessary as more employees are brought on to support the growth, McAlexander said.
“We just know that for future growth we’re going to need some corporate offices,” he said. “We’re excited about it because most of us live here in Columbus. We’re excited to be able to do things that are allowing us to get more positions in the area – Columbus and the Golden Triangle.”
Once it is renovated, then what?
Once the renovations are complete, the building will house the bank’s accounting department, senior and executive management offices, the board meeting room and the training facility, which will be housed inside the 6,500-square-foot addition on the building’s east side.
McAlexander said the expansion will allow the bank to better assess how many additional positions the bank can accommodate.
“The way (everything) works out through this renovation that we’re doing and all the moves that will be made will determine how many additional positions we have here in Columbus,” he said.
Many of the executives and senior offices that are currently inside the main Columbus branch will move to the newly renovated building, McAlexander said.
“Some of our officers and corporate individuals and operations individuals that are in our annex building … will be moving up (to the main branch building),” he said. “We’re just going to have this little shake up of moving people around.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
