An effort to bring a Fargo, North Dakota-based bank to downtown Owensboro has failed.
Bell Bank planned to open a home mortgage office in the Alorica building and signed a lease with building owner Matt Hayden and his company, Owensboro Downtown LLC.
But there was a glitch. The lease signed by Alorica in 2016 hasn’t been terminated.
California-based Alorica opened a call center in the building and promised to hire 840 people, but never reached that goal. When the pandemic hit, employees were sent home to work remotely.
Negotiations between Hayden and Alorica to terminate the existing lease failed.
The Messenger-Inquirer reports Hayden filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in an effort to force Alorica to terminate its lease and vacate the premises. But on Tuesday, a federal judge declined to rule on the case.
As a result, Hayden terminated the lease with Bell Bank.
An Alorica spokesperson said the company is still the active tenant in the Owensboro building and the company's 400 regional employees are working remotely.