A long-vacant piece of property at 31st and Iowa streets will become the home of a bank.

Todd Harris, president of Lawrence-based Peoples Bank, confirmed Monday that his company had finalized a deal to buy the property on the northwest corner of the intersection, which has been vacant since 1997 when KLWN/KLZR radio stations moved their studios from the site.

Harris said the company would build an approximately 4,000-square-foot, full-service bank on the site within the next 12 to 18 months.

“We’re excited about it,” Harris said. “Some people say Lawrence is overbanked, but we’re not seeing that with the growth we’ve had over the last two or three years.”

The new bank will be the third Lawrence site for the company. The company’s main bank is at Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive, and its branch bank is at 23rd and Harper streets.

Harris said Peoples, which has been in the Lawrence market for five years, had experienced a 26 percent increase in loan totals and a 30 percent increase in the amount of deposits at the bank in the past 12 months.

Company officials decided on a South Iowa Street expansion after the idea scored well in a recent survey of existing customers, Harris said.

Harris said the company chose to build at the intersection because of its high profile and because the location is handy for many people who work in Lawrence but live in Ottawa, where Peoples also has a bank.

Harris said the new bank, which is expected to employ about six people, would be the last Lawrence expansion for Peoples in the foreseeable future.

“We think this kind of positions us where we have the entire community covered,” Harris said.

The company operates a total of 13 banks in Kansas and New Mexico.