Chattanooga's biggest credit union has bought a bigger downtown building to house its administrative offices and accommodate its growing membership.
The Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union paid $2.65 million this week to acquire the former IBM office building at 535 Chestnut St. and another $930,000 to buy a two-story parking deck across the street to provide parking for its employees.
John Merritt, vice president of marketing for the Tennessee Valley Credit Union, said the purchases will nearly double the space for administrative offices from the credit union's existing two-story complex at 715 Market St., which the credit union built in 1977. The credit union has no immediate plans to vacate its existing 45,496-square-foot headquarters, but Merritt said the institution will look at its options for the site once the new facility is renovated, probably by the middle of next year.
"Our plan is to retain a branch in the heart of the city," Merritt said. "Preferably, if we can stay where we are with a branch, that is great. If not, we can explore other options."
The Chestnut Street office was built in 1967 and includes 83,586 square feet. Republic Parking Systems previously bought the structure in 2011 for $1.8 million, according to records fled with the Hamilton County Assessor's Office.
Founded in 1936, the Tennessee Valley credit union has grown to include more than 115,000 members and is now the biggest locally based lending and depository institution in Chattanooga. Only First Tennessee, SunTrust and Regions banks have more local assets.
The Tennessee Valley credit union is already the biggest automobile lender in the region. The credit union operates 14 offices in 13 counties and has more than 300 employees.
Last year, two more credit unions - Chattanooga Coca-Cola Employees credit union and City Employees credit union - merged with Tennessee Valley credit union, adding to more than a dozen earlier credit union mergers into Tennessee Valley.
"We've had remarkable growth over the past decade and it is continuing, " Merritt said. "We've grown out of our space. We're on top of each other."
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340.