Atlantic Capital Bank, which acquired the former FSG in Chattanooga last year, celebrated its new name and look on Thursday in its new digs on the third floor of Warehouse Row.
The open offices, brick facade and upper floor location in the bank's relocated downtown office offer a different look for what the leaders of Atlantic Capital Bank say is a different bank than it was in the past.
After buying the 16-year-old FSG Bank last year for $160 million, the Atlanta-based Atlantic Capital Bank decided to sell FSG's two-story headquarters at Broad and Sixth streets, rename FSG to Atlantic Capital and move its downtown Chattanooga office into Warehouse Row in the 1100 block of Market Street.
The bank relocated last month into 27,000 square feet of space in both the north and south buildings of Warehouse Row, which previously had housed Propex Inc., before that geotextiles firm shifted its headquarters closer to the carpet mills it serves in Ringgold and Dalton, Ga.
"This move, in many ways, has been a reawakening and reopening of our bank under our new name in Chattanooga," Mike Kramer, the president of FSG Bank who negotiated the merger of FSG with Atlantic Capital two years ago, said during a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday at the new downtown Atlantic Capital offices. "We really intend to be the business bank for East Tennessee and this is sort of the official rebirth of the bank."
Doug Williams, CEO of Atlantic Capital, said the new bank office reflects the change from FSG, which was started in Chattanooga in 2000 as a retail-oriented bank that grew to 37 branch offices. As Atlantic Capital, the bank is focused primarily on businesses and affluent individuals and has grown to $2.7 billion in assets with only about half as many branches. The combined FSG and Atlantic Capital Bank, which now operate under the Atlantic Capital Brand, have a dozen offices in Tennessee and a handful of others in Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C.
"This new office offers more creative space that is giving our employees a real shot of adrenaline and excitement," Williams said. "We want to have a more innovative presence in Chattanooga as a really focused business and merchant bank."
Williams said the new owners of the former FSG bank are re-positioning the bank, selling off branches in Bradley County and focusing on business customers in major Southeastern cities.
"We're different from FSG's roots in the retail, community banking space," Williams said. "We're more of a community, corporate or business private bank and this new space really fits that mission."
The First Security Group, the former parent company of FSG Bank, built a 34,000-square-foot headquarters facility at Broad and Sixth streets in downtown Chattanooga in 2006 when the bank wanted a more visible and retail-oriented presence downtown. But the bank sold the two-story complex last year to a Birmingham real estate investment group, Harbert Realty Services, for $5.4 million.
Playcore, the nation's biggest maker of playground equipment, is renovating the former FSG building as a new corporate headquarters.
FSG has a drive-through branch at 13th and Cowart streets for retail transactions.
Atlantic Capital now operates a dozen offices in Tennessee, including six other locations in Hamilton County, two each in Knox and Jefferson counties and one in Union County. The other Chattanooga and Cleveland branches are in more conventional retail outlets or drive-through branches on the Southside, East Ridge, East Brainerd, Hixson, Ooltewah and Signal Mountain in Hamilton County.
Williams said most of the regular banking services and financial transactions handled by Atlantic Capital are now handled online or at automated teller machines and treasury management platforms.
The Atlantic Capital CEO said each of the four markets the bank is focused on - Atlanta, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Charlotte - are growing faster than the national average.
"We have four very healthy, attractive markets to grow in," Williams said. "We're seeing good loan demand and we're very optimistic about all four of the markets we are in. The essence of our franchise is our bankers and their relationships, and we have some very good bankers."
Williams said Atlantic Capital is looking at other acquisitions, but much of its growth should come internally.
As a merchant bank targeting small, midsize and large businesses, Atlantic Capital doesn't have to be one of the biggest banks in any of the markets it serves or have as many branches as other banks, Williams said.
Atlantic Capital had $302.7 million in deposits in metropolitan Chattanooga as of June 30, 2016, making Atlantic Capital the 10th biggest among the 27 commercial banks operating in Chattanooga, according to the FDIC.
With 3.2 percent of the local banking market, Atlantic Capital has plenty of room to grow in Chattanooga. There are about 350 businesses in the Chattanooga area which each have more than $10 million in sales and thousands of other smaller businesses well suited for Atlantic Capital's targeted approach, Williams said.
Last year, Atlantic Capital Bank earned $16.5 million, or nearly triple its net income from the previous year, according to FDIC reports.
At the end of 2016, Atlantic Capital Bank had more than $2.7 billion in assets and employed 342 workers acrosss its three-state region.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.