One of Chattanooga’s oldest real estate companies is joining popular downtown property management and development groups in an estimated $60 million merger.
Fidelity Trust, SVN Second Story Real Estate Management and Lamp Post Properties have joined forces to form Aslan Holdings, according to partners Matt McGauley and Tiffanie Robinson.
“We have been colleagues for years,” Robinson said in an interview, noting that they had recently been involved in the North Shore Project. “We realize how powerful a partnership can be if we do something bigger.”
Fidelity Trust Co.’s name has been changed. Ltd., which began in 1912, has been transferred to FTC Development and will operate as a commercial real estate development company specializing in innovative and sustainable reuse and adaptation projects.
SVN Second Story will be the operating company that handles all property management and maintenance services along with leasing and brokerage services.
The partners said that although the companies will cooperate, they remain separate entities.
Also, McGauley has combined his real estate portfolio with that of Lamp Post Properties, making Aslan the largest locally owned group of downtown commercial properties in Chattanooga.
“Downtown is where we’ve put our flag,” McGully, CEO of FTC Development, said in an interview.
In addition, SVN Second Story will have a total of approximately 2 million square feet of mixed-use and multifamily commercial real estate, the partners said.
Aslan, the name of the holding company, came from the lion in CS Lewis’ book “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” Robinson said. She said the lion was “agile, resilient and found a way to beat the odds”.
The headquarters of the combined companies is the Loveman Building. Together, it will employ 32 people.
McGulley said fidelity has thrived over the years through innovation, a willingness to adapt, and dissatisfaction with the status quo.
“Our core values and love for Chattanooga are aligned,” he said. “Our shared resources will make a greater impact on the city we love, deliver improved services to our customers, and deliver robust and reliable returns to our partners.”
Robinson, CEO of SVN Second Story and Lamp Post Properties, said the mission has always been to provide high-quality products and revenue to its partners and customers.
She said that with Second Story recently joining the global SVN franchise and now the merger of Lamp Post Properties with Fidelity Trust Co. , “I am more confident than ever that our team will be able to greatly serve the clients and communities we work with.”
“It’s kind of a natural fit,” Robinson said. “The skills they both bring to the table – make a lot of sense.”
McGooley said he and Robinson have the same thinking about what they’ve done for their companies. He cited the recent partnership in the redevelopment of the former Chattanooga print and engraving building at 110 Somerville Ave. On the North Shore along with a new two story building to be built nearby at 306 Cherokee Blvd. This $17 million project will include apartments and office space.
“It became clear that we could do a lot together,” McGooley said.
They will continue to focus on downtown, historic buildings and adaptive reuse, but said they plan to expand to other mid-sized cities in the area.
“We are committed to Chattanooga, but we see other opportunities,” Robinson said.
She said the merged entity is also looking at opportunities in the affordable housing sector.
Lamp Post Properties served as the real estate arm of Lamp Post Group, the Chattanooga-based incubator started by partners Ted Alling, Barry Large and Alan Davis, who Robinson said are still part of the holding company.
Lamp Post Properties has committed to creating so-called next-generation spaces in and out of Chattanooga’s innovation district such as the Tomorrow Building off Patten Parkway.
Contact Mike Barry at [email protected] or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter Tweet embed.