Acru planning coffeehouse-focused financial operations to Peachtree Road site in Buckhead

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It is not unusual forpeople to discuss business with their financial advisor over a cup of coffee.But what is somewhat unusual is for a financial organization to build itsoperations around a coffeehouse.

That is what Acru has done in downtown Woodstock,Georgia. And, that is what Acru plans on bringing to Peachtree Road in Buckhead.

A view of the interior of Acru's public coffehouse in Woodstock, GA

Matt Hames, the CEO ofAcru, and his development teammet with the Development Review Committee of SPI-9 (Special Public InterestDistrict) Feb. 6 to discuss their plans for razing the former restaurantbuilding at the corner of Peachtree Road and Shadowlawn Avenue and replacing it with a new facility that will houseits financial services business and its coffeehouse.
Those who keep tabs of Buckheaddevelopment projects may recall that Community & Southern Bank had met withthe SPI-9 DRC in June to discuss their plans to build a bank branch on the samesite.  Well, Acru is a subsidiary of Community & Southern Bank, which isheadquartered in the Cumberland area of Cobb County.

Architect Patrick Johnson shows the preliminary sketches of the planned
Acru financial center and coffeehouse for Peachtree Road in Buckhead. 

Community & SouthernBank acquired Acru, formerlyknown as CNT Financial and founded in 2001, in conjunction with the acquisitionof substantially all of the assets and deposits of First Cherokee State Bankfrom the FDIC on July 20, 2012. Community & Southern Bank has 36 branches,including one which recently opened in Town Brookhaven next to the Publix market.
Although part of theCommunity & Southern organization, Acru’sdesigns on this Buckhead building is much different that the plans shown inJune. They are much closer to Acru’sfacility in downtown Woodstock.
The plans shown to theDRC Feb. 6 were labeled as “in an early stage” according the AI3 Inc. principalarchitect Patrick Johnson.  The two-storybuilding, which will likely have  9,000square feet of more  of total space,according to Acru’s Managing Director Brad Nix, was described as having “aresidential feel” to the design, with horizontal wood planking on the exterior.

Coffee and pastries are available for the community at
Acru's financial operations center in Woodstock. 

The center of theactivity will be the coffeehouse, named Copper Coin, which Nix described toBuckheadView as being sort of a community center. It will be an invitingcommunity space where the company’s wealth strategists will spend time gettingto know the customers—listening to them tell their story over cups of coffeeand maybe a pastry. And, there will be outdoor patio seating as well.
As it was described tothe DRC members, there will be some financial services functions with somebanking functions that will take place within the space. There will be no drivethrough teller windows, but will be a drive-up ATM. There interior will notlook like a typical bank, with lines of offices and teller stations.

Bleachers in the Woodstock coffeehouse are used for
business discussions, seminars and even concerts. 

The coffeehouse willhave stepped bleachers, like the Woodstock facility, where people will take theircoffee and sit and discuss business and their financial needs. It is also wherethe company will hold seminars, bring in guest speakers and maybe even haveintimate concerts, which they do in Woodstock.
“Banking goes on, butmainly on an iPad,” explained Nix to BuckheadView. “We do have cash recyclers,”which he described as a “human-operated ATM.”
As described on Acru’s webpage and to the DRCmembers by CEO Hames, “Spending time with our clients, building relationshipsand taking part in the shared connections of community, these are the best wayswe believe we can serve others.”

Acru conducts much of its business with iPads, according
to the company's Managing Director Brad Nix. 

The main advice theSPI-9 DRC members had for the Acruteam on Feb. 6 was that they draw their plans for the site and buildingaccording to what is planned for the future streetscaping of Peachtree Road inthat area, including providing for the supplemental zone that is part of thatroad plan.
They also hadrecommendations regarding landscaping of the parking areas and making sure thatthe building is open and welcoming from Peachtree Road.
The development teamsaid they were getting ready to file for their Special Administrative Permitand hoped to file for permits in three months. They also will likely be backbefore the DRC with more refined and detailed plans for the building and site.