Southern Crescent Mortgage & Investment Corp. has announced that it has completed renovations at its nearly 40-year-old building located just off the historic Courthouse Square in Fayetteville.

The building, which originally opened in September 1960 as the new home of Farmers & Merchants Bank, has been occupied by Southern Crescent Mortgage since August of 1997.

"While we have redesigned some of the interior in order to provide the offices that we need, we have been able to keep most of the integrity of the building," said Ron Hannah, president of Southern Crescent Mortgage.

"Among the things we retained were the chandeliers and the marble floors."

The building is located at 145 West Lanier Avenue, across the street from the historic Holliday-Fife House.

The newly-revamped building is the company's third home since it opened in Fayetteville on Feb. 5, 1990. The original office was on West Lanier Avenue a couple of blocks west of the current location. Then, in 1992, the company moved into the office park on Commerce Drive in Fayetteville, remaining there until nearly two years ago.

There are also branch offices in the Eagle's Landing area of Stockbridge and near Town Center Mall in Kennesaw. The Stockbridge office was opened six years ago, and the Kennesaw office began operations in mid-1997. The company, which had four employees at its founding, now has a total of 35 employees.

The renovations to the headquarters building and the increase in staff aren't the only recent advances by the company. Robert Hannah, vice president/finance, said that loan volume increased by nearly 89% from 1997 to 1998.

The company offers all types of conforming and non-conforming loans, including conventional, first time homebuyer programs, FHA, VA, Farmers Home loans, second mortgages, lines of credit, and construction loans.

Southern Crescent Mortgage was founded in early 1990 by Ray Hannah, who was the longtime chief executive executive of Porex Inc. of Fairburn, and Tony Eidson, an attorney with offices in Hapeville.

Eidson sold his interest in the firm's ownership in 1996, and Ray Hannah, who now serves as board chairman of the mortgage company, was joined in the ownership by his sons Ron and Robert.

The Hannah Family has long been known for its civic involvement in the Metro South area. Ray Hannah is a former chairman of the South Fulton Chamber of Commerce, while his wife Betty is the longtime mayor of Fairburn.

Ron Hannah, a graduate of what is now the University of West Georgia with a degree in mass communications, had worked with Eastern Airlines for two years and then had two and one-half years of experience with Trust Company Bank before joining Southern Crescent Mortgage in April of 1991.

He became president of the firm in May of 1998.

Robert Hannah, a graduate of Presbyterian College with a degree in business, came to work with the Southern Crescent Mortgage in May of 1994.

Prior to that, he was employed by Air Atlanta, then worked for an airline software firm, and later spent three years with an airline which was based in Taiwan.