Commerce Club, One Ninety One Club merging

The new club will go by the Commerce Club name and will be run by a board of directors made up of members of each club. The facility will be operated by an affiliate of ClubCorp Inc., the Dallas-based owner and operator of private clubs including the One Ninety One Club.

Southern Co. CEO David Ratcliffe, chairman of the Commerce Club and a member of the board of the One Ninety One Club, will serve as the merged club’s chairman.

Tom Bell, former Cousins Properties CEO who is chairman of the One Ninety One Club and vice chairman of the Commerce Club, said the merger would join the best assets of each club.

“The Commerce Club has a long tradition of being on the forefront of issues that concern the region,” Bell said. The One Ninety One Club, he said, has put more emphasis on “food, wine and celebration,” as well as meeting accommodations.

The Commerce Club, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2010, is a downtown institution, occupying a refined space in the Five Points neighborhood in a building owned by Georgia State University.

Since its inception, it has hosted distinguished speakers and served as the setting for countless executive business lunches and meetings.

The One Ninety One Club, established in 1991 about five blocks up Peachtree, is located in a modern building known as the “tower of power.” It features access to a luxury fitness center and a spectacular view of downtown, as well as its dining rooms, library and bar.

In moving uptown, the Commerce Club will be more in the center of a business executive base that has migrated north over the years. The club’s membership roster has declined recently, to 796 members from 977 in December 2007. The One Ninety One Club’s membership is about flat from last year, Bell said.

Ratcliffe and Bell said efforts would be made to preserve the heritage of each club in programming, service and architecture.