Premises and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

A summary of premises and equipment at December 31, 2016 and 2015, is as follows (in thousands):



	2016			2015
Land and land improvements	$	8,354		$	7,012
Building and leasehold improvements	18,507			16,933
Furniture, fixtures and equipment	7,043			5,701
Construction in progress	2,789			188
Total, gross	36,693			29,834
Accumulated depreciation	(6,157		)	(4,796		)
Total, net	$	30,536		$	25,038

At December 31, 2016 management estimates the cost necessary to complete the construction in progress will be approximately $890 thousand.

Note 5. Premises and Equipment, Continued

The Company leases several branch locations and also has one ground lease under non-cancelable operating lease agreements. The leases expire between May 2017 and August 2021. Lease expense under the leases was $728,004 and $565,667 in 2016 and 2015, respectively. At December 31, 2016, the remaining minimum lease payments relating to these leases were as follows (in thousands):



2017	$	518
2018	300
2019	292
2020	292
2021	173

Depreciation expense was $1,435,090 and $992,746 for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Related party transaction:

On September 25, 2014, the board of directors voted to approve the purchase of the Cornerstone Community Bank Miller Plaza Branch facility located at 835 Georgia Avenue, Chattanooga, Tennessee in the form of a condominium from Lamp Post Properties. The chairman of the board, Miller Welborn, previously owned 20% of Lamp Post Properties and, therefore, Mr. Welborn abstained from the September 25, 2014 vote. The purchase price of the building was $1.4 million and included two full floors and one partial floor of the building, parking, naming rights and signage privileges for the building, among certain other property rights. The transaction closed on February 24, 2015. As of October 1, 2015, Mr. Welborn has no ownership in Lamp Post Properties.