Building On Legacy: Channing Baker Evolves Into Big-Time Player On Multibillion-Dollar Atlanta Project

The company is working on the roof of the Cosm Sports Arena

By Curtis Bunn

When Channing Baker was in high school, his father, Ted Baker, a renowned Los Angeles builder, would round up his son and friends and take them early on Saturday mornings to one of his construction sites to help for “10 to 15 minutes.”

“That always turned into about 10 hours,” Channing Baker recalled, laughing. “But he was teaching us the value of hard work and having the mindset of thinking about being disciplined at an age when you’re just looking to have a good time. He opened the door up for us to recognize that, listen, ‘If you have a long night, you still have responsibilities in the morning.’ So that really helped build discipline within me and my homies, who all tell those stories to this day and how that time impacted them.”

Now 44, Baker said those lessons from his father are at the heart of his emergence as a burgeoning entrepreneur in Atlanta. In less than four years, his company, Evolve Contractors, has elevated into a roofing and construction company of “really big projects … on some substantial and consequential buildings across our city,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said, noting the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and the Herndon Square development, among others.

Those successes led Evolve to take on a role in the mammoth $6 billion Centennial Yards redevelopment project in downtown Atlanta. Evolve constructed the roof of the Mitchell Building, the first edifice erected at Centennial Yards. Now, Baker’s company is working on the roof of the Cosm Sports Arena, which is an innovative digital sports venue that will be a centerpiece of the CY project.

“It’s amazing to be a part of something so huge that will help transform the city,” Baker said. “I believe in myself, but if someone had told me four years ago we’d be doing a sports arena, that would have been hard to believe. It’s a true testament to what happens when you give someone a shot.”

Indeed, Evolve was born out of a 50-square-foot space at the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs—an incubator for minority businesses. Now, Baker operates out of a 5,000-square-foot space with 10 employees, six crews, and 85 on-site workers. Evolve has generated $10 million in roofing business and $17 million in total with construction.

And here’s the thing: Hardly anyone who knows Baker is surprised by his ascension. They point to his energy and effort, attention to detail, and keen ability to leverage relationships. His father’s teachings were another factor in the entrepreneurial spirit he possesses. But further, his great-grandfather, Henry Clayton Baker, was freed from slavery at 12 and went on to become a wealthy landowner in Tuskegee, Alabama.

“It’s in his DNA,” Ted Baker, 86, said. “My grandfather inspired me, and I guess I inspired Channing. Those days when he was working with me helped. But it takes a solid commitment to make your mark, and Channing has been committed.”

That commitment includes working his way from the ground up, through RICE, where he literally made an office out of a space the size of a walk-in closet. That showed Jay Bailey, president of the innovation hub, that Baker was desperate to make it.

And “Jay championed me,” said Baker, who holds degrees in applied physics from Morehouse College and civil engineering from Georgia Tech. “He would introduce me to everyone as the guy doing this or doing that. At that point, I was just doing renovations within that building. But his faith in me made a difference. That incubator experience meant everything to me.”

So did his first job in construction with FS360 General Contractors. Owner Ernest Ellis immediately sensed Baker’s potential during a phone conversation. His intuition about Baker was confirmed after he hired him.

“Channing is a student of the game,” Ellis said. “I’m not taking any credit for any of his success. I introduced him to every relationship that I had and gave him every opportunity to shine, build his brand, and build his network. And he did just that.”

Ellis did not want Baker to leave when he started Evolve in 2022.

“But there were parallel realities,” Ellis said.

“I was trying to see if there was a future together with him in leadership of my company. But at the same time, I knew his whole mission from the time we connected was to do his own thing. And I couldn’t be prouder of him and what he’s doing in adding to the legacy of his family.”