The Thomas Building Construction at Toomer's Corner Completed in Auburn

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Aug. 28, 2019 - PRLog -- Retail Specialists, LLC announced today that its Auburn, Ala. mixed-use project at The Thomas Building has been completed and is fully leased. The project, across from the Toomer's Corner Oaks and Toomer's Drugs, houses BBVA on the first and second floors and three luxury apartments on the third floor. Each apartment features two bedrooms, rooftop access and a balcony. The project started in Spring 2018, and the apartments are now fully leased. Residents can roll Toomer's Oaks from the roof top amenity.

"This has been an extremely special project for our team," said Rodney Barstein, executive vice president of Retail Specialists. "I was pleased to deliver this project on budget, with all the units leased. We had fun working on this development and are proud to be part of the Auburn community."

The Thomas Building has a long history in Auburn, named for John Madison Thomas, who developed much of what is now downtown Auburn. He built the first theater in town and developed the first hotel on Main Street.

"It's a big part of our family history," said Suzanne Herring, the owner of the building. "It started in the  1800's when my great-grandfather owned and built half of downtown. In a time now when so many buildings that he originally built are being torn down, this is the last of that family heritage. To keep this building in such a prominent part of downtown, it's really special."

"We designed it to fit in with the University and the buildings around it. We added one floor but wanted to be mindful of not building it too tall. We felt like it was an adequate height for the buildings around it and wanted it to feel quaint just like Auburn's downtown. It's built with steel and concrete so it will be part of Auburn for a very long time," finished Herring.

The architect for the building was Stacy Norman Architects (https://snarchitect.com/), LLC. The general contractor was Rabren General Contractors (https://rabren.com/). Financing was made available through Auburn Bank (https://www.auburnbank.com/), and Auburn Realty, LLC (http://www.auburnrealty.com/) is handling the leasing of the apartments. All companies are based in Auburn.

About Retail Specialists

Retail Specialists, LLC (RSI) is a commercial real estate company with offices in Birmingham, AL, and Atlanta, GA. RSI focuses on brokerage, retail project leasing, tenant representation, property management and development. RSI is licensed in eight southern states including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee and currently represents retailers, developers, and retail property owners throughout this territory.