TIFTON — The grand opening of the Lofts at Twin Brick and Fresco Italiano, located at 103 Tift Avenue, was held Friday evening.

The event, which was hosted by the Tifton Merchants Association, drew in a large crowd of visitors eager to tour the building.

The renovated building holds 33 apartments, 31 of which are already rented out.

Several of the empty apartments were staged for viewing for the grand opening.

The front of the building is the home of Fresco Italiano, which provided refreshments for the event.

The restaurant will be opening in several weeks.

Harold Harper, the local developer who owns the property, gave a history of the building, which was an old tobacco warehouse that he purchased in 2015 with an eye towards turning it into downtown housing.

Designer Meredith Rutland spoke as well, expressing appreciation for those who attended and all of the companies and individuals who worked on the project.

“Its a team effort,” she said.

In addition to the Harper family, State Representative Penny Houston attended the opening as a guest speaker.

Houston credited Harper with kickstarting the downtown revitalization.

“When others ride by these old buildings all we saw were dilapidated old buildings, but not you,” Houston said.

Vice Mayor Wes Ehlers gave the welcome while Economic Development Director Lequrica Gaskins presided over the event.

“Downtown Tifton is a special place to all of us,” said Ehlers, “and Mr. Harper has had his handprint in renovating here for over 50 years.”

Pastor Greg Love delivered the invocation and TMA Vice President Phil Moody presented Harper with a plaque acknowledging and thanking him for “many years of dedication and diligence to downtown Tifton and the Tift area.”

Railway Freight Furniture and Mattress staged apartment #18, Staging Solutions at Glynn Hendricks Interiors, Inc. staged apartment #17 and Badcock Home Furniture and More staged apartment #29.

Apartment #23, which was an empty one bedroom loft was open for viewing, as was John Bowen’s apartment, which he opened to the public.

Follow Eve Guevara on Twitter @EveGuevaraTTG.