10South Rooftop Bar and Grill caused a stir when it opened this summer, with it soon becoming one of the premiere dining locations in Vicksburg. Just six months later, the building of apartments the restaurant sits on top of, The Lofts at First National, has won a statewide award.

At the annual Home Builders Association of Mississippi Awards Dinner in Jackson, Tim Cantwell, owner and developer of the apartments, accepted the 2015 Best of Mississippi Award for renovation/reconstruction of a commercial or multi-family building. During the awards dinner less than 10 awards were given out.

“It’s nice to get acknowledged for really hard work a lot of people put in on the building and the whole process, the design and the execution,” Cantwell said.

The renovation project, he said, was not easy with the building being 10 stories tall, which created difficulty getting materials to the top since the lift only went up to the seventh floor. Plus, the elevator in the building had to be shut off while they worked.

“We all got in really good shape,” Cantwell said. “There was nothing easy about it.”

However, Cantwell said throughout the entire project, planning, building, development and inspection, he had cooperation from everybody in the city.

To be considered for the award, he had to submit pictures and a description of the work they’ve done on the building. The idea to do so was given to him by a financing company he was working with on a separate project who toured the building and suggested The Lofts be entered.

“We don’t really work at trying to get this kind of stuff,” Cantwell said. “I’m not one to go after awards.”

One of the reasons he decided to submit the building for consideration was because he thought it could bring another positive light into Vicksburg with exposure for the building and the city.

“It feels good to get acknowledged for the accomplishment, and it felt good to our whole team that worked on it,” Cantwell said. “I think it’s cool that Vicksburg gets acknowledged in the process.”

This was Cantwell’s first HBAM award, but on the same day he won a design award in Arizona for a property for permanent supportive housing for homeless and disabled veterans. He was recognized nationally in 1987 for the best high density project west of the Mississippi River on a project in Pasadena, Calif.

Right now Cantwell is working on “winterizing” 10 South by adding heaters, an awning and clear plastic to shield diners from the winter weather elements “so that it will be completely comfortable in the dead of winter in a storm, that’s what we’re aiming for.”

He is also working on adding exterior up lighting to the building. The 6-foot wide stacks of stone will be lit with LED lights, starting on the third floor and going up to the bottom of the cornices, which won’t shine into the windows of the apartments.