The late Tom Keith, who played a pivotal role in the planning and design of Verdae, was honored earlier this week with the naming and dedication of the Keith Building at Legacy Square. Family members and Board of Verdae members, along with friends and building tenants, attended the ribbon-cutting event.
Completed earlier this year, the 20,000-square-foot anchor building added more than 7,000 square feet of space dedicated to retail and dining and two additional floors for professional office space at Legacy Square. Building tenants include NHE, Caldwell Constructors and KDS Commercial Properties.
Keith was a civil engineer and landscape architect at Arbor Engineering and left his mark not only on Verdae, but also on many significant projects across the Upstate, including Falls Park, the Kroc Center, Greer City Park and the City of Mauldin Cultural Center.
At Verdae, Keith was instrumental in the redevelopment of Rocky Slope Road, the design and development of the 20-acre central park within Hollingsworth Park (Legacy Park), the tree-planting plan for all neighborhoods and pocket parks within Hollingsworth Park and the Verdae monument features that welcome visitors at either end of Verdae Boulevard.
“Tom’s fingerprints at Verdae are evident in multiple places, and his vision became what is now Legacy Square,” said Rick Sumerel, president and COO of Verdae Development. “When Tom looked at a piece of property, he went way beyond and looked at how people would use the property and enjoy it. When we decided to name this building, he was absolutely the logical first choice.”
