Mobile-based accounting firm Russell, Thompson, Butler & Houston LLP (RTBH) recently announced their merger with Enterprise-headquartered CPA and advisory company Carr, Riggs & Ingram LLC (CRI).
Established in 1987, RTBH’s two formerly local offices will now amalgamate into a firm employing over 1,900 and populating some 70 offices across nine states in the Southeast and Southwest.
The company’s main footprint is found at 3605 Springhill Business Park in Mobile and employs around 30 professionals. Their Baldwin County space is located at 7530 Parker Road, Suite 150, in Fairhope and has five workers on premises. Local operations will reportedly not be affected by the new acquisition from a staffing or site standpoint.
CRI has expertise ranging from basic accounting services to tax review, compilation and preparation, as well as general business consulting.
They also operate eight portfolio companies: Auditwerx (IT audits), CRI Advanced Analytics (data analytics), CRI Capital Advisors (investment banking), CRI Solutions Group (business consulting), CRI TPA Services (retirement plan administration), Paywerx (payroll), Level Four Advisory Services (wealth management) and the Preferred Legacy Trust Company (trust and estate services).
More information about CRI can be found on their website, cricpa.com.
- Harvell, the latest iteration of well-known, 20-year-old local boutique men’s clothier G. Harvell, recently announced tentative plans for a grand opening sometime this spring at a new space located at 2502 Old Shell Road in Midtown Mobile. The 900-square-foot space is a full-service, retail men’s shop that also provides custom-designed clothing for men.
Originally started inside a 1,600-square-foot shop at 4415 Old Shell Road in Spring Hill, near the intersection of McGregor Avenue, the family-owned business was founded by Greg and Nancy Harvell in 2001.
Around 2010 the company moved to Midtown inside the current Taco Mama address before migrating around the corner in 2018. There, they and seven employees took up a 2,200-square-foot space at 100 N. Florida St. inside the Publix Shopping Center area.
- Harvell ceased to exist in August 2020 after the husband-and-wife duo dissolved via divorce. The company was soon to be replaced by former co-owner Nancy Harvell opening new shop N. Harvell in December of last year.
“I feel amazed that people keep supporting me,” owner Nancy Harvell said in a phone interview. “All of our business has been generated through word of mouth, and we practically sold out of merchandise this past Christmas with shoppers coming all the way over from Baldwin County.
“We did not know what to expect with COVID-19 this year and have a Facebook page up, but our new website is still in development. The response from customers gives me hope for even better business this year after the pandemic has subsided.”
Lewis H. Golden with Hamilton & Company recently reported representing a local property owner in the sale of a former service station located at 4803 Moffett Road, due west of MAWSS, for around $150,000.
The site was first opened as a Shell gas station but was most recently the family-owned Forest Hill Mechanical auto repair shop business. The new owner, also local, plans to operate a similar service facility.
The building will undergo minor upgrades such as roof repair, but opening dates and staffing plans for the new business were unknown as of press time.
A 16,528-square-foot retail space located at 1693 Highway 90 in Gautier was purchased by a Mobile-based investor with plans to open a Dollar General store. The property formerly housed Fred’s Super Dollar and was purchased for $475,000. Angie McArthur with Stirling Properties represented the seller in the transaction. Walter Kelley with ARC Realty worked for the buyer.
A local investor has purchased 1,050 square feet of office space on the first floor of Magnolia Place, located at 1621 South University Blvd. in Mobile. The purchase price was $85,000 and the building is fully leased. Jill Meeks with Stirling Properties handled the transaction.
AFRICATOWN CULTURAL STUDY INITIATIVE ANNOUNCED
As part of the plans for the Restore Act-funded Africatown Welcome Center project, slated for completion in 2023, the city of Mobile has contracted with the University of South Alabama (USA) to conduct a cultural resources study of the property.
Once completed, the Africatown Welcome Center will serve as a tourism facility and a central location to welcome visitors to the community. It will be located on Bay Bridge Cutoff Road in the same location as the previous welcome center. This location is across from the Old Plateau Cemetery, which is the final resting place for many of Africatown’s founders.
Working with descendants and members of the community, and in anticipation of design and construction, the city and USA will be conducting a cultural resources study beginning this month to ensure that no burials associated with the Old Plateau Cemetery are impacted by the construction of the Africatown Welcome Center. The study will also properly document the history of this important area.
This effort will be multifaceted and include a geographical survey of the land, an oral history project with members of the community and a phase one archaeology survey. Information about the historical uses and impact of the property collected during this study will be made available to the community before moving forward with construction.
This project is being led by Jennifer Greene, director of programs and projects management with the city of Mobile; Dr. Kern Jackson, director of USA’s African American Studies Program; Dr. Justin Dunnavant of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Slave Wrecks Project; and USA archaeologist Dr. Philip J. Carr.
“We are working with the Africatown community and the descendants of its original founders in all of our efforts to spur tourism to this uniquely historic part of our city,” Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said.
“That’s why we wanted to take extra steps in this cultural resource survey to ensure we’re properly respecting and documenting that history. I want to thank our team and our partners from USA for helping us get to this important step in the process to build a welcome center for visitors we know are already eager to come see the remarkable story of Africatown firsthand.”
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