A downtown rehabilitation project recently received a historic renovation award from a local commercial real estate association.

The Thomas Jefferson School Lofts, located on Finney Avenue near the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts, received the Hampton Roads Association for Commercial Real Estate’s award for excellence in development design for the best-renovated or historic rehabilitation project.

The project was one of 57 submissions among several categories entered in the competition.

The school, located in the center of Suffolk, was a focal point of the community for many years before it was vacated. After it became an eyesore, the building was taken over and renovated by Thomas Jefferson School Building, LLC. The renovation was completed in 2007.

“This new use of the Thomas Jefferson School has reinvigorated the neighborhood and brought life back to a magnificent piece of architecture,” said Tom Atherton of Thomas Jefferson School Building, LLC, the owner and developer of the project.

According to Atherton, the submissions were judged by a panel of three judges — two architects and a developer — from outside the area.

“Obviously we are very proud of the award,” he said. “It was a challenging project in that it was a historic adaptive reuse. We converted what was a handful of classrooms into a series of apartments.”

Atherton said he is pleased the award is bringing attention to the project.

“We’ve finally got some recognition for its value and its intent — to help the revitalization of the downtown area of Suffolk,” Atherton said.

Commonwealth Architects designed the conversion of the school.

The awards were presented in October in Norfolk.

For more information on the lofts, visit www.tjlofts.com.