The major topics for this book are the RSA and the RSA's investments, the RSA's 55 Water Street building in New York City, the RSA buildings in Montgomery, the RSA buildings in Mobile, the RSA buildings and hotels on The Trail, and the RSA's Railcar Plant in The Shoals (Alabama). There is a chapter on each major topic with chapter one, an overview of the RSA and chapter 7, the conclusion. A summary for each chapter follows.
Chapter 1, The Retirement Systems of Alabama, provides an overview of the RSA mission, membership, benefits, contributions, income, and funds under management. The RSA's investments and asset classes are detailed including alternative investments and economically targeted investments.
Chapter 2, History of the RSA Building at 55 Water Street in New York City, is the history of the RSA's 55 Water Street building in New York City. It covers the initial developers, how the RSA acquired the building, and the RSA's renovations since 1993.
Chapter 3, History of the RSA Buildings in Montgomery, details the RSA's office buildings, parking decks, other buildings, and parks in Montgomery. The history of how each building came about and all development issues.
Chapter 4, History of The RSA Buildings in Mobile, covers the RSA's office buildings and parking decks in Mobile. The history of each building includes the RSA's agreement to develop the building and previous uses of the building if purchased by the RSA.
Chapter 5, History of The RSA Hotels and Buildings on The RTJ Golf Trail, gives information on the buildings developed by the RSA on The Trail. It also covers the RSA hotels.
Chapter 6, The RSA’s Railcar Plant in The Shoals, explains the RSA's railcar plant in The Shoals. The detailed history and description of the building is presented.
Chapter 7, Conclusion for The RSA’s Buildings, provides summarizing information and tables on all of the RSA's buildings, parking decks, and hotels. There is summarizing information on the cost to the RSA for developing the RSA commercial real estate.
Sources for This Book
This book was compiled from the RSA newsletters, the RSA reports, and media reports about the RSA’s activities. I began receiving weekly newsclippings about the RSA in 1992 as part of my involvement with promoting The Trail. Since 1991, I witnessed the development of the RSA buildings on The Trail, Montgomery, Mobile, and The Shoals. I visited each one of the RSA’s commercial real estate properties and photographed most of them.
Dr. David G. Bronner, CEO of RSA, shared with me his copies of The Advisor (the RSA monthly newsletter) and RSA Annual Reports dating back to 1974. He allowed me to review his 64 books of press clippings dating back to 1973. We discussed activities at RSA for developing the RSA’s commercial real estate assets. I interviewed some of the RSA staff members for information for this book. I used the knowledge I acquired about the RSA’s commercial real estate while writing articles and books about these RSA assets. I included information from the late Charles Humphries of PH&J architects (worked on 6 RSA buildings and 2 RSA parks) that was compiled by his grandson, Cyle Conoly.
I searched the databases for historical newspapers and reviewed newspaper articles from 1850 to the present about the RSA’s commercial real estate assets. Below is a list of the specific newspapers with articles about the RSA’s office buildings and properties before development by the RSA: The Alabama Beacon (Montgomery, AL); The Cahaba (AL) Gazette; The Vicksburg (MS) Daily Whig; The Natchez (MS) Weekly Courier; The Mobile (AL) Daily Times; The (New Orleans, LA) Times-Picayune; The (New Orleans, LA) Times -Democrat; The New Orleans (LA) Republican; The Mobile (AL) Daily Tribune; The Jacksonville (AL) Republican; The Baldwin (SL) Times; The Montgomery (AL) Times; The Birmingham (AL) News; The Montgomery (AL) Advertiser; The Fairhope (AL) Courier; The Foley (AL) Onlooker; The Chicago (IL) Tribune; The Rocky Mount (NC) Telegram; The Alabama Journal (Montgomery, AL); The Cincinnati (OH) Enquirer; The Robesonian (Lumberton, NC); The Pensacola (FL) News Journal; The Atlanta (GA) Constitution; The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN); The Alexander City (AL) Outlook; The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY); The Standard Guage (Brewton, AL); The Leighton News (Leighton, AL); The Park City Daily News (Bowling Green, KY); The Huntsville (AL) Times; The Jackson (TN) Sun; The Mobile (AL) Journal; The Macon (GA) News; The Bristol Herald Courier (Bristol, TN); The Birmingham (AL) Post Herald; The Mobile (AL) Press Register; The Associated Press; The Anniston (AL) Star; The Magnolia Messenger (Mobile, AL); The New York (NY) Times; The London (England) Daily Telegraph; The Baltimore (MD) Sun; The San Francisco (CA) Examiner; The National Post (Toronto, Canada); The Courier (Waterloo, IA); The Daily Times (Mamaronek, NY); The Daily Item (Post Chester, NY); Fort Myers (FL) News-Press; Hartford (CT) Courant; Newsday (Hempstead, NY); The Los Angeles (CA) Times; The Statesman Journal (Salem, OR); and Newsday (New York, NY).
Statement on the Photos in this Book
Each photo in this book has a caption underneath with the photo credit in parentheses. I took many of the photos in this book. The RSA provided many of the photos in this book. Historical photos in this book came from several newspapers, the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the University of South Alabama, Troy University, The Mobile Public Library, and The Fairhope Single Tax Corporation. There are photos from some of contractors who worked on the RSA buildings as well as some from Google Earth.