Paradise Loft

The setting in which Tampa native Jill Lifsey launched her very first retail venture two and a half years ago looked something like this:

• a construction site that extended to several blocks, with attendant dust, workmen, trucks, cranes and noise;
• in an area historically known as an industrial warehouse district;
• where the plans called for the development of several thousand new residential units that wouldn't be available for a few years to come.

For more than two years, Jill Lifsey has lived and worked amidst the construction activity of Tampa's newest downtown neighborhood. As the dust finally begins to settle, District Designs is ready to dress the contemporary-chic lofts and condos of the Channel District. (Above: yellow chair from Moe's Home Collection, Ibolili candlesticks, Euro Home lamp, Roost vases.

But all that's about to change.

Lifsey's store, District Designs, is in the heart of Tampa's Channel District, an area east of downtown that's undergoing a billion-dollar transformation into a residential mixed-use district of contemporary-chic loft and condo complexes.

During the next three months, 800 new pre-sold residential units are scheduled for closings, and Lifsey is about to complete a store expansion that doubles the space in which she'll stock loft furniture and modern home accessories for the residents and speculators who will be furnishing them.

"It's very exciting; I'm expanding from 1,500 to 3,500 square feet, and I'm still the only retail location in this area," Lifsey said. She's also excited about another major development — Lifsey's customers will finally be able to access her store via the front entrance. "The road in front of my store is finally being paved and reopened. Until now, we've had to use a side street."

District Designs is located in a ground-level loft of the Meridian building, across the street from Victory Lofts, where Lifsey resides with her husband Stan. "Stan works on the development side of things for Smith & Associates Realtors and Victory Lofts was one of his projects," she said. "Three years ago we decided to go ahead and take a penthouse loft, and it's the best decision we've made. This is an incredible time for Tampa."

Victory Lofts, a two-building, $28 million residential project, was one of the area's first. "The building is truly a loft building — concrete blocks exterior, exposed ductwork, metal staircase, open spaces, polished concrete floors ... all of the rooms have high ceilings and flat glass floor-to-ceiling windows with beautiful views of the downtown skyline."

The urban-industrial loft and condo complexes of the Channel District represent a departure from the norm for the Tampa area, and a market niche for Lifsey. "I carry very large-scale pieces, colorful modern and eclectic accessories — just one or two of each — and I don't reorder same items."

Long before her street was paved, Lifsey was planning a store expansion in which she could combine large scale pieces and furniture from The Phillips Collection (Sketchbook and Abstract coffee tables in foreground) and Gus Modern (club sofa) with rugs from Momeni's New Wave Collection, Accents de Ville pillows, Tejas DecoArt wall plates, Global Views glass link lamp, Skeem candles, and accents from Willow Green and Roost.

About 60% of her business is design work. "I love to create new and exciting spaces for my clients," she said. Lifsey, 35 years old, attended Loyola University in New Orleans and lived there for 10 years before moving back to Tampa where she got into interior design and spent a few years working in partnership with her mother.

The first photo of District Designs fronting a just-paved road. The Channel District will welcome its first wave of new residents this summer as closings take place on 800 residential units.

All of the planning, designing and networking has earned her a local reputation as an expert on the loft lifestyle. Now the challenge is to deliver it, and she'll do it from her ground-level store at the Meridian, a structure that bills itself as "a fusion of history and modernism designed for the person who feels that the ordinary is simply unacceptable."

"Loft living is new to this area and my store is very different from anything in Tampa," Lifsey said. "People always come in and say it looks like something that should be in Miami, Chicago or New York."

Victory Lofts' residents are indicative of the area's budding population, comprised of young professionals and empty nesters with very few families. "There are about 89 units in my building and the residents range in age from the 30s to late 60s," she added. "My customers vary from those with more modern tastes who love all my pieces to traditional customers who are trying to add something new and different to their homes."

Lifsey said her transitional customers — getting them to be more eclectic — present the biggest challenge. "It's fine to be traditional, but you should add one piece that is a little more modern ... and vice versa with the modern, add a traditional piece to the space."

Fortunately, she's inspired by a strong passion for uniqueness that, as more of Tampa's new urban dwellers find their way to District Designs' front door, may just prove to be her most valuable asset.