Our lot in St Petersburg is standard-sized: 45 feet wide on Central avenue and extending 100 feet back to the alley that runs down the center of the block. So what kind of building can you put up there that isn't a plain, ugly old concrete box?

Here's what kind:

The retail shops at street level are accessible right there in front. The business names are just placeholders, and a bit of a joke on us. My business partner Irving is not a florist, and I do not own a salon  or do hair!

The gate to the left is how the lofts are accessed, and it leads to a courtyard that takes you down past the front of each unit, with a privacy wall on your left. In the next drawing, we have removed the privacy wall so that the design can be clearly seen:

Imagine four identical cube shapes, each 25 feet wide, except the one in "front" or closest to the street (to your right in this drawing) sits on top of the retail storefront and is reached by stairs. Then there are two more units, entered from ground level, and then the unit closest to the alley (to your left in this rendering), which sits atop the garage and is reached by stairs.

The four residential units are not actually identical. The two at ground level have courtyards with gardens and sitting areas. The elevated ones at left and right actually have huge, private roof-top decks! Plus the one on the right, fronting onto Central Avenue, gets 2 balconies cantilevered over the sidewalk. Again, the ground level that you see in this view is actually behind a privacy wall that has been removed for this rendering.

Look at the large amount of glass and the natural light it makes available. We see this as being good artist space -- a place to work and a place to cook and sleep! The retail unit(s) at street level an also be connected to the front ground-level unit to make one work-live unit. Cool!

This view is simply of the alley side of the building, where each resident has one secure, off-street garage space.

We are so excited to have developed this design. Its simplicity makes for affordability; its use of cubic volume in the loft-style ceilings provides bonus room that makes it a lot of home for the money.

Floor plans are coming soon!