Limelight

erties proprietors Gerdeman and Goodwill, Palmer Modern owner and artist Craig Palmer and his wife, Jen Palmer, president of the Sarasota Studio Artists Association.

There are other movers and shakers in the mix, and you can be sure that those with a stake in the future of the Limelight District will make their voices heard. Anyone with land or a business in the district can join its association for a newly instituted membership fee of $100.

Davis has been approached by investors who want to be part of 925 Lime Ave. and other properties that Davis and his wife, Sherry, may acquire in the Limelight District in the future. But they prefer to go it alone, turning down investors and even shunning bank financing with one exception, Howard Davis says.

“When you’re investing your own money, it keeps you very focused,” he says. “And there is no such thing as a silent partner.”

A high-profile real estate developer who spent most of his career in Boston, Davis cut his teeth in Sarasota with the transformation of an abandoned furniture store he bought in 2016 in what is now known as the Rosemary District. In 2021, he sold the lovingly refurbished Mid-century modern building, The Boulevard of the Arts Center at 1570 Boulevard of the Arts, for $4.35 million.

In some instances, the impetus behind placemaking comes from local government. But the Limelight District’s birth can be attributed to Kim Livengood’s mother, Judy Alexander.

Alexander has spent most of her life as an indefatigable community volunteer. But to hear her daughter tell it, Judy Alexander’s dream was to own a warehouse.

“One day my parents were driving down Lime Avenue. My mom saw the building and said to my dad, ‘Let’s buy it.’ My dad never said no to my mom.”

Livengood’s father, Barry Alexander died in 2019, but he lived to see that warehouse become a vibrant venue for artists and artisans to sell their wares. Fronted by an old-school pickup painted lime and apricot and decorated with a mural painted by artist Karen Chandler on a neighbor’s building, the arts-and-crafts mall is hard to miss.

Thanks to the efforts of its tenants as well as tourist development and artists groups, The Limelight District is becoming a destination for locals and tourists alike, particularly on the Second Saturdays organized by the Sarasota Studio Artists Association, which now has more than 50 members.

Spearheaded by Jen Palmer, the group has created a map of art galleries not just in and around the Limelight District but all over the city.

Right now, the Limelight District has the shopper’s lure of plentiful, free parking. Who could ask for more?

Actually, there are some things that Livengood & Co. have on their wish list.

Every arts neighborhood needs colorful banners hanging from city streetlights, and Livengood wants some. “But you wouldn’t believe what it costs —$100 each and liability insurance in case one of them falls down and hurts someone,” she says.

The banners, when they are hung, will carry a new Limelight District logo, which is in the works along with an upgrade of the website. Fortunately, there is no shortage of branding, design and marketing expertise among members of the Limelight District’s braintrust.

Livengood and both Palmers have marketing experience while Creative Liberties co-owners Gerdeman and Goodwill worked alongside each other at the Art Center Sarasota.

As the Limelight District grows up, its backers want knotty zoning issues to be hashed out by the City Council. Current code permits heavy industrial businesses that might not fit in with the arts district, some of them auto-related.

However, some gallery and shop owners like the idea of having some auto repair shops in the area because people getting their cars fixed must leave them for a few hours, creating the opportunity to explore the budding artsy neighborhood.

Also on the zoning front, Davis and Palmer see the need to accommodate live/work spaces for artists. Davis is offering entrepreneurial artists such as Palmer, Gerdeman and Goodwill the opportunity to lease space at below market value. They, in turn, are subdividing the space and renting it out to other artists.

Davis and others envision a future for the Limelight District where artists burning the midnight oil can sleep on a sofa without running into trouble with the law.

Well acquainted with working with local governments from his career in real estate, Davis says the Limelight District is also asking the city for help on issues such as sidewalk improvements, better street- lights and sewage system upgrades.

Some Sarasotans, especially second-homeowners and new transplants, may not realize that there are still some houses near downtown using septic tanks. Such outmoded waste disposal has the potential to foul the air and streets, not a good look (or smell) for the Limelight District.

Unlike other arts destinations across the country that have sprung up in warehouse districts — New York City’s Soho is an iconic example — the Limelight District is not plagued by crime.

Maybe the auto repair shops in the neighborhood do a good job of outfitting cars with anti-theft devices. But for whatever reason, safety isn’t a concern right now, Davis says.

When you ask members of the Limelight coterie about their vision for the district, the answers overlap and involve common goals.

Inclusion ranks high on the list for Jen Palmer as well as the Creative Liberties co-founders Gerdeman and Goodwill — “art for all, not just rich people,” says Palmer.

Craig Palmer says the Limelight District’s artist studios can help creators build relationships with potential buyers, a factor that he sees as increasingly important in a hightech, post-COVID world.

“Some of the most interesting conversations are when visitors observe my work and explain to me what they see,” Palmer says.

Palmer Modern features an art gallery and includes a studio for Craig Palmer as well as affordable studios for five additional artists. The artists have access to a kitchen, lounge area, space to publicly display their work, and private, secure studios. For Davis’s part, the placemaking happening along Lime Avenue is about the “three C’s — creativity, community and collaboration.”

Perhaps pioneer Kim Livengood sums up the goal the best: “We’re looking to create a neighborhood where you can park your car, walk around, watch art being made, buy some stuff and get something to eat or drink,” she says.

Oh, and don’t forget your dog.