Another formerly vacant corner of downtown Lexington’s Limestone Avenue corridor is buzzing with new business.
A wall of stately windows opens the bright and modern interior of the new shared workspace Seventh + Lime to the activity cruising along the busy street. The four female business owners who recently have set up shop within all run independent companies that cater to special events and have worked together in the past.
However, they don’t plan to bill their new collaborative office as a self-contained service for total event coordination. The real aim, said event planner and Seventh + Lime partner Shelly Fortune, is to leverage their combined energy and camaraderie to create a welcoming gathering place for an entire community of creative enterprises.
“We never sell it as a one-stop shopping place at all,” said Fortune, who hopes to make Seventh + Lime a comfortable environment for outside event planners and related entrepreneurs to serve their clients’ needs as well. “We want this space to be open to everybody.”
All four Seventh + Lime partners previously were operating their companies out of homes or family shops. Fortune had operated her local events planning business for weddings and other special occasions from her home in Lexington for three years. Emily Mistretta previously ran her company Cardinal & Straw, which prints invitations and fi ne stationery, out of the facilities of Minuteman Press, the local printing franchise that she co-owns with her husband, Jim. Fortune and Mistretta have been joined at Seventh + Lime by Erica Stimart Svec, who owns the local fl oral design boutique Hide and Seek, and artist Melody McMunn, who recently launched her own calligraphy and illustration company, Melody Joy.
“I’ve been working out of a commercial printing business for 10 years, and I needed something with a little more of a creative spirit,” Mistretta said. “We all really wanted to be part of a bigger community.”
Mistretta and her office mates plan to open Seventh + Lime to more than events-based business. The new shared space will be available whenever possible for public and private workshops and other meetings, Mistretta said.
“People with small businesses have trouble finding spaces where they can have little workshops for 10 or 20 people for affordable prices,” Mistretta said. “This space works well for that.”
So far, they have fielded inquiries into using the space for activities ranging from embroidery lessons to mixology workshops to life coaching seminars. Eventually, they plan to post a schedule of open workshops and seminars planned at the facility online for all who are interested in participating.
Wheeled, modular furniture within the office is designed to offer flexible arrangements, and the shop is lined with displays of fine plateware, linens and silverware that are available for rental. The selective rental line is intended to expand the possibilities for those looking for something different and distinctive, rather than competing with existing rental businesses, Fortune said.
“We have worked really hard to offer things that aren’t already available in Lexington,” Fortune said.
The former furniture store building that has been transformed into Seventh + Lime is owned by developer Chad Needham, whose previous downtown restoration projects include the former Spalding’s Bakery building at 6th and Limestone, now home to Arcadium, and nearby North Lime Coffee and Donuts. Needham is currently renovating the two properties adjacent to Seventh + Lime along Limestone Avenue, which will soon be occupied by Shawn Saylor, owner of the marketing firm Mediocre Creative, and Holly Meredith, owner of the eyebrow tattoo business Feather and Brow. Needham recently completed the renovation of an additional property behind Limestone, which has become the studio of local artist Ben Salley. He also is in the process of restoring a large barn behind Seventh + Lime that once served as a farrier shop, to be used as the offices and workshop space for his own company, Needham Properties.
Downtown commercial spaces like his projects have been gaining more interest recently, Needham said, particularly among creative entrepreneurs who appreciate the character of older buildings, along with the urban environment and reasonably priced rents.
“Creative people like to be around other creative people and like-minded entrepreneurs,” Needham said. “Limestone has got its own uniqueness about it. It’s got some real history, and those old buildings are still intact, and we have a nice group of creative, young people right now who want to seek that out.”
Fortune and Mistretta said they hope the community will grow to support a mix of locally owned retail, dining and creative businesses.
“There’s quite a sense of community here. There’s a really fun energy, and we have been really well received,” Fortune said. “I’m excited for when there is a little more buzz of activity, and that will be coming in the next few months.”