Park Place, Orlando

And Avenue Lofts in Downtown Fort Lauderdale

Stacie Kress Booker | 6/1/2007

Living Aloft

YARD FREE: Parme sold his older home, trading in hours of yard work for a more urban lifestyle at Avenue Lofts in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Las Olas and the Riverfront are a short walk away. [Photos: Diane Bradford]

Paul Parme spent 10 years in Coral Ridge renovating, landscaping and enjoying all the do-it-yourself projects and weekly maintenance and upkeep homeowners of older homes face. "I loved it," says Parme, a partner with MobileForm, a contemporary European furniture manufacturer at DCOTA, "but I was literally working myself into oblivion every weekend maintaining it all." One weekend, shortly after his 41st birthday, he realized he had enough and put his home up for sale. In three months he had a contract and started looking at places in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

Now, almost a year later, Parme is happily ensconced in his downtown home at the Avenue Lofts between 4th and 5th avenues.

While he used to have many separate and unused rooms, he now has lots of open living space. While he used to have gardens and a pool to maintain, he now has green space in his neighborhood, which he can enjoy without the upkeep. While downtown Fort Lauderdale used to be a drive away, it is now just outside his doorstep. He can walk to Las Olas for dinner or take an evening stroll at Riverfront.

"It's a different way of life. It's much more enjoyable because I have more time on my hands than I've ever had."

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Tags: North Central, Housing/Construction

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