Tennis star Venus Williams turns designer for Delray apartments

Venus Williams isn't just a tennis icon with five Wimbledon titles in tow. She's also an interior designer.

Her latest project: developer Jorge Perez's new apartment community in Delray Beach.

Williams is working with Perez on the 172-unit SofA I and 2 going up just south of Atlantic Avenue between First and Fourth avenues.

Her Jupiter-based V*Starr Interiors is designing the lobbies, two models and some of the finishes for individual units. She said her goal is to appeal to artists, hipsters and other creative minds.

"I think that people will be surprised that this is something different," Williams said Thursday during a groundbreaking at the site. "This will be a place that when you bring people home, you're excited to show it off."

Williams, a Palm Beach Gardens resident, earned a degree in fashion design from The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. She launched the company in 2002, designing model homes and residences for professional athletes. She also designed a condo at the ultra-luxury One Thousand Ocean in Boca Raton.

At the Doral View Phase I multifamily development in Miami, V*Starr said it used a variety of colors, including blue and orange. The firm said its accessories and furniture "tell a story and bring visual and tactile interest to the space."

Williams and Perez are both part owners of the Miami Dolphins. Perez, chairman of the Related Group of Miami, couldn't attend Thursday's ceremony, but Related executive Steve Patterson said the firm's vision for the project is "industrial chic, something that has that raw edge," similar to New York City's Meatpacking District.

Related built thousands of condos in South Florida during the housing boom, including Trump Hollywood and CityPlace South Tower in West Palm Beach. But the company handed those projects and others back to lenders when buyers backed out of contracts and the market collapsed.

Related is back building condos, this time insisting on down payments of 50 percent or more to discourage buyers from walking away. The company also is beefing up its apartment construction. It has rental projects in Fort Lauderdale, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and Pembroke Pines, with more planned.

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Tennis star Venus Williams turns designer for Delray apartments