The Belleview Biltmore Hotel was built near the Gulf in northern Pinellas County in 1897 by railroad tycoon Henry Plant, one of a string of palaces linked to northern visitors by his railroad. Post-Plant, the hotel endured an evolving tourism market and a parade of owners. None were able to make the hotel a viable…
TAMPA — State officials unveiled a new vision for the future Howard Frankland Bridge on Thursday. It will look far different from what commuters are used to driving today: There will be two bridges with a total of eight free lanes and two express toll lanes that drivers will have to pay to use. In…
Meeting Jan. 10th at the Wausau Town Hall Florida League of Cities representative Mark Sitting presented former Council member and Mayor Roger Dale Hagan a plaque commemorating Hagan’s 25 years of service as a Wausau council member. Following the presentation, Judge Colby Peel swore in re-elected council member B. J. Phillips and newly elected council members Marlene Blount and Kerry Collins. The…
Every day, thousands of motorists zip on and off the Howard Frankland Bridge oblivious to what could be 16 of the most valuable acres available for redevelopment in the entire Tampa Bay area. After decades of ownership, Tampa’s L. M. Hughey Company is selling the Tampa Bay Marina complex, the adjacent Mariner Square and their…
Months after the initial steps were taken to convert a defunct multi-parcel property in downtown Pensacola into a viable structure, the site’s owner and prospective buyer await further environmental remediation of the land before its redevelopment can push forward. The additional cleanup delays the site’s use, but the property could eventually play an integral role in transforming the west side of…
Two downtown city blocks on the hem of Cascades Park could have apartments, townhouses, a restaurant, a five-story hotel and room for commercial businesses and office space. Developer Shawn McIntyre, a partner and senior vice president of North American Properties, has already redrawn the Gaines Street landscape with four student housing projects. An early conceptual…
The Bradenton City Council, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, released a request for qualifications on Wednesday that moves a downtown streetscaping project forward. Conversations about upgrading the appearance of the Old Main Street corridor, which also includes 11th and 13th streets west, began last summer. Bradenton Downtown Development Authority board member Mike Carter said…
The Housing Authority of the city of Fort Myers has appointed E. Bruce Strayhorn as chairman of its board of commissioners. Appointed by the mayor of the city of Fort Myers, the board serves as the governing officers of the Housing Authority of the city of Fort Myers, or HACFM and ensure that the authority’s…
The 1.1 million-square-foot mixed-use Transit Village secured a key step for its financing after the West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency approved a $114 million deal supporting the project on Jan. 9. The developer received permission to collect up to $114 million, plus interest, of the tax increment financing it generates for the next 29…
Fort Lauderdale officials will consider four big development applications, including an apartment tower near the river and a hotel just off the beach. All four applications will go before the city’s Development Review Committee on Jan. 10 as the first step in their approval processes. In the largest project, the 488 Residences at Riverwalk would…
Calling all millennials. Fort Myers officials are willing to rewrite the law books to make shopping, dining and living around downtown more attractive to you. More than 60 people attended a public meeting Monday night to learn about the push to increase density — or number of units allowed — in downtown, and a neighborhood just…
CLERMONT — City leaders are putting the first building block in place for an economic-development plan expected to generate millions of dollars. Victory Pointe, an estimated $8.6 million stormwater management site combined with an ecological public park and event space, likely will go out for construction bids soon, city staff said. Groundbreaking is expected in…
