Daily Archives: September 1, 2026

Coral Springs CRA Sets Aside $3.3 Million for Downtown Infrastructure in New Budget

Almost 60 cents of every dollar in the Coral Springs Community Redevelopment Agency’s new budget goes to a single line that reads “Infrastructure.” The CRA Board adopted the $5.6 million plan Monday night. It covers Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. Inside that total, $3.3 sits on the budget line that reads capital outlay. However, it’s…

Pensacola’s Historic Alice S. Williams Library Reopens as Childcare Center

More than 128,000 children lack access to childcare, according to the “Children’s Movement of Florida.” Resources are now expanding in Pensacola to address the need. This week, the city is celebrating the official opening of the Alice S. Williams Center. This building was once the first Black library in Pensacola before it shut down in…

Trattoria Napoli Opens in Zephyrhills With Help From City Grant Program

A new Italian restaurant is now open in Zephyrhills, and the city helped make it happen. Trattoria Napoli, located on 7th Street, held its grand opening with the help of a $50,000 commercial improvement grant from the City of Zephyrhills Community Redevelopment Agency. Owner Matthew Zappoli is a chef with more than 30 years of…

Apopka CRA Adopts $7.8 Million Budget, Redirects Money to Park and Sidewalks

The Apopka Community Redevelopment Agency approved a nearly $7.85 million budget Monday night while redirecting money toward park improvements and sidewalks, moving forward with one property purchase and abandoning another. The FY2027 budget includes approximately $6.13 million in reserves and carryover funds. Through June 30, the CRA had spent $870,286 of its $6.43 million revised…

Fort Lauderdale Museum Builds 4,500-Tile Beach Mural, Snags World Record

A beach scene built entirely out of children’s building blocks now holds a Guinness World Record in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The Museum of Discovery and Science assembled a magnetic tile mosaic depicting a sunny beach using 4,500 individual tiles, and Guinness has officially certified it as the largest magnet mosaic image ever made. The record,…

Winter Garden Sends 2050 Growth Blueprint to State, Bracing for 66,000 Residents

Winter Garden has officially sent its long-range vision for the next three decades to state regulators, kicking off a review process that will determine how the city handles a population expected to swell to as many as 66,306 residents by 2050. The Winter Garden City Commission unanimously approved an ordinance addressing state statute changes to…

Margate Streetscape Project Nears Completion

The Margate Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) improvement project that runs along Margate Boulevard between State Road 7 and East River Drive and on Northwest 58th Avenue between Park Drive and Northwest 12th Street could be completed by the end of September, according to Lisa Huriash, public information officer. The contract for the Margate Boulevard project…

Miami-Dade Public Agency Advancing $126.4M Affordable Housing Project

The Housing Trust Group has been chosen by the Naranja Lakes Community Redevelopment Agency to move forward on a 328-unit affordable housing venture. If the vote goes as expected, the CRA will award the developer land and a $7 million loan in exchange for the development. The S. Florida Business Journal reports that this continues…

Commissioners to Vote on $0 Transfer of County GTE Building as Part of City and Point Park Campus Plan

At Tuesday’s BOCC meeting, Manatee County Commissioners will be asked to approve the $0 transfer of a county-owned downtown Bradenton property appraised at $1.2 million to the City of Bradenton. Resolution R-26-97 would convey the former GTE building at 1009 4th Avenue West to the city. The three-story, 13,473-square-foot building has been the subject of…