Lake Wales is on the verge of reclaiming one of its most important downtown assets. The city and its Community Redevelopment Agency reached an agreement Friday with the owner of the Walesbilt Hotel to end a three-year legal battle. Under the agreement, the city will pay $450,000 to Raymond Brown, owner of Dixie Walesbilt LCC, to…
The Rotary Club of Sebring, the City of Sebring and the Sebring Community Redevelopment Agency came together Thursday morning for the groundbreaking for a brand new downtown public restroom facility at 122 N. Commerce Ave. in the heart of the CRA district. This project is led by the Rotary Club in honor of their 100th…
Jessica Carlson is Avon Park’s new Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Economic Development Manager as of last week. She’s spent her first week researching and listening, getting to know the people of Avon Park. She’s born and raised in Central Florida, graduating from the West University of Pensacola and started her career in high-rise real estate…
The Fort Myers Community Redevelopment Agency built the park in the vacant lot with the help of a private donor. The land is being leased to the CRA for 15 years until the owner of the land decides to move forward with it. This article includes dozens of beautiful photos of the park. Read the…
The City of Alachua welcomed dozens of local residents and business owners to Alachua’s Theatre Park on Main Street on March 27, 2025, to celebrate the receipt of a $50,000 grant from T-Mobile. Alachua was one of just 25 municipalities to receive the Mobile Hometown Grant this year. According to a T-Mobile representative who presented…
For more than 15 years, the historic Gulfstream Hotel has sat vacant—its once-grand halls silent, its future uncertain. But after years of delays, legal battles, and development hurdles, the iconic property is finally showing signs of life. Construction is now underway at the nearly century-old hotel, and General Manager Lawrence Cassenti said big changes are…
CRAs preserve and showcase an area’s history and cultural heritage – the rooms of the 73-year-old Alice S. Williams Library may come alive again with the sights of small children learning in a new child care center. Pensacola officials are weighing what it would take to turn the old Segregation-era library, located at 1015 N. E…
The David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts will introduce a new restaurant, cafe, bar and a terrace with a large arch facing the downtown Tampa Riverwalk. The David A Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts broke ground on a $100 million expansion project Monday. The private campaign named “Boundless” will introduce an indoor…
Margate is taking the first steps toward developing City Place, a 50-acre property located at the intersection of Margate Boulevard and State Road 7. In a unanimous 5-0 vote, the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) board agreed to begin negotiations with Brookfield Properties to develop the site. To inform the public and encourage community input, CRA…
CRAs create affordable housing and homeownership opportunities! The Greater Bond Neighborhood Association’s Neighborhood First plan, adopted in 2018, includes strategies, like promoting financial housing assistance programs and increased homeownership. The Tallahassee Community Redevelopment Agency voted to provide $6.4 million to the “Neighborhood First” plan. That includes an initial funding of $500,000, and a commitment for…
Downtown Sebring has added new eateries recently and now the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) seeks to create an incentive to attract more retail businesses. This would be something new, CRA Board Chair David Leidel said Friday. “We are trying to get to the point where we can step away from feeling like we have to…
Eric Gray, CEO of the Christian Service Center and candidate for the Orange County board of commissioners, described the mobile emergency shelter project to the Orlando Sentinel as “brilliant in its simplicity.” It’s part of what the city has dubbed its “407 Connect Project,” a partnership between the downtown Orlando Community Redevelopment Agency and Christian Service Center, designed to…
