MOUNT DORA — You might already consider downtown a great place. Now it’s official. The Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association recently announced downtown Mount Dora as the first winner of the Florida Great Places — People’s Choice Award. An award presentation took place late last month at Sunset Park. Downtown Mount Dora — which…
ORLANDO – Have you seen one of those TV shows where a crew surprises a family by renovating its house in a weekend, and workers are still painting the walls and grouting the tile two minutes before the big reveal? Welcome to the Orlando Citrus Bowl stadium renovation. Local VIPs will cut the ribbon on…
BARTOW – Lake Alfred’s long-term economic development plans got a boost Tuesday when the County Commission voted unanimously to approve a plan that establishes a community redevelopment area in keys parts of the city. The redevelopment will be funded by taxes collected as the value of land within the CRA district increases, similar to what has…
GAINESVILLE – A former car wash and book store were demolished on the east side of the 300 block of Northwest 13th Street as part of plans to build a six-story apartment building. Another developer now has plans to build more six-floor apartment buildings on the west side of 13th Street that would involve demolishing…
The city of Ocala has been working nearly two years with local developers hoping to build a hotel east of the downtown square, and a deal is getting closer to being struck. The City Council recently reviewed a draft agreement that would cost the city $8.2 million to $9.2 million to build a parking garage…
Habitat for Humanity of Lake-Sumter Florida officials signed a contract Monday for an option to buy land in downtown Leesburg for a veterans’ village, contingent on Habitat being able to secure approval and raise funds for the estimated $3.4 million project. The option is for $275,000 for a little over two acres at the corner…
A downtown Boca Raton residential complex that languished for 10 years in the planning stages has been revived — now with bigger proportions. Royal Palm Place was approved in 2003 as a 149-unit, downtown apartment complex, part of the mixed-use development on Federal Highway. It received several extensions on its approval until time ran out…
SARASOTA – A downtown apartment building originally pitched under the banner of affordable housing may go forward with a new developer. But whether any of the apartments will wind up being affordable is another matter. On Monday, the City Commission agreed to let Atlanta-based developer Carter Acquisitions, LLC, move forward with a 10-story apartment building…
PANAMA CITY — Unlike the other developers, HomeFed/Leucadia is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. The motivation behind its marina proposal is to protect its investment, which includes the entire city. HomeFed already has invested $65 million to buy the 700-acre SweetBay development site from the airport board. The plan for…
PANAMA CITY — Great South President Jason Lewis wants to create a catalyst to drive future development downtown. “We are attempting to create a defacto ‘real estate gold rush’ of people fighting to get in on the ground floor,” Lewis wrote in the questionnaire responses to the Panama City Commission. “But this ONLY works when…
PANAMA CITY — If city commissioners decide Tuesday to select three developers to work together on a makeover of the Panama City Marina, it could be because the proposals are similar. At the Nov. 4 City Commission meeting, Mayor Greg Brudnicki wanted to combine the top three marina proposals — which for all indications are…
SARASOTA – Software entrepreneur Jesse Biter’s plans for affordable apartments downtown may have new life with the involvement of another developer. On Monday, attorneys representing the Atlanta-based Carter Acquisitions, LLC, will ask the City Commission to let the project proceed under a new site plan and without paying into the city’s affordable housing trust fund.…
