NEW SMYRNA BEACH — While the city’s current Community Redevelopment Agency provides grants for residents to fix up their homes, it hasn’t been much use to some residents in the Historic Westside neighborhood who can’t afford to put up the matching funds needed to be eligible for the program. That needs to change in the city’s…
Broward County commissioners will help determine the fate of a prime piece of beachfront land. The property is the Pompano Beach pier parking lot. The city and its Community Redevelopment Agency propose a commercial complex, including a hotel, on the public land. The County Commission must first change the land use designation on the 5.4…
2014 City Cultural Diversity Awards Application Available The application for the 2014 City Cultural Diversity Awards and additional information is now available online. Please note the new requirement that all projects must be sent via PDF only. The deadline for submission is Friday, January 31, 2014. Visit the website for full details. The award winners…
DEBARY — With an eye toward speeding up development near the new SunRail station, the City Council this week established a brownfield area over the objections of at least one landowner. A 4-1 council vote Wednesday reflected the majority support for the brownfield, an area designated for redevelopment after having real or perceived contamination. Brownfields…
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — The city’s 65-year old central fire station on Faulkner Street, seemingly slated for obsolescence, could be redeveloped for new homes and businesses. Jack White, a partner with White Challis Redevelopment Co., said he’d like to reuse the building at 103 Faulkner St. as part of the company’s proposed downtown housing development…
If you want to park in downtown Delray Beach, you may have to pay for it. At Tuesday’s meeting, the commission will consider a proposal for charging for parking in downtown garages and on downtown streets, places that are mostly free. The rates would vary depending on how close people want to park to the…
SAFETY HARBOR — The Jolley Trolley’s brass rails and wooden benches could soon signal a boon to Safety Harbor businesses. After nearly 18 months of planning and negotiating, an eight-month pilot program to bring a trolley to downtown Safety Harbor will start Feb. 1. “I think it’s more of a business morale boost to see…
We have come so far but have so far to go. Sometimes the cliches are true. That is the best description to describe the city’s Operation Urban Blight. Huge amounts of trash and debris have been collected. It’s as if a tropical storm has hit the city except this blight happens year round. Since October…
Broward County is turning off the tap of property tax dollars that for decades have flowed into blighted communities. In the face of objection from cities all over Broward that have Community Redevelopment Agencies, Broward commissioners voted Tuesday to make clear their intention: When these CRAs expire over the next five to 18 years, they…
Coral Gables Business Improvement District bids farewell to Executive Director Search for replacement begins immediately November 11, 2013, Coral Gables, Florida—The Business Improvement District (BID) of Coral Gables says farewell to Executive Director, Mari Gallet, after nine years in the post. Ms. Gallet will depart in January, having started her own business consulting firm. The…
“Ghost” of Keith London haunts Hallandale Beach Mayor Cooper A tiff between Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper and Commissioner Michele Lazarow has Cooper hearing voices. And those voices, she thinks, are coming from Cooper’s political enemy, former Hallandale Beach Commissioner Keith London. Cooper says it’s clear Lazarow is in league with London. The mayor and Lazarow are…
Developers lining up to build downtown Fort Myers hotel Prospective developers are lining up to build a hotel in downtown Fort Myers after the initial project fell through last month. Representatives from Acquest Realty Advisors told the Fort Myers City Council during a workshop Monday that they are in serious talks with at least three…
