Volusia County is closer to a compromise with its cities on the thorny issue of Community Redevelopment Areas, or CRAs. CRAs have been a contentious topic of late, but needlessly so. When properly proposed and approved, the CRAs take new property-tax revenue that a blighted area generates and plow it back into improvements. The improvements…
Land Needed for Film Studio Location in Dade or Broward County A company is considering developing state-of-the art film studios in Miami Dade or Broward county. They are looking for a minimum of 25 acres of land to either buy or lease long term. The closer to Miami or Ft Lauderdale the better, but they…
Even Winter Park was hit by the Great Recession. Although it may not have been as bad off as some other parts of Central Florida, the city’s commercial strip along U.S. Highway 17-92 paid a price: Office space sat empty for years, an ice-cream shop gave way to a “we buy gold” store and the Borders bookstore…
SOUTH DAYTONA — A group of city managers from all over Volusia County sat around a police training-room table recently trying to salvage CRAs. It was Day 15 of their 60-day window to come up with a compromise to present to the county. They might be getting closer, but one thing is clear: The money’s…
CLEARWATER — A Latvian real estate developer has been buying up vacant storefronts in downtown Clearwater, and he’s making plans to fill them. Daniels Ikajevs, who lives in a penthouse in the Water’s Edge condominium tower overlooking Clearwater Harbor, recently bought the tower’s 10,000-square-foot ground-floor retail space for $875,000. That space has been empty for…
Boosters of Downtown Dade City Main Street portrayed the group’s demise last week as a case of mission accomplished. Certainly, this agency has much of which to be proud, but the end can be more accurately described as resource competition. Main Street and other non-profit groups find themselves competing for financial support in a still…
Ocala’s downtown square soon will be touched up with a Brick City flair. Kathy Crile, the city’s parks and recreation director, told City Council members during a presentation Tuesday that the downtown square looks “a little dated” and outlined plans to spend $265,000 to make changes to the city’s public centerpiece. Crile said $114,000 was…
New analysis finds it took only $19 million public dollars to generate approximately $371 million in private investment. A new study examining the effect of government Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) investment in several Florida municipalities has found that for every single dollar spent by a CRA on redevelopment, that same area benefited from twenty additional…
Lake Worth NSP is NDC Finalist LAKE WORTH CRA NSP-2 CONSORTIUM SELECTED AS FINALIST FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL PROJECT AWARD LAKE WORTH, FL. — Late last week, the National Development Council (NDC) officially announced the semi-finalists for the NDC Academy 2013 Awards. The Lake Worth Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP-2) Consortium is one of six semi-finalists…
DADE CITY – Downtown Dade City Main Street closed its doors this week after more than 25 years of operation promoting the historic downtown district. The organization that had as its goal improving the appearance and economic stability of downtown Dade City had suffered a financial decline since 2007, said Downtown Dade City Main Street…
LYNN HAVEN — The Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) in Lynn Haven is recovering from the impact of the nation’s economic slump, according to Mayor Walter Kelley. Acting as the CRA board, city commissioners approved the annual fiscal report during Tuesday’s meeting. Documents show the city’s CRA fund balance was $896,155 in tax increment funds. Total…
MELBOURNE — After a fruitless seven-year quest, Peter Flotz has abandoned his ambitious plan to build a luxury Mediterranean-styled condominium tower or a Hyatt Place hotel in the heart of the historic downtown. These $20-million-plus projects would have injected dozens of high-income households — or up to 100 new jobs — directly into the downtown economy.…
