Future of Boca Downtown Library yet to be written BOCA RATON — This week’s Boca Raton Public Library newsletter pronounces the new Downtown Library “75 percent done” but what will become of the old Downtown Library has not yet been contemplated. The new one is expected to open sometime in the summer with a coffee…
Hillsborough looks at focusing taxes to fight blight TAMPA — If you live in Brandon, the money you pay in property taxes each year can go to fill potholes in Westchase or toward part of the salary of a firefighter based in Apollo Beach. Those tax dollars flow into a general pot and county commissioners…
SARASOTA – It is 6:54 a.m. when the sun wakes Jesse Biter as it peeks through the windows of his four-bedroom penthouse. Within minutes, his two girls, ages 10 and 11, scamper through the $3.85 million Marina Tower condominium downtown. Biter cooks them breakfast; it reminds him of his own childhood. Driving the girls to…
When the Gainesville City Commission bought the vacant Mom’s Kitchen restaurant in 2009, there were a number of reasons to question the purchase. The city was dealing with a $1 million budget deficit at the time and the project wasn’t on a list of priorities for redevelopment. Yet the commission voted 4-3 to pay $165,000…
Generosity toward homeless causing eyesore downtown Tate Clair’s nightmare for the past three months has been a mountain of black trash bags near his restaurant.Clair, who owns The Lunchbox at 104 SE First Ave., said he has noticed more people coming to the Bo Diddley Plaza next to his restaurant and leaving bags or boxes…
When the Gainesville City Commission bought the vacant Mom’s Kitchen restaurant in 2009, there were a number of reasons to question the purchase. The city was dealing with a $1 million budget deficit at the time and the project wasn’t on a list of priorities for redevelopment. Yet the commission voted 4-3 to pay $165,000…
It’s a battle of the beaches. In an attempt to get developers to choose Boynton over Delray, the Boynton Community Redevelopment Agency will host a special meeting on Tuesday to make a plot of land located at 222 North Federal Highway more desirable, said Vivian Brooks, executive director of the Boynton CRA. Kanner & Pintaluga,…
ST. PETERSBURG — Thirty years ago, St. Petersburg took a leap of civic faith when it leveled a low-income neighborhood to attract a baseball team. Now Tropicana Field’s 85 asphalt acres offer another chance for neighborhood rehabilitation — this time without baseball. More and more Americans want to live in dense urban areas. It’s a…
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — The backdrop on Saturday seemed apropos. New Smyrna Beach’s downtown bustled with people taking in art galleries, a live music festival and a farmers market, all bringing the “feet on the street” and generating the economic activity that local businesses crave. Meanwhile, city and business leaders met at nearby City Hall…
ST. PETE BEACH – City commissioners are talking about making improvements to the Corey Avenue area this year as a result of cost savings through their contract with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. St. Pete Beach Commissioner Marvin Shavian said at the commission’s Feb. 26 meeting he feels “very strongly” that improvements need to be…
BARTOW | County commissioners rejected the idea Friday of forming a Community Redevelopment Agency in the Inwood area. County Commissioner Ed Smith proposed the idea as a way to raise funds to fix infrastructure problems and to combat blight in this largely residential area between Winter Haven and Auburndale. [See Full Article]
PANAMA CITY — Commissioners approved a $13 million loan to finance the Marina Redevelopment Project during Tuesday’s meeting. The vote will effectively put the city more than $15 million in debt to SunTrust Bank. However, officials were confident the funds will ultimately benefit the city. “There’re wants and needs,” said Mayor Greg Brudnicki. “Most of…
