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…
The renovation includes a reinforced 700-foot seawall with a concrete boardwalk, new docks, and additional amenities aimed at enhancing the downtown waterfront area. The renovation is funded through multiple sources, including a Natural Resource Damage Assessment Grant, Restore Act funds, Okaloosa County Tourist Development tax revenues, Okaloosa County’s Half-Cent Surtax for infrastructure projects, and the…
The Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center in Panama City, Fla., near the corner of 15th Street and North Cove Boulevard, is seen under construction March 20, 2025. In a meeting on March 18, city commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding between Panama City and its community redevelopment agency, allowing the city to use $325,000…
From outdoor murals on the sides of buildings to sculptures along city promenades, public works of art can beautify and distinguish towns, attract tourism, celebrate communities and enrich the people who encounter them. According to an opinion poll conducted by Americans for the Arts, 86 percent of Americans believe that art and culture improve their…
Lake Wales recently finished two related projects, part of an ambitious, multiyear plan to revitalize downtown and attract new businesses. The city held a ribbon cutting March 7 to celebrate the renovations of Park Avenue and Market Plaza. Lake Wales, Florida, recently completed renovations on Park Avenue and Market Plaza to revitalize its downtown area.…