The final details are still being worked out, but the agreement between the University of South Florida and the city of Palmetto was finalized Monday night. The USF Community Sustainability Partnership Program asks a community what are its important projects and what can USF offer to help the community achieve its sustainable goals. It is…
Is your CRA represented on social media? If not, you are missing out on a huge opportunity for raising awareness and growing support for your CRA. Social media sites are much more than networks of friends sharing stories and pictures. Increasingly, people are getting their daily news on social media and businesses are using these…
A South Carolina marina group is expanding its South Florida presence with the acquisition of the long-running Fort Lauderdale Boatyard and Marina, formerly called Jackson Marine. Atlantic Marina Holdings LLC announced this week that an affiliate had purchased the approximately 10-acre marina property, at 1915 SW 21st Ave., with plans to redevelop it. County property…
No one can say that community organizations are ignoring the needs of the Duval neighborhood of east Gainesville. They’re practically tripping over each other. In 2013, Alachua Habitat for Humanity chose Duval for neighborhood revitalization because the organization and others were already there doing home repairs, weatherization and painting, said Casey Smith, former Habitat director…
The City of Tallahassee Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is kicking off its Fiscal Year 2017 Promotional Special Event Grant Program Cycle. The CRA has $85,000 available to help fund promotional and/or special events within the Greater Frenchtown/Southside Community Redevelopment Area ($50,000) and the Downtown District Community Redevelopment Area ($35,000). The grant funds will be available…
ST. PETERSBURG — Is one of the prime sites near downtown St. Petersburg’s bustling Beach Drive poised for sale and redevelopment? That’s the speculation fueled by a new lawsuit against the owners of the dated Plaza Tower and Courtyard Shops at 111 Second Ave. NE, just a block off Beach and across the street from…
The Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency has been methodically putting in place a master plan for the Cornerstone economic development center in East Gainesville – 13.6 acres that includes the Gainesville Technology Entrepreneurship Center (GTEC). The work is paying off with the announcement that an established local business plans to relocate to the site, with the…
Canadian builder Mattamy Homes has acquired a 37.5 acre site in East Naples for $8.7 million. The site at 4580 Bayshore Drive will be turned into “product that Mattamy Homes has targeted for the site,” said Ron Zeigler, of SVN Florida Commercial Real Estate Advisors, who represented Mattamy. The sale included a $2.27 million impact-fee…
VERO BEACH — The cooling towers at Vero’s Big Blue power plant are slated for demolition in the next two weeks, the first phase of clearing the riverfront gateway to the island for redevelopment that could change the look and feel of the city at some point in the future. At the same time, partially…
BRADENTON — “Since the late 1990’s, new development has been generally focused east of Interstate 75 and Southwest County in a slow, but steady decline in terms of indicators such as property values, average household income levels and other factors in comparison to the overall county. The age of infrastructure, housing, code enforcement cases, crime,…
Chipley City Council members heard from City Attorney Michelle Jordan during Thursday night’s Council workshop concerning the old Mongoven Building at 5th Street and South Railroad Avenue. Jordan told council members the legal system is moving closer to allowing the city to foreclose on the structure and then indications are it will be taken down.…
A county canvassing board has certified a vote to make the yet-to-be-built 4,500 home Minto Communities development Palm Beach County’s newest municipality, according to a statement released Monday by Minto Communities-Florida. Residents within the Seminole Improvement District voted to create the City of Westlake and make it the county’s 39th municipality. The 4,500-home Minto West…
The Palafox Historic District, spanning from Chase to Zaragoza streets and Spring to Tarragona streets in downtown Pensacola, is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places thanks to the organizing efforts of University of West Florida public history alumna Cynthia Catellier. The National Register of Historic Places, administered through the National Park Service,…
An abandoned alley in Lake Worth, Fla., was re-developed into an attractive greenway through team work and perseverance by a researcher, school district employee, city staff, and the community. The greenway, which is located near a school in a predominantly Latino area, will increase the area’s walkability and connect two neighborhoods to a nearby high…
As completion for Bonita Springs’ ambitious downtown redevelopment project nears the midway mark, local business owners and developers are gearing up to move into the revamped Old 41 Road corridor with projects — big and small. The city’s investment into the area — $18.6 million in stormwater drainage, parking, roundabouts and road improvements — is…
MANATEE COUNTY — Roughly 1,800 to 2,000 homes are built in Manatee County each year, mostly in areas east of Interstate 75 such as Parrish and Lakewood Ranch. Meanwhile, what is considered the county’s “urban core” — much of which dates to the 1950s and 1960s — experiences scant new development and noticeable decline, such as vacant…
TAMPA — For the second time in a year, the City Council on Thursday sided with neighborhood activists, voting 5 to 1 to urge that the planned Tampa Bay Express interstate expansion be taken off a local priority list of transportation projects. Several council members said the $1.2 billion reconstruction of the downtown interchange would…
The University of Florida’s emerging, long-term growth plan includes ideas to transform the area between campus and downtown — and one that could mandate UF students spend their first two years living on campus. During Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting at Emerson Alumni Hall, consultants described a future that could include a light rail line…
LAKELAND — Five new homes owned by five homesteaders could help turn an underdeveloped corner of the Parker Street neighborhood into an example of restabilization. Prestige Worldwide Group, a boutique historic real estate firm in Lakeland, will donate materials and labor to create old Lakeland-style bungalows on five empty lots on Vermont Avenue north of…
The parent company of The Florida Times-Union has put its riverfront property on the market and a list of options on the table. But the most likely future of the 18-acre parcel is as a site for apartments and retail shops, local developers and brokers say. “We’re open to anything and everything,” said Times-Union Media…
A collaborative local effort lost out in its bid for Promise Zone designation from Housing and Urban Development. The city of Pensacola acted as the lead agency in a partnership with Escambia County, the University of West Florida, Pensacola State College and Escambia County School District. The group applied for the designation in an effort to bring additional resources…