The future of the Downtown Community Redevelopment Area in Sarasota has been a point of contention between city and county leaders for years, generating conflict and feeding a well-established narrative about two local governments not seeing eye to eye. So it was a bit jarring in September when County Commissioners voted to let the issue die…
The National Main Street Center has honored the Orlando main street area of Audubon Park with a 2016 Great American Main Street Award. The award is one of three handed out nationally this year. The national Main Street program is aimed at helping cities, towns, and villages revitalize their neighborhood business districts. Read full article
A transportation link crucial to easing South Florida’s gridlock is in danger of being derailed if the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority — the powerful, but little-known entity that runs Tri-Rail — fails to approve important agreements and give the project its final green light. Needless to say, too stall such an important project would…
The R3 Challenge proposed that a Superstorm decimated the vulnerable areas in Northeast Florida. If that happened, how should we, and should we, rebuild? While the storm we imagined will never happen exactly as we imagined it, the challenge is to help us imagine the disaster before it happens and begin to think through what…
For years, a visit to Jacksonville basically meant driving through town on Interstate 95. Now, visitors are stopping for days at a time, filling up hotels, dining, shopping, taking in entertainment and most of all, enjoying the beaches, which have become the hook. Tourism is gaining ground, and the numbers show it. Paul Astleford, president…
There’s an eyesore of a building near downtown West Palm Beach at the intersection of Dixie Highway and Quadrille Boulevard. It’s a flan-colored bunker that appears to be abandoned. No ownership signs are on the exterior, only multiple signs attached to the 6,837-square-foot warehouse to warn motorists that “violators will be towed at owners expense”…
LAKELAND — In colored pencil, ink, marker, spreadsheet and computer-aided tools, a pop-up team of architects and economists has reimagined Lakeland with a different South Florida Avenue. With space tight along South Florida Avenue from Pine Street to Ariana Street, the best option to corral the corridor will be a reduction in the number of…
Palm Beach Outlets says it won’t chip in anymore for city trolley that brings thousands to the mall WEST PALM BEACH — West Palm Beach’s ballyhooed experiment with free trolley service linking downtown to Northwood and Palm Beach Outlets is at a crossroads. The six-month trial period is up and though the Blue Line draws…
As the Northeast Florida Region continues to grow, many businesses will explore redevelopment projects in order to locate in desirable areas. Whether it’s a business looking for office space, a restaurant wanting a location at the Beaches, or a retail shop moving into historic St. Augustine, redevelopment of an existing site can offer businesses a…
In just a few months, the community will gain a 32-acre urban park and, hopefully, a boost to its economy and sustainability. Planning for Depot Park began about 20 years ago, and the project is both within its $5.9 million budget and on schedule for a soft opening August 1, said Nathalie McCrate, the project…
SARASOTA, Fla. – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s South District, in partnership with the city of Sarasota, the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council and Visit Sarasota County, will hold an educational symposium about the environmental and economic benefits of brownfield redevelopment on June 8 and 9. The annual symposium will share information about Florida’s Brownfields Redevelopment Program, which…
It’s a late Monday morning and downtown Fort Myers looks hungover. First Street is sleepy still, its restaurants just starting to unlock doors and unfurl umbrellas. In Patio de Leon an empty whiskey box sits perched in the branches of an oak tree, above a palm-thatched rollaway bar that’s yet to be rolled away. “We own all of…
Over the next 30 years, the city of Ocala intends to pump more than $60 million into improvements to address blight through the West Ocala Community Redevelopment Area. Committee members, area residents, city officials and NAACP representatives recently looked at and talked about some of the targeted sites. A bus tour included the Phoenix Heights…
The next top official of the Tallahassee Downtown Improvement Authority is no stranger to local government. Paige Carter-Smith has been hired as the organization’s executive director. She’s filling a void created by the departure of Jay Revell, who’s now vice president of the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce. “I am excited about taking this position because…
Tired of hearing train horns while shopping and eating in Historic Downtown? City Commissioners are working to establish quiet zones in downtown. The regulations would ban trains from blasting their horns in the defined downtown area. At a City Commission meeting Monday, May 9, commissioners approved to match a $165,000 of grant from the Florida…
The FRA Roy F. Kenzie Awards honor the best programs and projects in Florida redevelopment. Applications are accepted from FRA members who meet the award criteria and submit the entry fee. A winning entry is an acknowledgment of excellence for the work an organization is doing. All winners receive a trophy presented at the awards ceremony…
Some South Florida cities are thriving with cultural activity, new businesses and jobs. But many are not, and that’s when they often turn to a Pompano Beach company. Redevelopment Management Associates turns economically distressed cities into flourishing ones by creating a vision for redevelopment and carrying it out, piece by piece. RMA employs 40 professionals…
Back in June, county commissioners made a historic decision: They created the first community redevelopment area in unincorporated Pinellas County. It was a move that, for years, was unthinkable with Pinellas officials saying they would never sanction a CRA in unincorporated Pinellas. CRAs were something cities did. That changed under a county administration and commission…
It’s the weekend in downtown Plant City, a time when many an urban core sleeps, waiting for the business week to bring the streets back to life with shoppers and office workers. But on this Saturday as springtime arrives, the shops stay open late and the streets teem with young families pushing strollers, older couples…
TAMPA — Once they were popular. Then they were regulated out of existence. Now free electric shuttles will soon return to downtown Tampa. The City Council on Thursday approved spending $560,000 for a demonstration project to create a free electric shuttle service to provide short trips for downtown workers, residents and visitors. “The intention is…
High-rise waterfront condos won’t be coming to Crystal River anytime soon, but residents will likely see building heights rise downtown following Monday’s adoption of a new zoning district for properties near the city’s anticipated Riverwalk project. Board members of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), who also sit as the city council, voted Monday to…