For more than a decade, New Port Richey city officials have tried to walk the walk and talk the talk about attracting prosperous residents with a walkable community downtown. Begun in 2004, the Main Street Landing project will restart construction after a public ceremony 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at the site at 5500 Main…
DetailsBoynton Beach Boulevard is the city’s entryway, but the buildings that line it are outdated — the only destinations that might attract an interest to stop are City Hall and the post office — and the street’s structure emphasizes vehicle use over walking or riding a bike, the Community Redevelopment Agency says. And it’s time…
DetailsThe late A. Quinn Jones Sr., a legendary and revered Gainesville educator, meticulously kept documents related to his civic, personal, professional and religious life. Those documents and other materials will be displayed inside galleries at the new A. Quinn Jones Museum and Cultural Center at 1013 NW Seventh Ave. The museum is in the house…
DetailsThe 2011 groundbreaking for Vilano’s Publix was an especially joyous event for the 5,000 residents living east of the Intercostal. No longer would the need for a few groceries require a trip to the mainland. The Publix was also celebrated as the start of a planned commercial center of shops, sidewalk cafes, upper-level residences and…
DetailsIn hopes of gaining the City Council’s support during its Wednesday, February 15, meeting, the Apopka Community Task Force on Violence presented a document that the group called a community biopsy, urging for a five-pronged approach to solving violence in the area, especially in South Apopka. First unveiled in December 2016 at a press conference, the…
DetailsWhy does the legislature want to kill CRA’s Way back in 1969, the Florida Legislature passed the Community Redevelopment Act. The new law was designed to prevent and eliminate slum and blighted areas by designating tax dollars from the neediest communities to go back into those areas. In 1993, Apopka created its own Community Redevelopment…
DetailsThe Florida Economic Consortium on Violence and Crime (FEC) hosted a lunch forum to discuss the role of community redevelopment agencies (CRAs) and how they can be leveraged to address blighted areas and slums in Apopka. Attended by city and county officials and community members, the lunch forum took place at the Fran Carlton Recreation…
DetailsNORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. /Florida Newswire/ — Redevelopment Management Associates (www.rma.us.com) announced that their award-winning redevelopment strategies for North Miami Beach have spurred land sales of over $200 million, with an estimated $500 million in new construction now underway or approved. The firm was hired to reinvent the city to compete with other thriving municipalities.…
DetailsManatee County Commissioner Charles Smith recently completed an 18 month course to become a redevelopment professional by the not-for-profit Florida Redevelopment Association, the county advised on Thursday. The training course is designed to enhance knowledge of urban redevelopment issues, which Smith says will help him become a better commissioner. He represents District Two, which covers…
DetailsAfter 13 years, it has become apparent to city leaders that an extra layer of building regulations hasn’t been the right fertilizer to make the Garden District grow. Despite its charms — a quick walk to Hollis Garden, Barnett Family Park and the Frances Langford Promenade — the roughly 70-acre Garden District has failed to…
DetailsThe city has officially deemed a piece of prime but environmentally contaminated property near downtown a brownfield. The designation for the property was necessary so the city can seek state economic incentives for a developer or property owner to clean up the site and build there. During a meeting Tuesday night, the Dade City Commission…
DetailsLess than two years after the Polk County Community Health Assessment listed obesity and weight issues among the major health challenges facing Polk County residents, the state Department of Health is recognizing four cities and the county for their healthy-weight programs. Lakeland, Winter Haven, Mulberry and Bartow, as well as Polk County, were among 98…
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