Good News From Florida’s CRAs

OAKLAND PARK —The death of Corey Jones and the climate of distrust between police and citizens were the topics of a three-hour discussion Sunday night that started with a candlelight vigil. “We feel your pain, we don’t understand it all, we’re here to have a conversation … so that we never go through it again,”…

In an effort to continue the revitalization of downtown Panama City, the Community Redevelopment Agency is working on a project to revamp Harrison Avenue between Sixth Avenue and Government Street. The city says they want to attract more visitors and businesses so this project will work in conjunction with other city projects to promote the…

PINELLAS PARK — Construction began this week on an empty lot of Park Boulevard but not on a shopping center or restaurant typical of the area. It will be made from some unconventional building blocks: shipping containers. The containers are being repurposed to make a gallery and apartment space for a local artist to serve…

FORT PIERCE — Transient boaters will have an easier time visiting downtown and downtown businesses and special events should get a shot in the arm when the city completes construction of a series of dinghy docks near the intake of the old King Power Plant on Indian River Drive. The $380,000 project, to be completed…

BRADENTON — When the Bradenton Central Community Redevelopment Agency created its revitalization plan, an idea to create a community alliance was part of it. About 18 months ago the Faith Based Alliance was born. Attendance has been steadily growing at monthly meetings and the Faith Based Alliance, designed to act as a conduit to direct…

Heaps of out-sized blueprints, site plans and plat maps crowd the workstations at West Palm Beach’s Development Services Department, as more than $1 billion worth of projects take shape under the watch of the city’s urban planners. A color-coded activity board runs almost the length of one wall of these city hall offices, which share…

The Board of Directors for Fernandina Beach Main Street, Inc. is pleased to announce the hiring of Jeffrey Kurtz as the Executive Director of the newly designated Fernandina Beach Main Street program. The Board received 57 applications from around the country for the position. Candidates were interviewed in September and October. Mr. Kurtz comes to…

CLEARWATER —Nearly 17 months after a panel of urban planning experts presented an array of ambitious recommendations for reviving downtown Clearwater, city leaders have completed just under half of the 13 priority projects. The city has so far created a stakeholder advisory group; launched an incubator to foster technology companies; built a science, technology, engineering…

Casselberry’s longstanding efforts to create a downtown moved forward with the launch of a 203-unit apartment complex to be part of the planned 20-acre Concord Village. LandSouth Construction, of Jacksonville, started work on the $19.3 million complex to be built on 7.5 acres at 88 Triplett Lake Drive, near City Hall. Associated Consulting International of…

PLANT CITY Sculptures created by artist J. Seward Johnson are likely to be on display in and around downtown from Dec. 1 through mid-March. The city is being asked to donate $6,000 to pay half the expenses for the display of the bronze sculptures. The Plant City Arts Council is sponsoring the display and has…

With some mixed messages about how the Ocala City council wants a proposed downtown hotel to look, council members unanimously voted to begin negotiating with Downtown Ocala LLC to build and operate a downtown hotel. Downtown Ocala LLC is owned by Ocala hotelier Danny Gaekwad, who already owns several area hotels and other businesses. Developer…

Redevelopment that built slowly over decades in the heart of downtown Gainesville and in recent years in the nearby University Heights district is starting to spread south on Main Street. More new businesses plan to join others to open in recent months, creating a corridor of activity that stretches to Depot Park ahead of its…

The Escambia County Neighborhood Enterprise Division recently announced that it has extended the fall cycle for its Neighborhood Renewal Initiative Mini-Grant Program, which aims to further encourage community and volunteer-based redevelopment efforts within local neighborhoods. The grant is funded through the county’s Community Development Block Grant Program and is offered to neighborhood organizations located within…

FORT PIERCE — South Florida’s loss is Fort Pierce’s gain. Two superyachts — The Lady Lau and The Freedom — are docked at the Indian River Marine Terminal at the Port of Fort Pierce for maintenance after a shortage of space in South Florida sent the captains and crew north, said Buddy Haack of Taylor…

PALMETTO — Palmetto officials Monday voted unanimously to move an updated five-year community redevelopment agency plan to a public hearing on Nov. 16. It is only the second update to the city’s CRA plan since 1993, but was completely overhauled in 2011 by incoming CRA Director Jeff Burton, who outlined an ambitious plan just two…

Milton City Council has given its blessing to the latest proposed site that could keep the Santa Rosa County Courthouse in downtown Milton — though in a different site than considered in the past. Santa Rosa County Commissioner Rob Williamson presented City Council Monday with a new approach to building a judicial center downtown, using…

If you live in an old building on South Florida’s prime waterfront, don’t get too comfortable: Developers want your sand. In the latest mega-deal to happen on the beach, a New York-based developer said he has struck a $55 million deal to buy a modest Surfside condo building that dates to the 1960s. His plan?…

LYNN HAVEN — The city Commission approved an agreement Tuesday for the acquisition and sale of a roughly 100-acre piece of bay-front property that is being proposed by developers as the future site of a “water-centric, marina-based development.” The Air Force still owns the former fuel depot property, but the city will have the first…

PUNTA GORDA — The influence of Sarasota’s midcentury modern architecture did not stop at the county line. Carl Abbott, a member of the so-called “Sarasota School” of modernist architects, has often said that the Sarasota School “was not just in Sarasota, but the world.” That includes Charlotte County, which is not often recognized as an…

PALMETTO, Fla. – Residents in Palmetto will be able to give their input on what they would like to see done during an overhaul project on Old Main Street. The project is expected to get underway in 2017. It will change the whole downtown corridor by adding more lighting, upgrading stormwater treatment, and putting in…

The attached request for Qualifications/Proposals is for Master Developer Services to for the development of 23 acres of vacant land, Commonly known as the Commerce Park property owned by the City of Lauderdale Lakes Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) that may include a mix of private development types based upon market trends and developer investment preferences.…