SARASOTA – A Downtown Sarasota Community Redevelopment Agency advocate says reluctant county leaders might support a plan to extend the CRA another 30 years, but only if the city approves major changes to how the agency operates. Andy Dorr, vice chair of the Downtown CRA Extension Study Committee, will appear Monday at a City Commission meeting…
SEBRING — Two years ago, downtown promoters were looking for new ways to draw people to Sebring’s central business district. They began having wine walks — where people walked in the downtown area — visited businesses and got free wine tastings. They expressed amazement at the huge response. But, more recently, attendance has declined. That, along…
When Kale Cafe’s owners opened a second store in June on Ormond Beach’s main downtown street, Granada Boulevard, sales at the vegetarian cafe/juice bar soared immediately. “It has been amazing,” said Camille Holder-Brown, who owns the business with her husband, Omar Brown. “There was a lot of business from the start, and the Ormond store reached…
ST. PETERSBURG —All John Stearman wanted 10 years ago was to renovate the house next door for his son. It was a fixer-upper, but the Granada Terrace resident was going to make it work. He put in a front porch and new windows. Yet, in 2008, city officials halted construction, telling Stearman he couldn’t change…
Register now using the link below. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8805852656036527617 This webinar will cover the general requirements that CRA administrators need to do by September 30 of each year. We will address budget adoption, online postings, and end of year accounting. We will give you examples of best practices for each. After registering, you will receive a confirmation…
There’s an overall upswing in Economic Development and Sanford is a major player in the game. During the past 6 months, the economic activity has tripled in Sanford. Through the direction of Bob Turk, the City’s Economic Development Director and Executive Director of the Sanford Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), development and real estate inquiries are…
Dear FRA Members, You are invited to this special event in Tampa on August 20, at no charge. Local government economic development officials from the Tampa region will gather to discuss best practices in this economy. Keynote: Jeff Vinik Owner, Tampa Bay Lightning Panelists: Allen Brinkman Vice Chair of Tampa Bay Partnership, CEO of SunTrust…
Amid the stunning rebirth of this new Brickell into a high-rise condo farm works a man who has poured drinks on the same block of real estate for 20 years. Bartender Johnny Fernandez used to crack cheap beers and turn up whiskey bottles late into the night at iconic Tobacco Road. When the oldest bar…
LAND O’ LAKES — As Pasco commissioners prepare to discuss a proposed ordinance Tuesday aimed at cleaning up blighted buildings on the county’s main roadways, some signs of progress already are visible. The owner of a condemned, two-story building on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard currently is demolishing the structure. “I’ve talked to the owner and…
A proposal to build hundreds of affordable rental units near downtown Sarasota stirred promising discussion this week. Questions about the plan still await clearer answers, but perhaps what’s needed most of all, at this early stage, is a positive mindset by local government. Officials should look for ways to help mold this project into an…
WINTER HAVEN | In a span of three decades, Lillian Juhler witnessed the rise and fall of Winter Haven’s downtown, all from the doorway of her family’s clothing store along Central Avenue. It began in 1930, when Juhler’s Ladies Apparel joined a host of clothing shops, dime stores and drugstores downtown. “My parents had been…
Today literally is a red-letter day for a new business in downtown DeLand. The Jimmy John’s chain of sandwich restaurants is planning to open a franchised shop on the corner of Woodland Boulevard and Wisconsin Avenue by the end of the month, but not before it has an exterior sign. And that signage is a…
A veteran Tampa developer is planning a gated townhome community a block and a half from bustling Beach Drive in downtown St. Petersburg. Called Regent Lane, the 20 homes at 141 Fourth Ave. N each will have three bedrooms, three and a half baths, a private elevator, roof deck and two-car garage. Prices for the…
BOYNTON BEACH — Mayor Jerry Taylor has turned to the Community Redevelopment Agency to help cover the estimated $275,000 needed to demolish the old Boynton Beach High School. At the CRA’s budget meeting Thursday night, the mayor asked CRA members to find $50,000 to add to the Town Square project’s budget — a boost that…
A swath of northwest Gainesville qualifies for the creation of a community redevelopment area under state rules for blight, but city commissioners voted Thursday night against creating such an area, saying they believe better options are available to improve the neighborhoods. The commission’s vote was 7-0 against creating such an area. The vote came after…
Crystal River officials will have downtown development on their minds during this evening’s government meetings. During a Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) board meeting — chaired by City Council members — board members will get an update on the city’s Aug. 6 submission to Tallahassee of its Main Street Program application. Karen Pieters, volunteer with Crystal River’s…
The 28th Annual Dancin’ in the Streets event will be back in the streets of downtown Stuart on Aug. 22 after last year’s move to Memorial Park on East Ocean Boulevard. Last year, the event was two days and held at the park, which is about a mile from the streets of downtown, but people…
To say Lantana’s staff isn’t impressed with redevelopment plans for the former A.G. Holley State Hospital site might be an understatement. The town’s director of development services, David Thatcher, compared the proposal for Water Tower Commons at 1100 W. Lantana Road to a “’50s Kmart shopping center design” with some residential development behind it. And,…
NEW PORT RICHEY — City leaders have given the initial green light to spend nearly half a million dollars next fiscal year on its matching business grant program, the goal of which is to spur redevelopment in three key corridors in New Port Richey. During a meeting Tuesday, the New Port Richey City Council, acting…
More than three decades after a Gainesville property was put on a federal list of toxic sites, city officials are finally getting serious about improving the neighborhood around it. The Koppers property, which housed a wood-treatment operation, was put on the federal Superfund cleanup list in 1983. It wasn’t until last year that the cleanup…
As the city of Gainesville considers establishing a new community redevelopment area in the Stephen Foster neighborhood in north Gainesville, a debate is growing over whether another CRA has improved so much that it should be ended. It’s hard to determine one common denominator that can be measured to see if a redevelopment area has…