Florida Community Loan Fund is pleased to announce it is a recipient of $3.5 million from the U.S. Treasury’s CDFI Fund. • $2 million in Financial Assistance (FA), and • $1.5 million from the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI). FCLF’s Award is the largest of the 5 Florida organizations to receive an award through this competitive process. Since…
TAMPA — Jeff Vinik’s ambitions go beyond winning Stanley Cups and revitalizing downtown Tampa. He says he also wants to help improve the health of the community. “We’ve got the $1 billion-plus real estate development going on, and wellness and health (are) such a big part of what we are thinking,” the developer and owner…
California has moved one step closer to the return of redevelopment and the controversial power to seize private property through eminent domain. The state Senate approved legislation Wednesday that would give local governments the power to create new entities, known as community revitalization authorities, to stimulate economically-depressed or crime-ridden areas. Assembly Bill 2 would grant these new…
Despite lingering questions about funding, Tri-Rail trains are expected to begin operating between downtown Miami and Palm Beach County by 2017, the commuter rail service’s chief said Wednesday. “It’s going to happen,” said Jack Stephens, executive director of Broward-based South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, SFRTA. “We’re looking at having it operational in the first or…
SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — For 70 years, the 30 acres between South Tamiami Trail and the Intercoastal Waterway near Sarasota Square Mall have remained relatively untouched. Oliver Mitchell bought the land in 1935 at a great depression discount, and in 2006, grandson Elling Eide sold part of it for 30 million dollars. When asked how…
While many of the stakeholders in the CRA district think that streetscaping is a great way to improve the look of the area, the plan to make it happen through revolving loans might not be the best way. That is what a packed house at the Chester Street Resource Center told the CRA advisory board…
Miami isn’t losing Biscayne Boulevard’s grand Christian Science church — it’s gaining a mixed-use high-rise tower. On Tuesday, Miami’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board voted during an unusual and a somewhat testy hearing to approve one of the most uniquely designed towers in the city’s history. They designated the shuttered First Church of Christ, Scientist,…
LAKELAND — City officials are hopeful that the opening of the new Lakeland Automall dealership will spur economic growth on the West Memorial Boulevard corridor. The car dealership is situated on 11½ acres at 1430 W. Memorial Blvd., and at least 100 people came to the opening Tuesday to show their support for the Automall’s…
The Riviera Beach Community Redevelopment Agency has hired CBRE, a full-service commercial real estate agency, to find tenants for three waterfront restaurant sites as part of a $375 million redevelopment plan at the city’s marina. The three sites are in an area of the marina property known as “Restaurant Row.” CBRE is looking to identify…
LAKE WORTH — Hudson Holdings, a Delray Beach developer, last week submitted a conceptual site plan and rezoning application to the city for its $60 million renovation plans for the historic Gulfstream Hotel site in downtown Lake Worth. The plans include demolishing — or moving — two existing residential structures on the property and replacing…
Plans to widen U.S. 90 through downtown Milton are supposed to ease traffic, accommodate Santa Rosa County’s population growth over the last decades, and make way for future growth in the north Santa Rosa town. Santa Rosa County’s population has grown 42 percent from 2000 to 2015 according to data from the Pensacola Metro Dashboard.…
The director of the Bradenton Downtown Development Authority will resign before the end of the year. David Gustafson has served as director for over four years. In a statement, Gustafson says, “I can’t thank the Mayor/City Council/DDA Board enough for the opportunity they have provided me. Together we have put the City of Bradenton on…
A neighborhood in the heart of Gainesville needs to be revived, but city officials shouldn’t stop there. The Stephen Foster neighborhood should be a highly sought-after place to live, given its proximity to downtown and the University of Florida campus. But as efforts to clean up the polluted Koppers Superfund site bordering the neighborhood have…
The Gainesville Housing Authority will host a neighborhood workshop to discuss the proposed Woodland Park redevelopment project and receive comments from residents. The workshop will take place at 6 p.m. Monday at the Gainesville Housing Authority office at 1900 SE Fourth St. Housing residents and the community are being invited. Pamela Davis, executive director of…
Estero wants a village center, more walkability and mixed use, and a proposed development in the heart of the village could make some of those wishes come true. At Tuesday evening’s Planning and Zoning Board meeting, residents and board members were presented with an update to a project called Via Coconut Urban Place, a proposed…
One of the city’s long-stated goals has been to spur residential development in the downtown core, and the effort has been wildly successful. Of course, all those people have to eat. A pair of popular restaurants are demonstrating that the city center is a pretty good place to serve up food as well. Both Ulele,…
A front-end loader started demolition on Friday morning of an abandoned house on the site of a proposed Hard Rock Hotel and Café, a sign that construction could soon begin. Dust from concrete, tile, bricks and wood billowed as the machine dug into the old house on the oceanfront 10-acre lot just south of Sun…
As a longtime downtown business owner and resident, I recognize the challenges we have doing business in this part of town. Downtown businesses, residents and patrons face two significant challenges: parking and safety. Both of these are primarily problems of perception. The safety issue stems from isolated incidents that have been perceived to be the…
The Bartow Community Redevelopment Agency board has approved a $1 million budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year, including about $130,000 for the demolition, rehabilitation and construction of buildings, mostly houses. Board members said they hope to kickstart an affordable housing program and have something tangible to show for their efforts this year. Now that the…
When it comes to Volusia County’s biggest, most-anticipated economic projects, it’s hard for observers not to be like restless children in the back seat of the family car on a cross-country trip, repeatedly asking, “Are we there yet?” So much promise, so little payoff. Therefore, the recent announcement by Westin Hotels & Resorts that it…
Harbourside Place, the $150 million entertainment center that has brought both praise and ridicule to Jupiter, was honored Wednesday night by South Florida urban planners. “See? I told you. Harbourside Place is a true urban project that brings substantial public benefit to the community,” said Nick Mastroianni, the president of Allied Capital & Development told…