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…
DELAND — When Wendy Libby became the president of Stetson University in 2009, she had a goal in mind: 3,000 students. That enrollment total could be reached this fall, marking a more than 30 percent increase during the six-year span. Now it’s time for the campus to grow and a $32 million construction project is…
PANAMA CITY — In the last 30 years, the Panama City Main Street program has generated more than $62 million in reinvestment value for the city’s downtown Harrison Avenue corridor. Those three decades of accomplishments were recognized last month by the Florida Department of State, which designated Panama City Main Street the July Florida Main…
TAVARES — Call it a treasure hunt wrapped in a quest to encourage good deeds, bundled with a desire to bring positive vibes to downtown Tavares. “There are a lot of layers and components to the idea, but it’s really simple at its core,” said Kevin Danko, who created the initiative dubbed Pay it Forward…
BRADENTON — Four parcels near Ware’s Creek are ready for potential redevelopment, city officials say. The Ballard Park Infill Project, around the intersection of Eighth Avenue West and 17th Street Court West and Ballard Park Drive and Ninth Avenue West, went through months of public meetings. Progress was made recently with the demolition of old…
MARION COUNTY, Fla. — City leaders in one North Central Florida county are trying to redevelop parts of town. City leaders say west Ocala has being a dying area for years, but a new project could give it life in the future. Those who live on that side of town say it’s about time. Like…
Downtown Sarasota is the urban center of Florida’s 5th largest metropolitan area. Despite being one half the size of metropolitan Jacksonville, Sarasota’s core faces many challenges that downtown Jacksonville does. For starters, Sarasota is no longer the largest city in the metropolitan area. That honor now goes to North Port, a sprawling Nocatee on steriods…
BRADENTON — The Bradenton Downtown Development Authority has recommended selling the old Manatee Inns property on 14th Street West to Beneficial Communities for $700,000. Beneficial attorney Casey Colburn of Sarasota’s Colburn Law Firm made final modifications to the agreement. The DDA wants to retain rights to intellectual property such as environmental studies performed on the…
West Ocala passed one of its last hurdles Tuesday in getting special tax status that city officials hope will help revitalize the economically distressed area. Earlier this year, the Ocala City Council created a Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) for west Ocala. In CRAs, a portion of the property tax generated from within the CRA’s boundaries…
Webinar: Sign Regulation after Reed v. Town of Gilbert, AZSeptember 16, 2015, noon to 1:30 Cost $10 per participant Register Now! The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert may make it more difficult for local governments to regulate signs in a content neutral manner under the First Amendment. City of…
TAMPA — Mayor Bob Buckhorn and other city officials were thrilled last week when Feldman Equities submitted preliminary plans for what would be the tallest building on Florida’s west coast — a 52-story mixed-use tower on the riverfront site where Donald Trump in 2005 announced an extravagant condo project that never got off the ground.…
MANATEE — Betting on visibility and high traffic volumes, a national player in retail real estate is bringing its game to the Bayshore area of the Tamiami Trail. Casto Development, a Columbus, Ohio-based real estate investment and services firm, will start construction this fall on a small strip center that is already attracting new businesses…
LYNN HAVEN — City officials are looking to the past to map out plans for the future along Lynn Haven’s historic Florida Avenue corridor. Although the street was quiet Wednesday afternoon, Lynn Haven Community Redevelopment Agency Director Ben Janke hopes efforts from the CRA and the city’s nonprofit Main Street Organization soon will breathe life…
Winter Garden’s proposed parking garage will blend in with the city’s brick-street downtown, according to a design shown to city commissioners. The commission on Thursday unanimously approved an $8.1 million contract with Finfrock, an Apopka-based design and construction company regarded as the largest builder of parking structures in the United States. Among the company’s notable…
SEBRING — Momentum continued this week toward the sale and rehabilitation of Harder Hall. South Florida Senior Living put up a $50,000 deposit — ahead of the July 27 deadline — to continue its work on determining whether the purchase and plans for the historic hotel property are financially doable. Under the contract, if South…
The St. Petersburg City Council has taken a creative step toward breaking the destructive stadium stalemate with the Tampa Bay Rays. The council’s vote Thursday to ask Mayor Rick Kriseman to seek an Urban Land Institute study of Tropicana Field’s redevelopment potential is positive movement, and Kriseman should pursue this option. The study should not…
CLERMONT — The old fire department in downtown Clermont may disappear from the landscape soon. That’s because city officials have begun discussions about demolishing it to create additional parking downtown. Fire Chief Carle Bishop said he remembers working out of the building, located at 882 West Desoto St., behind what is still the Police…
City officials and business leaders are optimistic that good things are coming to downtown Leesburg. More bistro-type restaurants, boutiques, sidewalk cafes and a little park with benches could be popping up on West Main Street as a result of the $3.8 million Streetscape Beautification Project that was unveiled Friday. “It has set a buzz in…
A year in the making, Leesburg’s $3.8 million Main Street Streetscape project is finally finished and ready for a ceremonial unveiling today. The project was conceived as a way to transform a tired, blighted section of the city into a vibrant, inviting gateway into downtown. The ambitious undertaking, which runs 2,800 feet from U.S. 27…
Dozens of Leesburg residents, business leaders and political figures turned out Friday morning to witness the cutting of the ribbon and the ceremonial opening of Main Street following a year-long renovation. The project was conceived as a way to transform a tired, blighted section of the city into a vibrant, inviting gateway into downtown. The…
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn unveiled a 2016 city budget Thursday that seeks to share some of the spoils that have been showered on downtown. After a decade of heavy spending in the city center, and with corporate investment downtown finally taking off, next year’s budget is an appropriate course adjustment that returns the focus to…