Good News From Florida’s CRAs

What does it take to make a bad idea die? In the case of an overblown renovation of Delray Beach’s Old School Square, the answer is: quite a bit. Last week, the Community Redevelopment Agency voted 4-1 to proceed with a makeover of the 4-acre campus in the heart of the city’s downtown, in clear…

City offers help for west Ocala, rules to discourage homeless

A five-year effort to create a special tax status to help economically distressed west Ocala came to fruition Tuesday as the Ocala City Council approved a plan meant to revitalize the struggling community. The vote finalizes a Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) for west Ocala. In CRAs, a portion of the property tax generated from within…

Former Dundee mayors have different opinions about downtown vision plan

DUNDEE — A former mayor thinks it’s about time the town creates a downtown vision. Another thinks the town’s focus shouldn’t be on downtown at all. The Town Commission unanimously approved an agreement with the Central Florida Regional Planning Council in October to develop a downtown vision plan. The town will pay the CFRPC $25,000…

Demolition on Fifth: Restaurants will close to make way for new project

Employees will lose their jobs and several popular restaurants on Fifth Avenue South will close as part of a plan to demolish a stretch of businesses and replace them with condos and commercial space. Café Luna, Bella Maria Café and Avenue Wine Café will close next spring, per the plan, in addition to real estate…

Lauderdale Lakes Community and Children’s Gardens

Below are some pictures from the City of Lauderdale Lakes Community and Children’s Gardens.  The residents have learned to grow and harvest, and the gardens have been a great success. The skills that the children especially have learned can never be lost. We have 45 individual beds where each family grows what vegetables they like,…

CRA goes big with growth catalyst in Lakeland

LAKELAND — Plants are thriving on the walls of the derelict building that was once an A&P grocery store in the Parker Street neighborhood. Grass has reclaimed much of the yard, like a green tide lapping against its loading docks. Inside, a woodwork mezzanine is illuminated by the hot November sun cutting a cone of…

CRA to move forward with redevelopment goals

CHIPLEY — The City of Chipley approved an agreement to receive Small Community Outreach Program (SCOP) and Rural Areas of Opportunity (ROA) funding in the amount of $407,682 in Tuesday night’s regular meeting. The funding will cover a project to resurface 5th Street and drainage improvements. Work should be completed by March of 2017. The…

Tampa City Council gives first blessing to redevelopment of Tampa Tribune site

TAMPA — Plans to build 400 apartments or condominiums and a riverfront restaurant on the current site of the Tampa Tribune moved forward Thursday night. The Tampa City Council gave its initial approval to a rezoning proposed by Related Development LLC of Miami to build an eight-story building on the Tribune property at 202 S Parker St., just north…

New Port Richey seals Main Street Landing deal

NEW PORT RICHEY — The city has reached a long-elusive deal with the developer of Main Street Landing to get construction going again on the property. In 2004, the city first approved Main Street Landing — located just east of U.S. 19 on Main Street — as a mixed-use residential and commercial development location. It…

Winter Park commissioners vote to make historic preservation easier

It’s been more difficult to create a historic district in Winter Park than in almost any city in Florida, but its City Commission took steps Monday night to strengthen its historic-preservation laws and get in step with the rest of the state. The historic-preservation ordinance, discussed and tweaked for years and the subject of hours of public…

Feds to sell off foreclosed homes to nonprofits

South Florida nonprofit organizations will have the first crack at buying government-owned foreclosed homes in a new program launching Dec. 1, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Tuesday. Normally, the feds auction off foreclosed homes to the general public. Flippers and investors generally win. But a program to let community groups bid first is now…

Downtown getting ready for the holidays

Downtown Pensacola will be lighted like never before this holiday season, and the New Year’s Eve Pelican Drop may well be the largest now that the event has been moved. The Downtown Improvement Board has already begun spending about $200,000 it received from the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners to light and decorate downtown…