Good News From Florida’s CRAs

CRYSTAL RIVER — Crystal River officials will vote this evening to invest in their downtown. Board members of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) will vote on whether to budget $104,212 over the next three years to fund a nonprofit group consulted by the Florida Main Street program. Florida Main Street is part of the…

TAMPA — Luring development into vacant or rundown areas has been a go-to strategy for the administration of Mayor Bob Buckhorn, with projects such as the Ulele Restaurant at the Water Works Building and Le Meridien Hotel in the historic Federal Courthouse. But city officials are more cautious about a proposed development in the rundown…

By the numbers, Sarasota’s downtown redevelopment efforts are a huge success. Yet, as Vice Mayor Suzanne Atwell reminded her fellow commissioners last week, much work remains undone. From the Ringling shopping plaza, to judicial center expansion, to the bayfront, Newtown and the North Trail, hoped-for projects await funding, partnerships and the political will to move…

TAMPA — With demolition expected to start in late 2016, the first resident has moved out of North Boulevard Homes, with about 2,000 more to follow over the next 18 months. But for the moment, City Hall and Tampa Housing Authority officials have decided this isn’t the time to seek a $30 million federal grant…

Next Monday, June 15, the White Springs H.O.P.E. (Helping Our People Excel) Summer Enrichment Program for youth begins its 6th year. The program is 6 weeks long, Monday–Friday from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm and FREE to community families. It is a partnership between Hamilton County School District, the Department of Health, Miles of Smiles Dental Bus, CareerSource North Florida,…

Through an agreement with FHWA, the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) is providing free, short-term technical assistance to transportation planners serving rural or smaller urban areas.  This assistance is focused on helping planners with their identified issues of stakeholder involvement in planning processes, whether in reaching out to low-income and minority communities as part of…

Community Policing Initiatives in High Springs are not limited to the “Citation for a Cookie” program. Other programs currently implemented include: Coffee with the Chief – is aimed at providing residents with an opportunity to personally meet Chief Anterio in a friendly, casual and informal setting such as a local restaurant, coffee shop or park. At “Coffee with…

SARASOTA – The condominium booms of the late 1960s, early 1980s and mid-2000s are being mirrored by the current market for luxury highrises in downtown Sarasota. From big projects like Vue Sarasota Bay to smaller but more upscale buildings such as The Jewel and One88, condominium developers are benefiting from an influx of affluent baby…

Editor’s note: This is the third in a three-part series looking into the safety of downtown areas where people spend a night out. With shops, restaurants and child-friendly activities, Downtown at the Gardens has a reputation as a popular place to bring families. Read full article

BRADENTON — As the Bradenton City Council moves forward with a proposal to strip away the governing authority of the city’s three community redevelopment agencies, officials with one of the agencies, the Central CRA, are concerned that the strides they have made within the community will be lost. CRA designations are typically for low-income communities…

WEST PALM BEACH — The old City Hall building, one of the last public remnants of Cold War modernist architecture downtown, won’t be disappearing as quickly as city officials would prefer. The Community Redevelopment Agency wanted to speed up plans to convert the site into a hotel by tearing down the old five-story building, vacant…

The following instructions are given as guidance to Respondents in properly preparing their responses to this Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”) for Production Services for the Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (“DBCRA or CRA”) 2016 Arts and Seafood Celebration (the “Event or the “DBA&SC”). The DBCRA is seeking submissions from qualified persons, companies and firms to…

BRADENTON – The Riverwalk, a 1.5-mile park spanning downtown Bradenton, makes for a popular example when people talk about redevelopment here. City leaders in Sarasota point to it as an example of success. The Riverwalk was part of a revival of downtown Bradenton that drew new businesses, including the prize-winning Motorworks Brewing, which opened in…

WEST PALM BEACH —  Hess Musallet moved downtown a decade ago. “I was looking for a lively downtown,” he said. Read full article

Ashley Furniture’s announcement Thursday that it will move some of its corporate offices into the Centro Ybor complex is another big shot in the arm for Tampa. The move will bring 100 corporate jobs to Ybor City and build upon the huge momentum boost created by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik’s plans to invest…

If you’re looking for something to do this Memorial Day weekend, the Downtown Improvement Board thinks downtown Pensacola should be your destination. “Destination Downtown” is a push by the organization to highlight six events, all within walking distance of each other, happening in downtown Pensacola this weekend. The six events highlight the ease of getting…

NEW YORK, May 19, 2015 – In keeping with its mission to encourage the continuing education of retail real estate professionals, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Foundation has presented Thomas G. Bolen III with the Fiala Fellowship. Launched in 2010, the Fiala Fellowship annually awards an outstanding professional under the age of 35 who…

A low-rise condo building from the 1940s was blocked from Miami-Dade’s roster of historic properties after county commissioners overturned a designation by their preservation board. Tuesday’s vote narrowly handed a win to some residents of Surfside’s 14-unit Seaside Terrace, a two-story oceanfront building constructed in 1948 and now occupying lucrative real estate amid South Florida’s latest high-rise…

At various times since it was built in 1875, a wood-framed building on South Beach Street, dubbed “the Abbey” by its owners at the turn of the 19th century, was a general store, church meeting room, home of a popular writer, a lending library and the closest thing the newly formed city of Daytona had…

City Lot 10, the parking lot across from Loosey’s on Southwest First Avenue and Southwest Second Street, is being eyed as the site for a new 12-story hotel. Horizon Hospitality Management Inc. is interested in developing a mixed-use project there, which would include a 12-story Embassy Suites Hotel and around 25,000 square feet of meeting…

One of the hottest brands in the hotel industry is coming to West Palm Beach. AC Hotels by Marriott, a mid-priced chain targeting young, tech and fashion-savvy travelers, will be the flagged hotel for a mixed-use project planned for the former city hall site. “The city hall site is one they love. They also love…