Good News From Florida’s CRAs

STUART — Redevelopment of city-owned property, stalled since 2013, could be moving forward. Read full article

The Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency’s attorney will announce his resignation tonight. He is pursuing another job. Ken Spillias will be working for Ocean Ridge as the town’s attorney. Spillias, who works at the firm Lewis, Longman and Walker, has worked as the town’s attorney since 1999, but as an outside contractor, according to town…

The recent debate about Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRAs) appears to be an effort to mislead the public into believing that their tax dollars are being misused. This isn’t the case, and this inflammatory rhetoric, which pits residents against each other, can be extremely harmful to communities. It has been alleged that “some of South Florida’s…

BOYNTON BEACH — The Boynton Beach City Commission is expected to vote tonight on whether to allow a waterfront townhome community to be built along Federal Highway, a project strongly opposed by residents to the immediate south. But there’s a chance that the commission again will delay the vote, which has been postponed twice since December.…

BOYNTON BEACH — For the past nine months, David Grzech has fielded calls from The UPS Store customers who want to know if the store in the Boynton Plaza is open. It is. But it’s difficult to tell because the shopping center, anchored by what will be a new, modernized Publix, is under renovation. While the stores are…

WEST PALM BEACH — The light is green for West Palm Beach’s bicycle rental program, even though the bikes probably will be blue. The board of West Palm Beach’s Downtown Development Authority voted unanimously last week to close what would be a 10-year deal with consultant P3GM. Read full article 

BOYNTON BEACH — The Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency will host a free Movies in the Park event at 7 p.m Friday. The movie “Penguins of Madagascar” will play on a large inflatable screen at Ocean Avenue Amphitheater, 129 E. Ocean Ave. Attendees are encouraged to bring a beach chair or blanket. Food and beverages will…

MOUNT DORA — Described by residents and visitors as “charming” and “quaint,” Mount Dora needs to be protected, several residents say. And they say a proposal to allow 50-foot-tall screens at the EPIC Theatres location off U.S. Highway 441 between Target and Wal-Mart could usher in development of taller buildings in the downtown commercial area.…

Parking spaces are a hot commodity in Boynton Beach‘s downtown. That’s why on Tuesday the city will make a deal with the city’s redevelopment agency to get a few more. At the city’s regular meeting, the commission will decide whether to transfer the city-owned property underneath the now-closed Little House restaurant to the city’s Community Redevelopment…

WEST PALM BEACH — After sweating through another round of discussion, local developer Navarro-Lowrey got the nod Monday for the old West Palm Beach City Hall site. Commissioners, sitting as the board of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, voted unanimously to start talks with Frank Navarro’s firm. They picked him over New England-based architect Hasham…

PANAMA CITY — Property owner George Kingston and the Panama City Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) are hoping a demolition will be a catalyst to downtown improvement. Kingston owns the buildings, now a quickly diminishing pile of rubble, in the 200 block of East Sixth Street across the street from Grocery Outlet. Construction crews equipped with…

The Live Oak Community Redevelopment Agency approved a budget request of $15,000 for the Jazz, Arts and Blues Festival that will take place in Festival Park [across from Millennium Park in Live Oak] in October 2015. The request was presented by Chairman Keith Mixon, who originally presented a budget request of $20,000. Last year, the…

LAKELAND | A new plan, new leadership and a new sense of camaraderie has brought new optimism about downtown, district leaders claim, but can declarative sentences about the city’s central business district be written by an alphabet soup of organizations? Yes, Julie Townsend said, grimacing at the phrase that she admits she might have first…

Frank and Fran Hilgenberg didn’t plan on celebrating Theatre Downtown’s 25thanniversary this way. The husband-and-wife team behind Orlando’s most iconic community theater is packing up a quarter-century’s worth of props, costumes and equipment while looking for a new venue. “I’m trying to keep from crying when people walk in because they’re coming in with tears…

Boca’s skyline is getting another bump in height — a fourth downtown building will be allowed to rise to the maximum height allowed in Boca Raton‘s core area, the City Council decided Monday. The vote was 4-1 in favor of the condominium project Tower One Fifty-Five, which will be on the 100 block of East…

City commissioners talked over their frustrations with various Sarasota problems on Tuesday at an unusual informal meeting. Among those problems were a Downtown Sarasota Community Redevelopment Agency that is soon to expire, a series of projects that have proven difficult to manage and the city’s lack of affordable housing. Recently appointed commissioner Stan Zimmerman had…

NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Developers of a proposed beachfront hotel off Flagler Avenue, which has been vigorously opposed by many residents, have scaled back their plan by 32 rooms. A 114-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott could be built on about 1.5 acres just north of the Breakers Restaurant and Lounge, which sits beside the Flagler…

DELAND — More than 150 citizens, business owners and civic leaders responded to a call from city officials for ideas on how to spend $429,000 that became available after a proposed downtown development fell through last year. A roundtable discussion on downtown projects was held Tuesday night at the Sanborn Activity Center. Assistant City Manager…

This Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is issued by the City of Miami Beach, Florida (the “City”), as the means for prospective Proposer to submit their qualifications, proposed scopes of work and cost Statement of Qualifications (the “proposal”) to the City for the City’s consideration as an option in achieving the required scope of services and…

University of Central Florida trustees on Thursday provided a glimpse into which degree programs might move to downtown Orlando and how much money it would take to build and run the new campus. The trustees approved a working plan after members from the Florida Board of Governors, whose support is key to winning state funding…

Delray’s expanding Community Redevelopment Agency staff is outgrowing the historic home that serves as its headquarters. So the agency board discussed two options: Build an addition to the 2,800-square-foot house. Or relocate the office, which is currently at 20 N. Swinton Ave. At a recent board meeting, board members discussed a proposal that would add…