Good News From Florida’s CRAs

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…

Downtown West Palm Beach is a mecca of activity for all ages with shopping, dining and a nightlife scene where violent crimes are a rarity if not unheard of. Read full article

WEST PALM BEACH — The demolition of a dozen buildings on South Flagler Drive alarmed some nearby residents that yet another development project might be in the works near Family Church Downtown at First Baptist. But the church says they need to have faith. Read full article

WEST PALM BEACH — A proposal for an iconic downtown garage of world-class design got an informal go-ahead Monday despite reservations by some commissioners that they should consider other priorities first. Community Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Jon Ward had proposed the project at Banyan Boulevard and Olive Avenue, next to the former city hall site,…

BELLEAIR — The once-proud Belleview Biltmore Hotel, admired in its day as the White Queen of the Gulf, is coming down. Demolition crews have begun the months-long task of stripping and razing the 118-year-old hotel complex. The abandoned hotel property will make way for a town house and condominium community that JMC Communities plans for…

TEMPLE TERRACE — As a boy growing up in Columbus, Ind., Martin Hudson passed the time in church drawing cities on the back of the programs. So, planning Temple Terrace’s downtown — which to date has given a headache for the City Council — is fun for him. “Not only is it fun; we can…