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…
BARTOW | After nearly three years without a director, the city has hired a new executive director to lead Bartow’s Community Redevelopment Agency. K. Stephen Cox II, a program manager with the Panama City CRA, is scheduled to begin his new job Feb. 9, said City Manager George Long. He was chosen among 17 applicants…
WEST PALM BEACH — A north side advisory board for West Palm Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency voted Friday not to pull money from its budget for a Northwood learning center hoping to get a $175,000 grant to expand, but instead to ask that the CRA come up with the cash. On Friday, the advisory board that…
The postcards marked urgent and “third notice” began arriving about a year ago, heralding what? James Williams didn’t know. They invaded the 76-year-old’s mailbox weekly. “How much longer before I hear from you!?!?” one card shouted. “I’ve done all I can to reach you,” another pleads. While the formats vary, including handwritten letters that upon…
The possible establishment of a Community Redevelopment Area for west Ocala took a major step forward this week. The Ocala City Council, acting in its capacity as the Community Redevelopment Advisory Board, voted 4-0 Tuesday to send a draft plan for the proposed CRA to the Planning & Zoning Commission for review to make sure…
MOUNT DORA—Potential changes to the city’s comprehensive plan and land development code that would allow for taller buildings in part of the city have some concerned that tall structures could eventually invade downtown and spoil its quaint character. The changes would allow for up to 65-foot structures in the city’s C3 zoning, the highway commercial…
TARPON SPRINGS – With two new incentive grants, the Tarpon Springs City Commission is looking to attract new businesses and beautify the ones already in town. The first, the CRA Restaurant Recruitment Grant, will help fund the repurposing of businesses into restaurants within the Community Redevelopment Area, which encompasses most of the buildings from Meres…
POMPANO BEACH — The latest vision to turn 6 acres in downtown West Palm Beach into a “transit village” will feature a staggering 1.1 million square feet of hotel, retail and dining, developer Michael Masanoff revealed Friday. Masanoff detailed his plans to The Palm Beach Post just after the board that runs Tri-Rail voted unanimously to…
PANAMA CITY — In the first four months of this fiscal year, Panama City has spent $129,829 on legal and consulting fees in preparation for redevelopment of the city marina. The City Commission will hear an update on the project at its meeting Tuesday at 8 a.m. in City Hall, 9 Harrison Ave. “We have…
Inappropriate. That seems to be the word of the moment in Boynton Beach. Rather than discussing the wisdom of giving millions in tax breaks to developers; rather than addressing why the city still can’t afford to keep the public library open on Fridays; rather than debating why the old high school is rotting away long…