Bruce Katz, the Brookings Institution’s globe-trotting guru who believes cities are the innovation engines that will drive the 21st century economy, stopped by Tampa and Hillsborough County for a few days this past week to see how we’re doing and dispense some advice. In a whirlwind of visits with Tampa International Airport CEO Joe Lopano,…
Details“Fresh, Local & Equitable” initiative seeks to foster economic vitality, cultural expression in low-income communities Kresge will award up to 20 planning grants of up to $75,000 each in the first quarter of 2016 as part of the initiative. Organizations and collaborations that lead food-oriented development initiatives in economically distressed urban neighborhoods are eligible. Planning…
DetailsBoca Raton is nearly out of land, so developers are building on small parcels, or redoing existing properties, to make way for new homes and shops. One shopping center under construction now is Park Place by Schmier & Feurring Properties on Military Trail, south of Clint Moore Road and Office Depot’s world headquarters. In addition…
DetailsMarket Off Main, a quaint restaurant and fresh market, nestled on the banks of the Pithlachascotee River, was a favorite spot for people hankering for locally grown vegetables and comfort food offerings. But there was always a feeling of being on the outskirts of downtown for business partners Rose Mohr, 68, and Jerry Kuss, 73.…
DetailsSARASOTA – Hoyt Architects has created a bright, modernist rendering for a new, 10-story, mixed-use apartment building to be built on Second Street in downtown Sarasota. The firm said permits for staging, foundation and demolition have been issued for small buildings at 1401 and 1445 Second St., the latter formerly occupied by United Way before…
DetailsSEBRING — During a recent event in downtown Sebring, scores of participants, unable to find Port-O-Lets, crowded restrooms at The Circle Theatre. Susan Macool, theatre general manager, said she’s tried to tell clients when their plans, such as hosting a band, might get overshadowed by, for example, another band on the Circle. This summer, a…
DetailsBRADENTON — He swore he wouldn’t get emotional. It might be one of the few times Bradenton Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Dave Gustafson failed to achieve a goal as he struggled to get through his final presentation to the DDA board. Gustafson’s five-year tenure as the head of the DDA will end on Friday…
DetailsLAKELAND — City commissioners agreed Wednesday that they want to see what it will take to make downtown Lakeland a test bed for a city-owned gigabit-speed Internet service provider. In that test bed area, the city could build and operate a fiber optics utility and sell Internet access services, with speeds roughly 100 times faster…
DetailsDUNDEE — Town commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved an agreement with the Central Florida Regional Planning Council to develop a downtown vision plan. The town will pay the council $25,000 from a Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Community Planning Technical Assistance Grant it received in September. Planning should start in December and be completed in May…
DetailsMaking bad neighborhoods good takes money and time. Community redevelopment agencies are one way local governments can ensure that struggling areas continue to receive the resources they needed, even through city council turnover and policy changes. Or so went the thinking of state lawmakers when, nearly 50 years ago, they put in place a program…
DetailsBRADENTON — Bradenton’s Historic Ware’s Creek Neighborhood infill project is back on the move. City clerk Carl Callahan said he will likely have ready by Wednesday’s city council meeting a contract to begin surveying multiple lots bounded by Ninth Avenue West, Ballard Park Drive, Eighth Avenue West and 17th Street West, with two properties encompassing…
DetailsTucked away off Collins Avenue on Miami Beach’s North Shore, the two beachside blocks of Ocean Terrace could have been the neighborhood’s answer to Ocean Drive, only in miniature. Ocean Terrace — the heart of a tiny historic district — boasts a trio of Art Deco hotels supplemented by a handful of modest Miami Modern…
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