Miami Gardens has filed a lawsuit against Miami-Dade County claiming that the county is preventing them from building and developing in the area around Sun Life Stadium. The city filed suit July 2 in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, asking for a section of the City Charter to be removed because Miami Gardens and the county never…
DUNEDIN — A wave of enthusiasm for residential development in the Tampa Bay area has reached this small Main Street town. Like bookends on either side of the downtown Main Street, builders plan two- and three-story condos and apartments catering to people who want the urban lifestyle perks of St. Petersburg in an old Florida atmosphere.…
WEST PALM BEACH — Dunbar Village is on the cusp of a massive overhaul, the city’s housing authority says, with the $1 million first phase almost complete and $43 million for the next two phases almost secured. Thirteen buildings, with 56 units, already have been torn down at the site of a 2007 gang rape, with…
Free Wi-Fi access is now available in downtown Winter Haven. The coverage area spans the Central Park corridor: Avenue A Southwest north to Avenue B Northwest, and Fifth Street Southwest to Fourth Street Northwest. The free service is being provided by Winter Haven-based Alternative Choice Wireless in partnership with city government. High-powered wireless antennas were…
Here’s some good news about downtown Clearwater: The Capitol Theatre blew away profit projections in its first quarter as a restored performance venue. And the theater’s popularity has generated enough business for shops and restaurants on the same block that the difference between that block and others downtown is now palpable. Clearly this is no…
Jeff Vinik’s apparent winning bid Wednesday for Channelside Bay Plaza hopefully marks a new chapter for downtown Tampa’s beleaguered outdoor mall. Though the sale is not yet complete, the terms should satisfy the federal bankruptcy judge overseeing the case four years after the building’s owners, the Irish Bank Resolution Corp., foreclosed on the property. Vinik’s…
LEESBURG — Just in time for the Fourth of July celebration, upper levels of the city parking garage at Main and Palmetto streets that were closed for safety reasons have reopened after minor repairs. A portion of the decade-old garage next to the Leesburg Public Library was closed in April after officials noticed missing metal…
LAKE WORTH — Lynn Anderson doesn’t think much of the city commission, but even she likes what they did Tuesday night: They voted 4-0 to ask county transportation officials for up to $1.65 million to pay for a trolley. Commissioner John Szerdi was absent. Lake Worth used to have a trolley, called Lolly The Trolley, which…
BOYNTON BEACH — The Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency is hosting a free movie night Friday at Dewey Park at 100 N.E. Fourth St. The Lego Movie, rated PG, will begin at 8 p.m. Food and drinks will be available to buy at the park. [Read Full Story]
LAKELAND | A downtown business owner and five accomplices added a pop of color to Lakeland’s downtown on Wednesday night. Paint Along Studios owner Dave Collins and the five others painted shrink-wrapped city-owned lampposts on a stretch of Kentucky Avenue in abstract designs of pastel without permission from the city. The plan to make downtown…
TAMPA — A plan to spur riverfront development on a prime 12-acre site in West Tampa moved ahead Thursday when the Tampa City Council unanimously voted to buy two pieces of property several miles away to relocate utility trucks. The trucks have been kept at 2609 N Rome Ave., two blocks south of W Columbus…
Music, food, a good old-fashioned trolley pull, fireworks and the promise of two days of family fun fill an early kickoff to America’s Independence Day celebration at the annual Friendly Kia Fest Main Street Blast today and Saturday at Sims Park downtown. The event, traditionally held the last weekend of June so volunteers can enjoy…
DELAND — Brick-lined West Indiana Avenue was shut down Sunday and transformed into a scene from the 1950s as a Jacksonville advertising agency filmed a commercial for a national credit monitoring company. The Cross Agency brought several dozen crew members, actors and other staff into town for the commercial. Classic cars and actresses wearing red lipstick…
That was the message from Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill to the commission during the first and maybe only workshop on his $3.96 billion operating budget for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. One highlight of Wednesday afternoon’s hour-long session was a plan to spend up to $20 million on unspecified projects across the county…
TAMPA — New hotels are opening. New restaurants aren’t far behind. New apartments are on the horizon. And new numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau bear out what you can see with your own two eyes in the growth of downtown Tampa’s business environment. Between 2007, when the recession stalled developments all over Tampa, and 2012,…
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Canal Street, once lingering in economic doldrums, is in full recovery mode, city officials and business owners say, and they want Volusia County Chair Jason Davis to know it. Davis said last week that when he visits Canal Street, he doesn’t see renewed prosperity. He sees a lack of activity. “All that…
City commissioners took a first look at conceptual plans to spiff up Fruitland Park’s first boulevard at Thursday night’s workshop meeting and they liked what they saw. Mayor Chris Bell asked City Planner Greg Beliveau to develop three options — along with estimated costs — that commissioners can choose from next month. Most cities and…
The fate of the old home near the shores of Lake Sue was almost certain: death by bulldozer. It’s the same demise one out of every eight homes in Winter Park — or more than 1,000 in the last two decades — meets when prospective buyers decide the dirt is worth more than the house. And the…
A rum company named after one of Key West’s favorite literary giants has plans to open up in Old Town, where the island’s first legitimate rum distillery sits about 400 feet away. Hemingway Rum, which makes Papa’s Pilar rum, has filed its first application with city hall to start the approval process required to turn…
LAKELAND | A city board Thursday could not pick its favorite of two radically different proposals to develop 10 acres of city-owned property near the Lakeland Police Department. Downtown Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board members voted 6-1 to pass the matter to the City Commission without their own recommendation between a massive mixed-use development called…
DELAND — Orange City officials celebrated Thursday after three years’ work for an agreement with Volusia County to redevelop its downtown. The County Council voted 6-1 to accept Orange City’s proposed Community Redevelopment Area, or CRA, a tax-increment tool that’s used in 15 other communities across the county. This is the first in southwest Volusia. The…