Good News From Florida’s CRAs

Land clearing is continuing on the Kolter Group’s project to build twin 19-story buildings on the Intracoastal Waterway called Water Club, across from the Benjamin School about a mile south of PGA Boulevard. Plans for the seven-acre parcel include 74 condos in each building, which will have parking on the bottom floor. Twenty townhouses are…

AVON PARK – Some look at it as a way to spruce up the streets, liven up the storefronts, bring beauty and vibrancy to neighborhoods and make town overall more appealing. But others look at it as a vice to possibly decrease home values, even to the point big developers could come in and buy…

BOCA RATON — Downtown Boca Raton’s first hotel is going to rise higher than most of Boca’s buildings, the City Council decided Monday. The 12-story Hyatt Place Hotel Boca Raton is expected to break ground in March. Councilwoman Constance Scott called the 200-room hotel the missing piece of the downtown puzzle. “I am very excited…

University of Central Florida President John Hitt made it official Tuesday, announcing to community and business leaders that UCF will push to build a campus in downtown Orlando that could ultimately cost as much as $200 million. UCF has been studying the idea of a downtown campus at the Creative Village — where the city’s…

LAKELAND | Officials at The Lakeland Center are looking for developers to build a second hotel at the complex to meet the growing demand for lodging in Lakeland and to attract larger conventions. Mike LaPan, executive director of The Lakeland Center, said Hyatt Place’s 127 rooms are not enough to entice larger events, and the…

NEW SMYRNA BEACH — “Excitement is building!” reads the sign that was slated to be put up Sunday on what has been a largely dormant piece of property in the heart of the city’s downtown. It heralds a project by White Redevelopment Co. called Tabby House that will see up to 18 homes built on about…

Fruitland Park city commissioners and City Planner Greg Beliveau couldn’t see eye-to-eye last week when it came to commercial design standards on County Road 466A or dressing up Berckman Street, the city’s main boulevard. During a workshop called by Mayor Chris Bell, Beliveau presented the board with some commercial design standards he developed eight years…

Although plans to turn the Gainesville Gas Co.’s 32-acre former home into the city’s version of Central Park date back more than a decade, the project has been constantly evolving — as has its budget and completion date. The Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency took on the project around 2009, although the idea for Depot Park…

BOYNTON BEACH —  To prevent further confusion or another possible setback in a project, the Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency board adopted a new cone of silence, a policy that makes clear to whom it’s appropriate for board members to speak with while developers compete for projects. Confusion over the former cone of silence policy…

Title: Neighborhood Enterprise Division Manager – Escambia County, Florida Organization: Escambia County Board of County Commissioners Salary: $68,036.80 – $78,249.60 Annually Date Posted: 09/15/14 Closing Date: 09/29/2014 City: Pensacola County: Escambia County, FL Type of Position: Full-Time Education Requirement: Bachelor’s in Community Development, Public Administration, or Business Administration Experience Requirement: Five years of managerial experience…

Leesburg has approved a temporary waiver of municipal impact fees to encourage redevelopment in certain areas of the city. City commissioners unanimously agreed Monday night to waive impact fees for new businesses moving into and refurbishing existing structures within Leesburg’s three community redevelopment areas. The waiver covers utility, police, fire and recreation impact fees for qualifying businesses…

Kenya Young flashed a wide smile and raised her arms high in the air Monday afternoon to celebrate her family’s new apartment as they aim for the American dream of owning a home. “We get to move in on Friday!” said the 35-year-old mother of four, who found out three weeks ago that her family…

LAKE WORTH — A bright mural nearing completion downtown — featuring an owl, members of a native tribe and booming speakers — had onlookers talking Sunday. “I love it,” said Leslee Scruggs, who lives in Lake Worth, as she snapped shots with her camera phone. “I didn’t realize it was happening. Usually you have to…

LAKE WORTH — Downtown Lake Worth is getting more color. Over the weekend, three sleek murals were decked on the walls of retail buildings on Lucerne Avenue during the Going-A-Wall live-painting event. It featured live music, food trucks and several paint-covered artists in action. On one wall, the side of Bruce Webber’s Art Gallery building,…

The Delray agency responsible for keeping the city free of slum and blight is being asked to dish out more money this year. The Community Redevelopment Agency board will consider approving budget requests from the city and several nonprofits on Thursday and they could find themselves spending more money. But the group will likely have…

TAMPA — To enliven downtown, Tampa has tried: • Coloring the Hillsborough River kelly green for St. Patrick’s Day. • Creating a mac-and-cheese festival. • Putting a pop-up golf driving range on N Franklin Street. • Trucking in loads of white sand for a summer beach volleyball court. Now comes a hot pink pingpong table…

Tampa, Florida –The federal government says Hillsborough County misused almost a million dollars in grants during its “Fight the Blight” campaign and it wants the money back. The inspector general of the Department of Housing and Urban Development released a scathing audit of the county’s use of federal Community Development Block Grant money for these…

Live Oak — Local residents, business leaders and city officials filled the Passenger Train Depot Tuesday evening to discuss the future of Downtown Live Oak and to prioritize a list of projects they would like to see done in the upcoming CRA fiscal year. As a result, the group decided roadways, a medical clinic facility…

Oxford Road in Fern Park is not one of Seminole County’s prettiest streets. The sidewalks are cracked and broken. The landscaping is either bare or filled with weeds. And empty parking lots are littered with liquor bottles, beer cans and other rubbish. Fernwood Boulevard, which runs alongside the Jai-Alai fronton and crosses Oxford Road, is…

Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik isn’t ready yet to unveil a gleaming architectural drawing of how everything in the new Channelside Bay Plaza will look, partly because that plan won’t exist for many more months. However, on Friday some of his lieutenants sketched out a timeline for when they hope some of the major…

Mercury Advisors is moving forward with its latest Channelside development, finalizing a joint venture with an Atlanta group and planning a fourth-quarter groundbreaking. Mercury will partner with Daniel Corp. on the apartment-and-retail development proposed on the block between East Twiggs and Madison streets, along Meridian Avenue, Principal Ken Stoltenberg said Friday. The project has been proposed as Martin at Meridian,…