Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Department of Economic Opportunity’s (DEO) Quarterly Newsletter. Each quarter, this newsletter will highlight DEO’s activities, initiatives, and news items of interest to Florida’s workers, employers, economic and community developers, and more. The newsletter will highlight one division of DEO each quarter and provide an in-depth look into the…
MANATEE — In the historic house market, things are moving. Really moving. Eight years ago, a Palmetto mansion was briefly the most famous house in the world when 30 million people watched it get barged under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on its way to a new location in Ruskin. Today, more historic homes — including…
PANAMA CITY — City commissioners took a $35,000 step into the unknown during Tuesday’s meeting. Acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) board, commissioners embarked on a pilot program offering residential housing grants in the Downtown North district. The program is the first of its kind in the CRA to allocate $35,000 as “gap fill” money…
In the face of depressed economic conditions, the past four years have brought significant achievement and national recognition to the city of New Smyrna Beach. This progress is the result of collaboration, dedication to the city’s vision by staff and city leadership, and the good stewardship of previous administrations. With this strong foundation the future…
BROOKSVILLE — The citizens task force evaluating commercial properties for Brooksville’s federally funded Brownfields program will meet Wednesday to determine which ones warrant further investigation for contaminants. An initial list of more than 80 potentially hazard-laced properties has been pared down to 10, based on a scoring and ranking method that also considered the likelihood…
Sharply changing tack, the owners of a downtown Miami lot where the remnants of a prehistoric Tequesta Indian village have been unearthed launched an attack Thursday on the archaeologists responsible, calling their conclusions about the site “hokum” and “a joke.’’ In an interview Thursday, an attorney for MDM Development Group, which plans to build a…
On February 12, 2014 Fernandina Beach City Hall was the venue for a two-hour joint special meeting of the Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC) and the Community Redevelopment Area Advisory Board (CRAAB). Agenda topics included the FBCC’s expectations for the CRA, potential CRA expansion up to the 2% limit imposed by the City Charter, the…
Mayors Come to the Capitol to Support Cities Agenda Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn didn’t have much time to rest after returning from India on Wednesday night. Just a few hours later, early Thursday morning, he hopped aboard a plane to fly to Tallahassee, where he spent most of the day lobbying Gov. Rick Scott and…
$214 Million Automated People Mover Complex at Orlando International Airport The state will put $214 million into construction of the Automated People Mover Complex at Orlando International Airport, Gov. Rick Scott announced this week, connecting the airport and a future rail terminal where All Aboard Florida passengers will alight. All Aboard Florida, the proposed express…
Miami-Dade poll: Voters want Las Vegas-style casinos About 56 percent of likely Miami-Dade County voters want Las Vegas-style “destination resorts” casinos, according to a new poll that shows solid support across party lines. Hispanics back the concept the most: 60 percent said they would favor a proposed state constitutional amendment to allow up to three…
PANAMA CITY — A surge in grant applications has the Panama City Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) reorganizing one district’s process of awarding projects with tax funds. The CRA will establish one competitive grant cycle for the Downtown CRA district’s remaining fiscal year, which runs through September. Projects will be accepted for consideration until the close…
Business owners are getting it — the revitalization of Ocala’s downtown is for real. Even in tough economic times, Magnolia Avenue from Southeast Second Street south to the S-Curve at Southeast 10th Street is experiencing a renaissance. Little by little, buildings south of the Marion Theatre are being spruced up. Young entrepreneurs with fashionable niche…
For the sixth year in a row, city government officials, staff members and residents met to discuss the city’s focus on the future. The Monday night meeting, which intended to gather public input for city commissioners before they begin budget meetings, gathered about 70 members of the community to voice their opinion on topics ranging…
Stuart City Hall, with its magnificent views of the St. Lucie River in the heart of downtown Stuart, could be torn down. What should happen next? A new city hall that meets today’s hurricane safety standards and handicapped-accessibility rules could be built on the same riverfront site. Or a new city hall could be built…
What a pesky thing is history. The story of the past is never finished. That’s true in the 300 block of East Park Avenue, where the long-familiar stories of two historic houses, one of Florida’s first black physicians and Tallahassee’s annual Emancipation Day celebration may have to be rewritten. Thanks, unwittingly, to Tallahassee Mayor John…
TAMPA — After years of planning, Timothy Hodge and his business partner opened the Harbourside Animal Hospital on Jan. 31. The downtown Tampa business was welcomed with much fanfare; Mayor Bob Buckhorn and other officials from the city and Tampa Downtown Partnership attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony on opening day. The animal hospital is the latest…
FDEP received record-breaking number of state Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credit applications, highlighting need to address $10M VCTC backlog FEBRUARY 14, 2014 – The Florida Department of Environmental (“FDEP”) received a record- breaking number of Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credit (“VCTC”) applications for the 2013 cycle for environmental work performed at Brownfield sites across Florida. The record…
Architect and historian Rick Gonzalez will conduct an hourlong tour of downtown West Palm Beach starting at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14, at the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum at the old county courthouse, 300 N. Dixie Hwy. Read full story
DUNEDIN — Cleaner waterways, improved way markers and a new marina might be on tap as the city analyzes a citizens advisory group’s recommendations for improved access to and the appearance of Dunedin’s shoreline. The Waterfront Task Force — led by Dunedin residents Diana Carsey, John Tornga and Kim Beaty — gathered hundreds of pages…
Community Maritime Park Associates Inc. won a major victory Wednesday when a federal judge denied a $23 million counterclaim filed by the park’s former developer and awarded CMPA a judgment of $1.62 million. In her ruling, Chief U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers said Maritime Park Development Partners LLC, and its CEO, Scott Davison, fraudulently…
Orlando’s Historic Preservation Board wants Tinker Field to be declared a local landmark — a designation that would stall the city’s plans to tear it down. It would be irresponsible not to try to save the rundown ballpark where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once spoke, one member of the preservation board said in voting to start…