Downtown Fort Myers trolleys on a roll again Trolleys will return to the streets of Fort Myers today for a second season to ferry passengers throughout downtown. The River District Trolley program was introduced during the 2012-13 tourist season to encourage visitors to walk around downtown and hop on a trolley when headed to a…
Shaping and implementing the vision for the City of Live Oak Live Oak — In a workshop setting Nov. 14, Florida’s Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design (CIRD) was welcomed to Live Oak to help the city continue its quest to shape and implement the vision for the City of Live Oak that was begun in…
Tampa seeks hotel, multi-family project proposals in Ybor City TAMPA — With developers sniffing around Ybor City, Tampa officials plan to seek proposals for two pieces of city land, one of them a potential hotel site at the historic district’s front door. City officials said Thursday they plan to invite hotel proposals for about a…
Kriseman announces his first hire, a St. Petersburg deputy mayor who also will oversee Midtown ST. PETERSBURG — One week after winning the election, Mayor-elect Rick Kriseman announced his first hire: a high-ranking hospital official who will be his only deputy mayor. At a 10 a.m. news conference, Kriseman said Kanika Tomalin will focus on citywide…
Stuart partnership could bring more events to downtown Revelers can look forward to more public events in downtown Stuart, thanks to the success of an 18-month-old partnership between the Downtown Business Association and Stuart Main Street. Read full story
Boynton’s development project gets a lifeline The Boynton Community Redevelopment Agency board unanimously voted to throw a stalled downtown development project a lifeline. On Tuesday, the CRA board went against staff’s recommendation to kill the One Boynton LLC/Kanner & Pintaluga project and voted to wait another 30 days to try and reach an agreement. “There’s…
Winter Park tries to make it easier to park your car on Park Avenue Winter Park’s tree-lined, picturesque Park Avenue offers some of Central Florida’s best dining and shopping. If you can find a parking spot. Empty spots are tough to come by at peak times, and the situation tends to get worse during the…
Inspector general’s Hallandale probe painful Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper didn’t like the way she and her city were handled by the Broward County inspector general earlier this year. Cooper sent a three-page letter to the bosses of Inspector General John Scott a few days before his annual evaluation last week. At the evaluation meeting…
Treasure Island’s Silverboard: parking garage not feasible TREASURE ISLAND – City Manager Reid Silverboard told Treasure Island Commissioners Nov. 5 that building a parking garage either beachside or downtown is not feasible. He pointed to the estimated $6 million cost and the revenue the city would receive as the reason. “As you know, we have…
Major Boynton downtown development hits negotiation snag Negotiations have failed in a major downtown Boynton Beach development that could have brought 200 jobs to the city. The CRA board will hear an update of the One Boynton LLC/Kanner & Pintaluga project — which included a hotel, two multi-use towers and a 50,000-square-foot headquarters for law…
Downtown Boca: Allocated residential space nearly gone If you want to build a place to live in downtown Boca Raton, act fast. In a city where 469 residential units are under construction downtown and another 558 are due to begin building before the middle of next year, it looks like downtown Boca Raton is quickly running out of…
Delray Marketplace adding parking spaces After almost a decade of waiting, residents of West Delray got the entertainment complex they asked for in the form of Delray Marketplace. What they didn’t get were enough places to park. But, that will change soon. Officials from the center, which is located at the intersection of West Atlantic…
Locals pitch baseball complex for downtown West Palm Beach WEST PALM BEACH — Bruce Lewis says he’s not trying to create “a turf war” between Palm Beach Gardens and West Palm Beach. But knowing that neighborhoods in Palm Beach Gardens were pushing back at a plan to build a two-team baseball complex there, Lewis decided to…
Should Venice’s Seaboard area be redeveloped? VENICE – Sam Lubus, a machine manufacturer in Venice for about 20 years, worries about the future of his business if the area where it is located undergoes the type of sweeping redevelopment being talked about at City Hall. Inline Filling Systems is in Seaboard, an industrial zone of factories,…
Fort Myers entertainment district report questioned Proposed regulation for an existing entertainment district in downtown Fort Myers Beach received negative feedback from neighboring and island residents during a workshop at Town Hall Wednesday. After listening to a report from Larue Planning Management and discussion from Town officials, many residents spoke in opposition to potential guidelines…
Both Restoration and Decay Characterize Lakeland’s Historic Dixieland LAKELAND | It was the front porch that captivated Mary Smith. As she and her husband, Jack Smith, drove through Lakeland’s Dixieland neighborhood in 1997, checking on homes for sale, a bungalow house on Highland Street captured her heart. She said the 1923 structure reminded her of…
Hialeah Councilman proposes arts district Picture a walkable stretch of east Hialeah lined with mural-painted walls, galleries and music venues. Peppered with cafeterias and thrift stores that now rest between a smattering of car repair shops warehouses, the area would be home to artists and their work in spaces with cheap rents. It’s the vision…
Annexation problem arises in Bonita Springs A misinterpretation of the law could put the City of Bonita Springs’ Pelican Landing annexation referendum in doubt. Bonita officials haven’t collected enough signed consent forms from residents in the annexation area to hold the referendum, the Lee County Attorney’s Office said this week in a memo to county…
Belleview OKs plan to improve downtown, combat blight BELLEVIEW — A new redevelopment plan adopted by the Belleview City Commission this week lays out various goals designed to improve the city’s downtown region and cutting back on blight. The Downtown Belleview Community Redevelopment Plan focuses on the main thoroughfares of the city: Abshier Boulevard, County…
Coconut Grove waterfront plan coasts to victory Miami voters on Tuesday easily approved a city-backed plan to remake a rundown piece of Coconut Grove’s picturesque public waterfront despite vigorous, even angry opposition from some residents of the historic village. The vote clears the way for developers Grove Bay Investment Group to sign a 50-year lease…
Lee agrees to send $13.7 million to Bonita Springs for downtown project Disregarding concerns over budget constraints, Lee County commissioners unanimously agreed Tuesday to give Bonita Springs $13.7 million to redevelop its downtown. The arrangement works similarly to a community redevelopment agency: capturing increased tax revenue from higher property values and dedicating it to finance…