After months of deliberation and behind-the-scenes maneuvering, Big Bend Cares was approved for a $1.5 million investment from the Tallahassee Community Redevelopment Agency on Thursday. The nonprofit agency that serves people with AIDS and HIV will use the money to build a two-story, 25,000-square-foot medical center on South Monroe Street. According to Big Bend Cares…
DetailsTEMPLE TERRACE — City officials have had more than a dozen meetings and phone conversations with developers and business people inquiring about the 22 acres of land Temple Terrace wants to sell to build a true downtown. No one, however, has submitted an informal plan as to what they might want to build there, as…
DetailsAfter more than a decade of work, Federal Highway in Delray Beach is back to its roots as a thoroughfare with two lanes in each direction. In the mid-1970s the road was widened to three lanes before the state Department of Transportation extended Interstate 95 from Fort Lauderdale north to West Palm Beach. But the…
DetailsHollywood City Commissioner Peter Hernandez says the Beach Community Redevelopment Agency should be abolished because it has had increasing property tax funds for its use — at times exceeding its needs — while the “rest of the city is starving” to pay for operations and needed improvements. While his proposal has yet to gain support…
DetailsEAGLE LAKE — Ending blight and positioning the city to take advantage of opportunities for growth were major topics during the City Commission’s retreat Saturday. City Manager Luke Lewis began the discussion of the city’s future by talking about blight in the 3.2-square-mile city and ways to generate revenue. “There are areas in this city…
DetailsA vote on a $1.5-million investment in a Big Bend Cares expansion was delayed until next week over concerns about how it affects Bond Community Health Center. During a crowded meeting of a Community Redevelopment Agency citizen panel this week, members decided they need more clarification on how Bond and Big Bend Cares would work…
DetailsTREASURE ISLAND — As a city with an aging infrastructure and limited growth potential, officials are looking for every opportunity to generate more revenue. One possibility on the horizon that could expand the city’s tax base is redevelopment of residential areas, said City Manager Reid Silverboard. About 83 percent of the city’s property tax base…
DetailsZEPHYRHILLS — A code enforcement crackdown is coming to Zephyrhills. City leaders sounded the alarm this week during a City Council workshop, warning that blight is spreading throughout the city as property owners are letting their properties fall into extreme disrepair. “Something needs to be done about this. It’s almost getting out of control,” City…
DetailsPANAMA CITY — One of the two administrative positions at the Panama City Downtown Improvement Board (DIB) is now vacant after the organization cut ties with Main Street Coordinator Valerie Woods, who held the position for less than a year. Main Street, a statewide program administered by the Florida Department of State, is overseen by…
DetailsSARASOTA COUNTY – Sarasota County commissioners will not renew a program that has seeded nearly $100 million into downtown and Newtown redevelopment during the past three decades. After months of signals that they were letting the program sunset — and a growing rift with the city that solidified the program’s demise — commissioners this week officially…
DetailsANATEE — Local attorney Caleb Grimes has watched Manatee County’s existing Land Development Code and the project approval process turn people away from wanting to develop in the county. “We have to recognize that we may not get it right the first time but we’ve got to start and we’ve got to start letting the…
DetailsScott Shimberg spreads an enormous map across a conference table, and sweeps his hand over the geographic picture of east Tampa. One roadway in particular gets his attention — 22nd Street. He sees a roadway that is noteworthy as a connector to neighborhoods — Ybor City and the Channel District among them — and a…
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