The Use of Incentives in Economic Development Competition among states and cities for new business projects is nothing new. Economic development incentive use accelerated as the federal government cut back on economic development programs in the late 1980s early 1990s. The impact of the recession during that period resulted in plant closures, lay-offs, fewer new…
The Ocala City Council reached consensus at Tuesday’s workshop meeting to give a group of local developers an exclusive six-month right to assess the feasibility of building a boutique hotel on the former Chamber of Commerce site downtown. This will include discussions with the city about a conference center and possibly a parking garage. After…
Brand showcases Florida’s status and reputation as a super-state for business (TALLAHASSEE, FL) January 31, 2013 – Today, Enterprise Florida (EFI) and Governor Rick Scott unveiled Florida’s first-ever business brand in front of EFI’s board of directors and key stakeholders. The brand reflects the state’s existing business foundation, economic power, capabilities and resources, all of…
We would like to highlight Florida Power & Light’s (FPL) presentation at the Stakeholders Council meeting regarding the launching of their new Resource Center website for EDO’s across the state: www.poweringflorida.com<http://www.poweringflorida.com> FPL’s economic development team will be traveling around the state in the coming months to offer hands on training for local economic development organizations.…
The Volusia County Council seems likely to cast a weary and skeptical eye on any further requests for Community Redevelopment Areas, or CRAs. A CRA takes new property-tax revenue from a blighted area and pours it into improvements. That diverts new property-tax revenue from Volusia County government and some other taxing districts, causing controversy through…
BRADENTON — The Bradenton Downtown Development Authority approved $13,000 in grant money Tuesday to support a new craft beer brewery coming to Bradenton. The projected two-story, 15,000-square-foot brewery at 1014 Ninth St. W. will include brewery tours, a tasting room, an outdoor patio and a beer garden. The beer manufacturing facility, which has yet to…
When Miami last invited businesses to submit proposals for a restaurant and marina on city-owned property, companies with outstanding property taxes were automatically disqualified. The rule no longer exists, according to a revamped version of the request for proposals published this month. That’s good news for the current operator, Scott Wessel. Wessel bid on the…
Passersby paused to take in a “bittersweet” moment as a wrecking ball swung into Coconut Grove’s iconic Grand Bay Hotel on Tuesday, clearing ground for a pair of twisting glass condo towers. Danish architect Bjarke Ingels has designed the $400 million project being developed by the Terra Group. Construction is slated to begin this spring,…
BOCA RATON— — Tower One Fifty Five will rise nine stories in Boca Raton‘s downtown as the mammoth condominium development received its final city approval Tuesday — with a unanimous vote. This time, the City Council — meeting as the Community Redevelopment Agency — gave the proposed 209-unit building its seal of approval, but not…
PLANT CITY — David Hawthorne, who played a key role in historic downtown’s redevelopment, was discovered dead Jan. 17 at a South Pasadena condominium. Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies who were called to check on Hawthorne’s welfare found the 62-year-old’s body shortly before 11 a.m., sheriff’s spokeswoman Cecilia Barreda said. He died from a gunshot wound…
DELAND — For nearly a decade, the city has proposed building a transportation hub on the southern edge of downtown, but the project has faced repeated delays. City commissioners may vote Wednesday night to accept a $1.365 million bid from APM Construction of Port Orange to build the Intermodal Transportation Facility on 3.5-acres of city-owned…
Chef Clay Butters was thinking first-class when he opened Martini’s Chophouse. He wanted a modern cuisine experience, with lots of local and organic ingredients and an Art Deco setting that wouldn’t be out of place in South Beach. He wasn’t in South Beach, though. He was in South Daytona, on a street better known along…
FORT PIERCE — After more than six months of negotiations, the proposed land swap deal to redevelop Fisherman’s Wharf will likely die. City commissioners are meeting Tuesday evening as the city’s Redevelopment Agency board to talk about the proposal for the first time publicly with the new mayor, Linda Hudson, but there may not be…
TITUSVILLE — A Tampa-based developer has teamed with an Ohio-based design-build firm to build an open-air town center to replace the nearly empty Miracle City Mall. AG Development Group Inc. intends to build a $55 million Miracle City Towne Centre with about 300,000 square feet of stores, restaurants, a medical facility and a multiscreen theater.…
ST. PETERSBURG — Downtown’s popular stretch of real estate along Beach Drive may have no vacancies left by the time renovations are complete this spring on a historic boutique hotel. Getting into one of the hottest locations in a growing downtown was one reason Chuck and KathyPrather believe they got a good deal buying the…
PANAMA CITY — Figures released by authorities show crime dramatically decreased in 2012 in downtown Panama City. “This business that we’re in of redevelopment is built on a lot of good partnerships,” said William Whitson, Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) director. “One of the greatest partnerships we’ve started here is working with our police department.” Data…
MELBOURNE — Driving north on U.S. 1 from Palm Bay, motorists enter an aging commercial corridor peppered with shuttered buildings and industrial vistas of asphalt and concrete. Melbourne officials aim to improve this view. They envision a mile-long streetscape project featuring brick-paver crosswalks, bike lanes, landscaped medians, sidewalks and shade trees such as Southern magnolias…
Live Oak — The local Extension Office and the Live Oak Community Redevelopment Agency teamed up with dozens of locals for a bus tour to three different regional cities to learn about a range of projects completed through their CRAs and how the community at large has benefitted from them. About 30 people attended the…
FORT PIERCE — A strip of land developers have offered the city in exchange for publicly owned property at Fisherman’s Wharf would come with a potential thorn in the city’s side — a historic home in the middle of the tract. The city wouldn’t be able to sell, lease or develop the property as one…
Right outside the Starbucks on Southeast First Street, a metal rooster sits on a metal pole about 15 feet in the air, its mouth open as if crowing to people desperate for their morning coffee. Nearby, on Southeast Second Place, a large metal stag rests against the wall outside Persona Vintage Clothing & Costumes, almost…
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer The plan to build a hotel next to Palm Beach County’s convention center in downtown West Palm Beach has cleared its final hurdle. Assistant County Administrator Shannon LaRocque said Monday that all of the construction contracts have been signed by both the county and the developer. In a largely ceremonial…