Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett sat in the driver’s seat of an excavator on Tuesday and knocked off a large chunk of a concrete wall to kick off the city’s demolition of a vacant one-story building on East Commercial Street near the Lake Monroe waterfront. The razing of the building, city officials said, is one of…
DetailsThe city-owned parking lot at the southwest corner of Southeast 47th Terrace and Southeast 10th Place will be getting some much needed improvements after the CRA Board of Commissioners voted 7-1 Monday night in favor of paving and streetscaping work. The lot, located behind Nevermind, currently is not paved. “I think in this day and…
DetailsAre you more likely to succeed in starting a small business in one Florida city over another? Nerdwallet thinks so. Statewide, cities based in Central Florida and the suburbs of Miami are among those topping the list of 268 Florida cities for launching a small business as rated by Nerdwallet, a website that crunches financial…
DetailsTAMPA — Ten years after Donald Trump announced plans for a 52-story tower on the Hillsborough River, a developer has filed preliminary plans for a 52-story tower on the same site. Trump Tower Tampa never was built, a victim of overambition, foundation problems and the real estate bust. But now Feldman Equities wants to erect…
DetailsSARASOTA – Berenise Ahumada wanted to get foot traffic. The owner of leather goods store Eleganza, Ahumada opened a storefront January in downtown Sarasota. She has operated a second store at Tampa’s International Mall for 14 years. By moving downtown, she thought customers would be more likely to stumble upon her store. Ahumada is part…
DetailsDELAND — A Courtyard by Marriott hotel could break ground by the end of the year, bringing more than 100 new hotel rooms to downtown DeLand. DeLand City Commissioners cleared the way for the hotel project Monday night when they approved with very little discussion the demolition of two historic buildings on the north end…
DetailsSARASOTA, Fla. – The detour signs went up Monday night on 1st Street across from Sarasota City Hall. It’s in preparation for the big change coming Wednesday at the busy downtown intersection at Main and Orange, as city commissioners approved $1.3 million for a roundabout. So how will closing down this major intersection affect nearby…
DetailsSARASOTA – The city and county both desperately want something from each other, but it’s unlikely either will get its wish. For the city, it’s an extension of the Downtown Community Redevelopment Agency, which has funneled $76 million into projects in Newtown and the urban core. Commissioners voiced unanimous approval for extending it — perhaps…
DetailsPANAMA CITY — After about a decade of living in the heart of downtown Panama City in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Gayle Paynter and Brian Humboldt are eager to get back to where they feel most at home. “It’s a modest home, not huge … but very industrial,” Humboldt said Wednesday, pointing out…
DetailsOn Monday, Sarasota city commissioners will revisit an issue that has important implications for the future: the community redevelopment district, whose key funding source is scheduled to expire in September 2016. The funding mechanism — known as tax-increment financing — has helped grow the downtown tax base by more than 300 percent since 1986. More…
DetailsTAMPA — After decades of growing out, Hillsborough County now wants to grow from within. To get there, the county is jumping onto the latest trend in urban planning: building an innovation district. Hillsborough’s proposed 2016 budget includes $2 million to create a master plan for redeveloping the area around University of South Florida. The…
DetailsTAMPA — The group that helped create the Riverwalk wants to pay tribute to three of the most significant events in Tampa’s history. Friends of the Riverwalk unveiled concepts Friday for monuments honoring the introduction of the cigar industry to Tampa, the connection of Henry Plant’s railroad to Tampa’s port and World War II. “We…
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