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…
DetailsMELBOURNE — 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…
DetailsLive 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…
DetailsFORT 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…
DetailsRight 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…
DetailsPalm 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…
DetailsST. PETERSBURG — While the Tampa Bay region is considered the heart of Florida’s independent brewing scene, St. Petersburg has no craft breweries to call its own. After years of planning, working with city officials and searching for the right space, though, three breweries plan to open downtown this year. The friendly competitors will appeal…
DetailsTAMPA — The mayor wants more people living downtown. The developer wants prime real estate for a residential project. The Straz Center wants more parking and office space. All three might get what they want after Mayor Bob Buckhorn and the developer behind downtown’s Skypoint and Element towers agreed today to terms on the sale…
DetailsIf former Miami Beach vice mayor Robert Turchin had been a Miami decision maker during the recent vote that decided the fate of The Miami Herald building, he would probably have voted with the ‘nays’ allowing its demolition. “There’s nothing special about it,” says the 90-year-old Turchin as he cruises Collins Avenue between 63rd and…
DetailsRequest for Qualifications The South Miami Community Redevelopment Agency (“SMCRA”) is requesting Letters of Interest and Qualifications concerning the design and construction of a mixed-use, affordable housing redevelopment project in the City of South Miami Community Redevelopment Area generally located just south of SW 64th Street, between SW 59th Place and just West of SW…
DetailsThe Lake Dora waterfront will not have 60-foot-tall buildings anytime soon. Following a public hearing attended by several hundred people Thursday night at the Mount Dora Community Building, city officials have decided that allowing building heights of up to 60 feet at the lakefront wasn’t a good idea. Many residents shunned the idea, and two…
DetailsThe public contributions of the library and fire department were forever married Friday when the new Downtown Pensacola Library opened with a wing dedicated to the memory a fallen firefighter. About 200 elected officials, other dignitaries and members of the public gathered at the newly renovated and expanded 51,000-square-foot facility. The library, located at the…
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