Good News From Florida’s CRAs

Titusville Revitalizes When Tom Corbin helped pave the roads in Indian River City, he had no idea how it would change his neighborhood. “These were all dirt roads until about 1979,” said Corbin, 56, who grew up in Titusville. “When I got out of the Navy, that was one of my first jobs. I stepped…

Tarpon Springs to Sell Downtown Lot In the heart of the downtown historic district, right on the city’s main drag, there’s a property that has been vacant for four years. A gaping hole in a block of businesses, it’s hidden behind a decorative fence adorned with a mural. The lot at 144 E Tarpon Ave.…

Jacksonville Reorganizes JEDC The Jacksonville City Council will receive Mayor Alvin Brown’s plan to establish a Downtown Investment Authority at its meeting tonight. The new organization, led by a nine-member board, would focus on revitalizing the downtown area, long one of Brown’s major talking points. Brown’s focus on the issue was a turning point in…

Ocala Update on Silver Springs Marion County commissioners on Tuesday embraced a plan to reverse the decline in quality in Silver Springs — the community, that is. At a workshop, the board agreed to launch the process of creating a redevelopment district covering 4,000 acres around the famous attraction. The effort to establish a community…

Merger Creates the Largest Florida Appraisal Institute Chapter The West Coast Florida Chapter joined with the Northwest Florida Chapter, effective April 1, 2012, as the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of the Appraisal Institute. It extends from Collier County along the Gulf of Mexico to Escambia County at the western boundary of the state. With over…

Florida in Motion EFI Newsletter [Digital Edition] Food Manufacturing Is Big in Florida and About to Get Bigger Food products comprise the second largest manufacturing sector in Florida, employing more than 27,000 workers and accounting for about $5 billion of the state’s GDP. Given Florida’s own large market and the influx of over 85 million…

Boca Raton considers improvement district for downtown businesses An an effort to find new ways to pay for downtown revitalization, Boca Raton may turn to downtown businesses to cover the costs of items such as promotions, marketing, parking and shuttles. That goal could be met through a business improvement district where downtown businesses agree to…

Maitland seeks reaction to downtown revitalization Maitland leaders said Monday night that they are seeking more input from city residents about a plan to establish a Downtown Maitland Zoning District before an April 9 vote on the plan. The downtown redevelopment plan, which covers a two-mile, 200-acre area along the Orange Avenue (U.S. Highway 17-92)…

City of Marianna Approves Downtown Revitalization Budget At a special meeting on Friday, Marianna city commissioners approved a budget for phase II of the Downtown Revitalization Project. The CDBG, or Community Development Block Grant program, awarded the city with $372,076.00 last December for these improvements with the stipulation that they be used by Sept. 30.…

Cape council gives Community Redevelopment Agency vote of confidence Cape Coral’s Community Redevelopment Agency should continue to make its own decisions, the City Council decided Monday. The council voted 8-0 against an ordinance calling for power to be switched from the CRA board of directors to the council. Improved communication between the CRA and the…

The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) is the leader of an international movement that calls for the creation of more walkable, livable, mixed-use communities. CNU puts people first, creating built environments to meet the daily needs of people of all ages. We create places that are friendly to walkers and bikers, utilize tax dollars…

Developer Buys Daytona Beachfront Parcels, Plans New Hotel With the $6.3 million sale of 2.76 acres of beachfront property this week, a new hotel could be in the beachside’s future. Palm Coast-based hotel developer Protogroup Inc. bought four lots south of the Plaza Resort & Spa on A1A near Seabreeze Boulevard on Monday. Dave Konchan,…

Jacksonville Beach completes the first half of its North 1st Street reconstruction project! Construction along First Street North in Jacksonville Beach  in the vicinity of the SeaWalk Pavilion, is complete in time for the first festival of the spring and summer season. The Redevelopment District goes from 13th Avenue South to Ninth Avenue North, from…

Florida Travel + Life’s TV Series is Going Hollywood HOLLYWOOD, FL – March 16, 2012 – Hollywood, Florida will get the spotlight on an upcoming special episode of Florida Travel + Life’s Affordable Luxury, a travel television series that takes viewers to Florida’s hottest destinations. The 30-minute episode featuring Hollywood, FL will make its national…

It’s time again for the prestigious Florida Planning & Zoning Association Awards! The FPZA Awards define the standard for land development and public/private sector planning statewide. For several decades, the awards program has been the centerpiece of FPZA’s identification and promotion of best practices in all types of planning and development throughout the state. The…

JACKSONVILLE BEACH IS MOVING AHEAD WITH IMPLEMENTATION OF A MAJOR PHASE OF ITS DOWNTOWN VISION PLAN In 2007, the City of Jacksonville Beach organized a visioning process to chart the future of its redevelopment efforts in the core of the Downtown Community Redevelopment District. Implementation of the Vision Plan began even before the plan was…

Feedback Needed on Florida Chamber’s Small Business Index Survey On Friday, the Florida Chamber of Commerce concluded the 2012 Legislative Session where the Florida Legislature passed or supported 25 Florida Chamber-backed bills.  Despite several distractions and election year politics, the legislature reduced the regulatory burden on Florida’s employers and lowered the cost of doing business…

Ocala gets $2.22M grant, key to downtown linear park An artist’s rendering of a portion of the planned Osceola Linear Park. (City of Ocala) By Susan Latham Carr Staff writer Published: Monday, March 5, 2012 at 9:39 a.m. Last Modified: Monday, March 5, 2012 at 6:12 p.m. The city of Ocala has received a $2.2…

100% OCCUPANCY IN PROGRESSO POINT, FORT LAUDERDALE’S NEWEST AFFORDABLE HOUSING APARTMENTS Fort Lauderdale, FL: – Co-developers Broward County Housing Authority and Reliance Housing Foundation recently opened Progresso Point, downtown Fort Lauderdale’s newest affordable rental community. Less than 60 days after construction was completed, all 76 units in the $20 million eight-story apartment building have been…

SANTA CRUZ – A series of boards overseeing the dissolution of local redevelopment agencies is taking shape, providing a glimpse into the next phase of California’s elimination of a program that helped build local libraries, swimming pools, streets and more. Under legislation passed last year, California’s 400 redevelopment agencies are being eliminated, saving the state…

Energy Department Announces National Initiative to Redevelop Brownfields with Renewable Energy Innovative New Approach Utilizes Solar Energy To Turn Brownfields Into “Brightfields” “Incorporating solar and other renewable energy technologies into the reuse of industrial properties makes economic and environmental sense. This effort can serve as a national, even international model for the kind of development…