TAMPA — Many Hillsborough County neighborhoods continue to be victimized by illegal dumping, overgrown lots and dilapidated houses. When conditions like these persist, experts say, crime proliferates and a general sense of hopelessness overcomes a community. Hillsborough’s Code Enforcement Department is launching new initiatives aimed at attacking blighted conditions quickly before they worsen. Assistant County…
DetailsThe city of Sanford plans to team with a developer with the hope of turning a stagnant pocket near the Lake Monroe waterfront into a vibrant area filled with homes, restaurants, shops and a hotel. The plan is part of a push to spark development along Sanford’s scenic waterfront and also to sell off a…
DetailsThe job of reviving downtown Clearwater is so big that it’s hard to know where to start. It has now been five months since a panel of outside experts with the Urban Land Institute presented the city with a slew of far-reaching recommendations for its downtown. That time lag has downtown boosters champing at the…
DetailsSARASOTA – Tatyana Sharoubim may be in her third trimester, but that doesn’t deter the 28–year-old mom-to-be from wearing heeled wedges and thigh-high boots to work every day. “We sell a lot of shoes just because our clients see us wearing them,” said Sharoubim, the owner of T. Georgiano’s Shoe Salon, an upscale boutique at…
DetailsDowntown Orlando’s recent rebirth is exciting – and bittersweet — for entrepreneur Bob Snow, who brought the area to life in the ’70s with Church Street Station. “It was singers and dancers and red hot girls and jugglers and bag pipe players, and about 25 buses on a Saturday night,” Snow reminisces. “We had Col.…
DetailsThe Bo Diddley Community Plaza will undergo significant renovations next year, which means the Union Street Farmers Market and other events typically held there must find new homes downtown until the plaza reopens. Construction on the plaza is expected to begin by March and will probably take a year to complete, said Sarah Vidal-Finn, manager…
DetailsJacksonville University is taking visible steps to expand its riverfront Arlington campus. The private school will demolish 10 buildings at the former Boys’ Home Association Inc. property it bought immediately south of its campus. The home closed several years ago. Those buildings sit on the 38.6-acre site that JU acquired in June for $3.3 million.…
DetailsSEBRING — Decades ago, Sadie Kahn, who along with her husband, Mike Kahn, were pioneer residents of Sebring, allowed the city to use a small plot of land near the Nan-ces-o-wee Hotel as a park area, provided that it was maintained. “They didn’t take care of it very well,” recalled Marvin Kahn, a son of…
DetailsDELAND — The Volusia County Council on Thursday approved Edgewater’s first Community Redevelopment Area, a 20-year plan that’s designed to rejuvenate an ailing stretch of U.S. 1 and create a downtown area. The County Council voted 5-1 to grant a delegation of authority for city officials to create a new redevelopment district that will total…
DetailsYbor City’s cigar industry origins are the subject of A Legacy of Smoke, a documentary short making its Tampa premiere 4 p.m. Sunday at the appropriately historic Tampa Theatre. This one-time-only screening is sponsored by El Centro Español de Tampa, billed as Tampa’s oldest ethnic social club, incorporated in 1891. A Legacy of Smoke chronicles…
DetailsSEBRING — Two long-vacant historic hotels in downtown Sebring may soon have a new owner with plans for using the buildings. The Sebring City Council will hold a special meeting Dec. 8 to hear about the developer’s plans for the former Santa Rosa Hotel at 509 North Ridgewood Ave., and the former Nan-ces-o-wee Hotel at…
DetailsThe idea to make downtown Fort Myers a vibrant, entertainment area hasn’t dimmed. Local business owners have come up with a plan that they hope will drive in more late-night patrons. The plan still revolves around allowing open alcohol containers on the street during events such as Art and Music Walk. As well as “soft…
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