CRA Board Selects Interim Director By Suzie Schottelkotte THE LEDGER BARTOW | Bartow’s Community Redevelopment Agency board agreed Monday to hire Andy Laurent of Bartow Consulting Inc. as interim director while board members and the City Commission continue discussing the agency’s future structure. Laurent, a former Bartow city commissioner, said he and Brian Hinton, another…
DetailsHistoric Floridan to re-open By Justin George, Tampa Bay Times Staff Writer TAMPA — Shuttered since 1987, the Floridan Hotel, once Tampa’s grandest and tallest building that catered to the likes of Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart and Elvis Presley, became a home to vultures and vermin for decades. So when a development group led by…
DetailsDetours Studied for Downtown Train Traffic By Tom Palmer, THE LEDGER LAKELAND | If there’s a better way to route freight rail traffic through Polk County, a consultant hired by the Florida Department of Transportation is supposed to find it. Preliminary work is under way on an 18-month study to look for alternative routes for…
DetailsFifth Avenue not a Main Street community, despite sign saying it is By KRISTINE GILL, Naples News A pink sign at the east end of Fifth Avenue South identifies the strip of restaurants and shops as a Florida Main Street Community. The program offers resources to cities looking to revitalize downtown areas. But Naples lost…
DetailsBayWalk owner mum on details for new complex, but construction is under way For the original article visit The Tampa Bay Times The identity of one of the city’s crown jewels is being transformed, and residents will finally get a glimpse next month of millionaire Bill Edward’s vision for BayWalk. Already, construction crews have razed a…
DetailsNew Naples coalition seeks unified vision for downtown For the original article visit NaplesNews.com When talk of rerouting U.S. 41 began last August, downtown business and property owners from all corners of the city converged on Naples City Hall, fearing a decrease in traffic and customers. The idea was shot down. A year later,…
DetailsRe-imagining Leesburg For the original article visit The Daily Commercial Several downtown Leesburg merchants and residents say an inviting streetscape and gateway entrance into Main Street off U.S. Highway 27/441 is what the city needs for economic success and future survival. “There are still people in Leesburg that do not know that there is…
DetailsBest Urban Block in South Florida? It’s out there. For the original article visit The Miami Herald We used to know how to do this in America — how to build a convivial, walkable, prosperous city neighborhood of shops, workplaces and homes that drew people to it like the proverbial bee to honey. Then came…
DetailsTaxpayers pay dearly for preservation For the original article visit TBO.com It’s hard to find many people who oppose the idea of preserving historic buildings. Though often rickety and faded, these weathered artifacts of past craftsmanship forge a tangible link between our world and the one our parents and grandparents inhabited. But preservation can be…
DetailsNew Port Richey considers deeper cuts to Main Street, special events For the original article visit the Tampa Bay Times City officials are looking at more funding cuts for Greater New Port Richey Main Street and some of the city’s most popular events, scrimping in every corner of next year’s budget. The city has steadily…
DetailsFour new restaurants coming to CityPlace later this year For the original article visit The Palm Beach Post A mixture of cuisine offerings is coming to CityPlace by the end of the year, filling several empty restaurant spots. Pampas Grille will go in the spot formerly occupied by McCormick and Schmick’s at Okeechobee Boulevard across from…
DetailsCorrection: Seizing Mortgages Story For the original article visit the Bismarck Tribune Online FONTANA, Calif. (AP) — In a story July 15 about a proposal for cities and counties to use the power of eminent domain to seize mortgages and help homeowners into more manageable payments, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Robert Hockett, a…
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