The future of the city’s ambitious Midtown project, a proposed residential and commercial district on 85 acres south of downtown, got a boost this week when legislators approved a bill to help cities considering urban renewal projects tackle stormwater runoff issues more easily. The legislation approved unanimously in the Florida House on Tuesday and three…
DetailsNAPLES — Whether it becomes a mixed-use complex or a city park, the 19-acre Grand Central Station Property near downtown Naples won’t be available for event parking much longer. So City Council took steps Wednesday to find other parking options in the city, both for the short and long term. “We are at the beginning…
DetailsAfter reading the most recent email exchange between Fernandina Beach City Manager Joe Gerrity and developer Dick Goodsell, it appears that the only private project under development for the city’s riverfront Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) has now been shelved indefinitely. An April 23, 2013 post entitled Does the City of Fernandina Beach want riverfront development? …
DetailsTREASURE ISLAND — As part of a continuing effort to encourage hotel and retail development, city officials have presented a plan to create a new zoning district they say will allow developers more flexibility. The new zoning category — a planned development district — is aimed at attracting more hoteliers by increasing allowable densities while…
DetailsFrank Mannadmits he was frustrated. Presented with an opportunity to lure a Fortune 500 company headquarters to Lee County, commissioners were asked to vote on a $4.6 million incentive package this week. The only hiccup — they don’t know what company they’re luring. “It just kind of seems absurd,” Mann said of the vote to…
DetailsMount Dora CRA – Downtown Streetscape Project Phase I Project Description More information is available on the CRA’s Current Project List. The Streetscape project will include improvements to sidewalks, right of way, underground utility, and other related improvements in the historic downtown commercial core. The goal is to improve walkability of the downtown area by…
DetailsVolusia County is closer to a compromise with its cities on the thorny issue of Community Redevelopment Areas, or CRAs. CRAs have been a contentious topic of late, but needlessly so. When properly proposed and approved, the CRAs take new property-tax revenue that a blighted area generates and plow it back into improvements. The improvements…
DetailsLand Needed for Film Studio Location in Dade or Broward County A company is considering developing state-of-the art film studios in Miami Dade or Broward county. They are looking for a minimum of 25 acres of land to either buy or lease long term. The closer to Miami or Ft Lauderdale the better, but they…
DetailsEven Winter Park was hit by the Great Recession. Although it may not have been as bad off as some other parts of Central Florida, the city’s commercial strip along U.S. Highway 17-92 paid a price: Office space sat empty for years, an ice-cream shop gave way to a “we buy gold” store and the Borders bookstore…
DetailsSOUTH DAYTONA — A group of city managers from all over Volusia County sat around a police training-room table recently trying to salvage CRAs. It was Day 15 of their 60-day window to come up with a compromise to present to the county. They might be getting closer, but one thing is clear: The money’s…
DetailsCLEARWATER — A Latvian real estate developer has been buying up vacant storefronts in downtown Clearwater, and he’s making plans to fill them. Daniels Ikajevs, who lives in a penthouse in the Water’s Edge condominium tower overlooking Clearwater Harbor, recently bought the tower’s 10,000-square-foot ground-floor retail space for $875,000. That space has been empty for…
DetailsBoosters of Downtown Dade City Main Street portrayed the group’s demise last week as a case of mission accomplished. Certainly, this agency has much of which to be proud, but the end can be more accurately described as resource competition. Main Street and other non-profit groups find themselves competing for financial support in a still…
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