Good News From Florida’s CRAs

In recent days, there has been a great deal of confusion over who owns Jordan Park Apartments and what is being done to help the low-income residents who live there. As Chief Executive Officer of the St. Petersburg Housing Authority (SPHA), I would like an opportunity to address community concerns and to provide the facts.…

Depot Park’s opening remains ahead of schedule. It’s set for Aug. 1, less than a year after construction began. And with a recent $60,000 donation from Capital City Bank, local residents will receive respite from Florida’s relentless summer sun via a new sunshade structure. “It was a missing link in the project,” said Cindi Harvey,…

Construct-A-Lead, the Construction Industry’s most comprehensive construction lead service, reported today that the following Florida construction projects will have the necessary approvals and will go forward. Businesses will have ample opportunities to provide construction bids and other services relative to these projects Interested parties are invited to visit construct-a-lead.com and sign up for a test drive.…

STUART — The city is taking a hard look at replacing City Hall and nearby city-owned buildings with a park and a new development, such as a hotel. But details — including costs and where city operations would relocate — remain to be hammered out. By October the city hopes to have more details, including a…

Also known as “La Florida,” South Florida is known for its amazing gardens, fabulous flowers or amazing horticulture. In fact, South Florida is the only area in the United States to have a moist, tropical climate. That said, we are able to produce fruits and vegetables that are genuinely “tropic” and grow popular fruits and…

The challenge of creating a mobility plan in St. Augustine, a place with unique history and growing demands, belongs to Littlejohn Engineering Associates. “Mobility is the most important initiative that we’re doing in the city … in my mind,” City Manager John Regan said, adding that it’s “a complicated issue with many components to it.”…

LAKELAND — An industrial project proposed west of Florida Polytechnic University will potentially add a mega-sized warehouse to an area hot for large logistics projects. The City Commission will hear a proposal to rezone a 104-acre area on University Boulevard, east of the State Road 33 and Interstate 4 interchange, for Brown Development Group, a…

Begun as a steam-powered sawmill in 1934, Parker Lumber endured for nearly 80 years, becoming the oldest family-owned business in Maitland, a suburban city just north of Orlando. Amid competition from Lowe’s and Home Depot, the family close the company in 2011 and put the property, in the center of town, up for sale… Read More…

On June 28, 2016, Cocoa City Council approved a resolution providing for program guidelines and eligibility for the Commercial Property Enhancement Program (CPEP). The CPEP is a performance-based reimbursement grant designed to encourage private investment and improvements to exterior frontage of commercial properties located along major transportation corridors in Cocoa. The CPEP is intended to…

OCOEE — When Rilla Tomyn, 62, was growing up in Ocoee, neighbors knew each other, the roads were mostly dirt and citrus was the primary industry. Today Ocoee is among Florida’s fastest-growing cities of more than 20,000 people, according to new statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau. No city in Orange or Seminole county gained…

An upscale Miami developer has been chosen to lead the city’s signature West River redevelopment, a $500 million project intended to expand the revitalization of downtown west of the Hillsborough River. The Tampa Housing Authority’s governing board on Wednesday approved the selection of the Related Group for the West River project, which includes the construction…

What do the Thames, Seine, Tiber and Hillsborough rivers have in common? Strollable riverbanks in the urban core. While some of these walkways date back centuries, Tampa is just getting around to making the most of its riverfront. The nearly completed Riverwalk on the east side of the Hillsborough has grown into a popular destination…

Boynton Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency wants to consolidate plans in its six areas this summer with the goal of giving developers and residents predictability on what can be done at each location. “We don’t want to miss the market,” said Vivian Brooks, CRA executive director, to the more than 100 people gathered on a Saturday…

In case you haven’t noticed, three signature gateway signs leading into the Skyway Marina District are in place in lower 34th Street South, clearly designating the area as a distinct sector with a unique vibe. The signs are among several new developments in the 1.5-mile stretch between 30th and 54th streets south, which the city of…

LAKELAND —The 4,500-acre area designated the Midtown Community Redevelopment District started the fiscal year with almost five years’ worth of revenues in surplus. It idles no longer as the agency launches several major projects and gets ready for more in 2017. The Midtown district includes roughly the area between George Jenkins Boulevard/Bartow Road and I-4.…

Seminole City Center — the retail property formerly known as the Seminole Mall — has landed a new anchor tenant. Studio Movie Grill, a full-service eat-in movie grill, will open at Seminole City Center in spring 2017, Primerica Group One Inc. and North American Development Group said Monday. The two firms have partnered in the…

Plan will promote safe travel and provide transportation solutions to support economic development TAMPA, Fla. (July 12, 2016) – VHB, an engineering, environmental science, planning, and design firm with 23 offices along the East Coast, was chosen by the City of Naples, Florida to develop concept plans that promote economic development in downtown Naples through…

Five new development plans have been filed in Miami-Dade County as part of the May 2016 comprehensive development master plan (CDMP) amendment cycle, including a proposal to build 1,100 homes on a golf course. The county received seven applications for its bi-annual CDMP amendment cycle. Two of them were the re-filings of development plans for…

Frenchtown, a tight-knit community dating back to the 19th century, was once dotted with robust businesses such as grocery stores, restaurants and drug stores decades ago. The predominantly black neighborhood sits in the shadow of downtown Tallahassee and the state Capitol, where power plays are exchanged and multi-million dollar projects take shape. The opposite is true in…

Mayor Rick Kriseman said he would use his “bully pulpit” as mayor to advocate for improved conditions at the Jordan Park public housing community. Kriseman told members of the Citizen Advisory Committee of the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area Monday that,although the city doesn’t own the property, he would push for “cultural changes” through…