New downtown transportation alternatives are edging closer to reality — if the city can find business partners willing to help. City Council members, sitting as the Community Redevelopment Agency board, agreed at their Feb. 27 meeting to request proposals from private companies on how much they will charge the city to help it launch downtown…
Ace Cafe Orlando, the first North American outpost of the celebrated London-based motor-diner, is scheduled to open this spring. The 35,000-square-foot dining, entertainment, and retail destination, is forecast to draw over 400,000 people to downtown Orlando annually. Since 1938, Ace Cafe London has been a mecca for those passionate about cars, bikes and rock ’n…
Tallahassee’s community redevelopment agency better act fast if it wants to get any new projects approved, lobbyist Ron Book warned the City Commission. “The future is not great for new ones,” Book, the city of Tallahassee’s lobbyist said at last week’s meeting. “Any projects in the pipeline … look at them very quickly.” Community redevelopment agencies,…
SARASOTA — City and county leaders remain deadlocked after their first formal meeting on whether Sarasota County owes one more payment to the downtown redevelopment agency that the two governments founded decades ago. After three hours of detailed legal and technical arguments from both sides about why their interpretation is correct, city and county leaders…
Quincy Main Street has been designated the April 2017 Florida Program of the Month. Secretary of State Ken Detzner made the announcement last week. According to a press release, communities are selected based on their developmental achievements and participation in the Florida Main Street Program. Quincy has been apart of the Florida Main Street Program…
Niche, a new-to-the-scene website that provides information on neighborhoods, recently compiled a list of the top places in New Jersey where millennials can thrive in 2016. According to their report, “2016 Best Places for Millennials in New Jersey,” Hoboken earned the number one spot, followed by Edgewater and Plainsboro Center in the number two and…
State legislators are considering a bill that could redirect millions of dollars earmarked for improving “blighted” local communities. The proposed bill, House Bill 13, would eliminate Community Redevelopment Agencies, governmental bodies created to promote affordable housing, economic development, health and safety in under-served neighborhoods. In a nutshell, a CRA holds on to a set percentage of the property…
Some of the biggest names in national and regional real estate development recently took center stage at the Hilton West Palm Beach to discuss why they are making such significant investments in the city and its Downtown. The West Palm Beach Development and Investment Forum drew nearly 350 guests and was co-hosted by the Urban…
With a focus on continuing to foster revitalization in the Greater Frenchtown/Southside and Downtown districts, today’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) meeting included discussion and decisions on a number of items. The CRA Board, which is comprised of the Tallahassee City Commission and four Leon County Commissioners, approved the purchase and sale agreement with North American…
Despite concerns from residents and even themselves, Boynton Beach’s elected officials gave Davis Camalier and his development team their first approval to build Ocean One, an eight-story apartment building with retail spots and a parking garage at Federal Highway and Boynton Beach Boulevard. The commissioners approved rezoning the land, which would match surrounding residential developments.…
Home rule is a hot topic in Tallahassee this legislative session, and last week Lakeland City Commissioners Don Selvage, Jim Malless and Bill Read went to the Capitol to register their complaints with a few bills that infringe on the city’s ability to self-govern. We have already criticized one of their targets: HB 17, introduced…
Orlando is seeking contractors to build single-family homes on public land in Parramore, a $1.8 million effort to add affordable housing to the long-blighted downtown neighborhood west of Interstate 4. The city plans to sell the homes to low-income families by offering interest-free loans for down payments that the buyers may never have to repay.…
