The Downtown New Port Richey Art Gallery faces closure by Oct. 31 unless a benefactor steps forward, Greater New Port Richey Main Street officials said Friday. Funding for the gallery has been a bit precarious ever since it opened in 2003 at 6231 Grand Blvd., according to a GNPRMS press release. The financial burden on…
Local cities are starting to think creatively when it comes to cleaning up blight, and enforcing city codes that target signs of decay will be a big part of that effort. But even in that area, city leaders will need to show flexibility. Port Orange saw an excellent example of that at its meeting last…
With Port Tampa Bay’s unveiling of a $1.7 billion redevelopment vision for its 45 acres of waterfront property near the Channel District, a cornerstone piece of greater downtown Tampa’s potential renaissance has arrived. The bold port plan, highlighted by the purposely sky-high 75-story twin towers, seeks to resurrect a stretch of waterfront still pockmarked with…
TAMPA — What Port Tampa Bay wants to do in a big way, a South Florida developer is doing on a smaller scale nearby in the Channel District. On a block south of E Kennedy Boulevard between 11th and 12th streets, FCI Residential is spending $60 million to replace an unused warehouse that once served…
A proposed agreement to sell City Lot 10 to a developer who wants to build a 12-story hotel there could be approved by the Gainesville City Commission as soon as Thursday. For several months, the city has been negotiating with Horizon Hospitality Management Inc. regarding the sale of Lot 10, which is situated on Southwest…
The city of Gainesville this week drew closer to closing a deal to sell City Lot 10 downtown to a developer interested in building a hotel there when the City Commission OK’d moving forward with a proposed sale agreement. Horizon Hospitality Management Inc. is interested in buying Lot 10, which sits across from Loosey’s on…
Initiatives to help direct visitors to downtown Sarasota destinations should take form in time for the tourist season. The city had plans to improve “wayfinding” in the area before the economic recession, but the project was scaled back once money became scarce. This season, visitors and residents alike should have at least two new ways…
DADE CITY — Pasco commissioners are expected to vote in September on a new ordinance that could allow jailing property owners for refusing to repair or demolish their blighted commercial buildings. The proposed ordinance would extend property maintenance standards already in place for housing to commercial and industrial buildings. Senior Assistant County Attorney Kristi Sims worked…
SARASOTA – A Downtown Sarasota Community Redevelopment Agency advocate says reluctant county leaders might support a plan to extend the CRA another 30 years, but only if the city approves major changes to how the agency operates. Andy Dorr, vice chair of the Downtown CRA Extension Study Committee, will appear Monday at a City Commission meeting…
SEBRING — Two years ago, downtown promoters were looking for new ways to draw people to Sebring’s central business district. They began having wine walks — where people walked in the downtown area — visited businesses and got free wine tastings. They expressed amazement at the huge response. But, more recently, attendance has declined. That, along…
When Kale Cafe’s owners opened a second store in June on Ormond Beach’s main downtown street, Granada Boulevard, sales at the vegetarian cafe/juice bar soared immediately. “It has been amazing,” said Camille Holder-Brown, who owns the business with her husband, Omar Brown. “There was a lot of business from the start, and the Ormond store reached…
ST. PETERSBURG —All John Stearman wanted 10 years ago was to renovate the house next door for his son. It was a fixer-upper, but the Granada Terrace resident was going to make it work. He put in a front porch and new windows. Yet, in 2008, city officials halted construction, telling Stearman he couldn’t change…