That was the message from Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill to the commission during the first and maybe only workshop on his $3.96 billion operating budget for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. One highlight of Wednesday afternoon’s hour-long session was a plan to spend up to $20 million on unspecified projects across the county…
TAMPA — New hotels are opening. New restaurants aren’t far behind. New apartments are on the horizon. And new numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau bear out what you can see with your own two eyes in the growth of downtown Tampa’s business environment. Between 2007, when the recession stalled developments all over Tampa, and 2012,…
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Canal Street, once lingering in economic doldrums, is in full recovery mode, city officials and business owners say, and they want Volusia County Chair Jason Davis to know it. Davis said last week that when he visits Canal Street, he doesn’t see renewed prosperity. He sees a lack of activity. “All that…
City commissioners took a first look at conceptual plans to spiff up Fruitland Park’s first boulevard at Thursday night’s workshop meeting and they liked what they saw. Mayor Chris Bell asked City Planner Greg Beliveau to develop three options — along with estimated costs — that commissioners can choose from next month. Most cities and…
The fate of the old home near the shores of Lake Sue was almost certain: death by bulldozer. It’s the same demise one out of every eight homes in Winter Park — or more than 1,000 in the last two decades — meets when prospective buyers decide the dirt is worth more than the house. And the…
A rum company named after one of Key West’s favorite literary giants has plans to open up in Old Town, where the island’s first legitimate rum distillery sits about 400 feet away. Hemingway Rum, which makes Papa’s Pilar rum, has filed its first application with city hall to start the approval process required to turn…
LAKELAND | A city board Thursday could not pick its favorite of two radically different proposals to develop 10 acres of city-owned property near the Lakeland Police Department. Downtown Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board members voted 6-1 to pass the matter to the City Commission without their own recommendation between a massive mixed-use development called…
DELAND — Orange City officials celebrated Thursday after three years’ work for an agreement with Volusia County to redevelop its downtown. The County Council voted 6-1 to accept Orange City’s proposed Community Redevelopment Area, or CRA, a tax-increment tool that’s used in 15 other communities across the county. This is the first in southwest Volusia. The…
You get a sense that downtown Tampa is emerging as a vibrant urban environment when people start to gripe about all the noise keeping them awake at night. For decades the city center has been dissected by various railroad lines where trains are required by federal law to blare their horns as they cross street…
ST. PETERSBURG — A nonprofit organization that nurtures technology startups has gained initial city approval to build a business incubator south of downtown. The Tampa Bay Innovation Center can now start raising money to build a 40,000-square-foot center to house medical and marine science entrepreneurs on the city-owned 2.5-acre site at Fourth Street and 11th…
The agreement is reached between diverse community coalition and Developer Equity Enterprise USA Inc. Delray Beach, FL. – NW/SW Atlantic Ave. neighborhoods will celebrate the first ever Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) negotiated between a diverse community coalition and Developer Equity Enterprises USA Inc. for the Uptown Atlantic Project. The CBA provisions included in the agreement are West…
CLEARWATER — The perennial question of what to do with downtown Clearwater is getting another workout this week A group of seven experts with the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit education and research group based in Washington, D.C., has spent the week immersing themselves in the city’s downtown. They’ve seen a mix of promising activity…
