LARGO — The big vacant lot has tall grass, an assortment of oaks and pines, a bit of crumbling blacktop, and what seems like a billion dragonflies. The city is selling the nearly 1-acre lot at 158 Ridge Road near the northeast corner of Clearwater-Largo Road and West Bay Drive in its ongoing effort to…
LAKELAND | There are many examples of residents who bought homes and property at the wrong time before the real estate crash several years ago. And then there is the $8.4 million purchase in 2005 of 14 acres by the city of Lakeland. The city bought 53 parcels in the neighborhood that backs up to…
Delray Beach officials have heard plenty of noise about the city’s noise ordinance. The problems, and complaints have been around for almost a year, after Delray unveiled a draconian new ordinance in September that featured steep fines, some as high as $15,000 for repeat offenders. Many business owners, who rely on music to keep customers…
Now that the Ocala City Council has approved new Community Redevelopment Areas to remove blight along the city’s gateways, each of the advisory committees for the East Ocala CRA and West Ocala CRA held meetings Tuesday to begin drawing up plans to revitalize those areas. The two committees, prodded by consultant VHB MillerSellen and city…
Casto announces at the August 20, 2013 ICSC Florida Conference, its Casselberry’s CRA Development Project, Concord Village. Casselberry joins neighboring Maitland and Winter Park in developing a new and innovative downtown mixed use project of luxury apartments, restaurants, office and retail tenants, and place making. The Florida ICSC is second largest Shopping Center Conference in…
City of Satellite Beach Seeks Brevard County Approval To Dip Into CRA Funds SATELLITE BEACH, Florida — The City of Satellite Beach wants to return its unused Tax Incremental Redevelopment Trust Fund (TIF) funds from its Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) back to the City at the end of the year to replenish the City’s low…
Plan to reopen historic Miami playhouse clears Florida Cabinet Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet on Tuesday approved a joint plan by Florida International University and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez to salvage and reopen the historic Coconut Grove Playhouse as a working regional theater. The approval now triggers a tight deadline for FIU,…
Fisherman’s Wharf revival is in the works in Venice, Florida VENICE – The nearly empty parking lot, shuttered businesses and vacated dock do not suggest a rebirth. But just wait a few months, said owner Stephen Witzer: Fisherman’s Wharf, once the site of thriving businesses, and even bigger dreams, is set to become one of…
St. Pete Beach: Corey Avenue redevelopment attracts interest ST. PETE BEACH – City Manager Mike Bonfield told St. Pete Beach City Commissioners Aug. 13 that the city is getting regular interest from developers concerning the redevelopment of the Corey Avenue district. “We’ve had some preliminary discussions with some very impressive people,” Bonfield said. “They have…
Frostproof Takes First Step Toward CRA Before establishing a community redevelopment agency, city leaders need to know what part of the city can go into it. So the Frostproof City Council took the first step Monday by accepting a $15,000 grant from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity to do a “finding of necessity” study.…
Polk Dips Into North Ridge CRA Funds to Balance Budget BARTOW | Polk County Commissioners voted today to divert $4.4 million from the North Ridge Community Redevelopment Agency’s budget to help balance next year’s county budget. The unanimous vote came as the commission sat as the board of the North Ridge CRA. “We’ve had a…
Jesse Biter shares his downtown Sarasota vision at Lakewood Ranch LAKEWOOD RANCH – Entrepreneur Jesse Biter took his vision for a more vibrant and affordable downtown Sarasota to this master-planned, city-in-the-making. His Thursday breakfast speech went over well, even considering the receptive crowd — about 130 members of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance, most of…
