The Volusia County Council seems likely to cast a weary and skeptical eye on any further requests for Community Redevelopment Areas, or CRAs. A CRA takes new property-tax revenue from a blighted area and pours it into improvements. That diverts new property-tax revenue from Volusia County government and some other taxing districts, causing controversy through…
BRADENTON — The Bradenton Downtown Development Authority approved $13,000 in grant money Tuesday to support a new craft beer brewery coming to Bradenton. The projected two-story, 15,000-square-foot brewery at 1014 Ninth St. W. will include brewery tours, a tasting room, an outdoor patio and a beer garden. The beer manufacturing facility, which has yet to…
When Miami last invited businesses to submit proposals for a restaurant and marina on city-owned property, companies with outstanding property taxes were automatically disqualified. The rule no longer exists, according to a revamped version of the request for proposals published this month. That’s good news for the current operator, Scott Wessel. Wessel bid on the…
Passersby paused to take in a “bittersweet” moment as a wrecking ball swung into Coconut Grove’s iconic Grand Bay Hotel on Tuesday, clearing ground for a pair of twisting glass condo towers. Danish architect Bjarke Ingels has designed the $400 million project being developed by the Terra Group. Construction is slated to begin this spring,…
BOCA RATON— — Tower One Fifty Five will rise nine stories in Boca Raton‘s downtown as the mammoth condominium development received its final city approval Tuesday — with a unanimous vote. This time, the City Council — meeting as the Community Redevelopment Agency — gave the proposed 209-unit building its seal of approval, but not…
PLANT CITY — David Hawthorne, who played a key role in historic downtown’s redevelopment, was discovered dead Jan. 17 at a South Pasadena condominium. Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies who were called to check on Hawthorne’s welfare found the 62-year-old’s body shortly before 11 a.m., sheriff’s spokeswoman Cecilia Barreda said. He died from a gunshot wound…
DELAND — For nearly a decade, the city has proposed building a transportation hub on the southern edge of downtown, but the project has faced repeated delays. City commissioners may vote Wednesday night to accept a $1.365 million bid from APM Construction of Port Orange to build the Intermodal Transportation Facility on 3.5-acres of city-owned…
Chef Clay Butters was thinking first-class when he opened Martini’s Chophouse. He wanted a modern cuisine experience, with lots of local and organic ingredients and an Art Deco setting that wouldn’t be out of place in South Beach. He wasn’t in South Beach, though. He was in South Daytona, on a street better known along…
FORT PIERCE — After more than six months of negotiations, the proposed land swap deal to redevelop Fisherman’s Wharf will likely die. City commissioners are meeting Tuesday evening as the city’s Redevelopment Agency board to talk about the proposal for the first time publicly with the new mayor, Linda Hudson, but there may not be…
TITUSVILLE — A Tampa-based developer has teamed with an Ohio-based design-build firm to build an open-air town center to replace the nearly empty Miracle City Mall. AG Development Group Inc. intends to build a $55 million Miracle City Towne Centre with about 300,000 square feet of stores, restaurants, a medical facility and a multiscreen theater.…
ST. PETERSBURG — Downtown’s popular stretch of real estate along Beach Drive may have no vacancies left by the time renovations are complete this spring on a historic boutique hotel. Getting into one of the hottest locations in a growing downtown was one reason Chuck and KathyPrather believe they got a good deal buying the…
PANAMA CITY — Figures released by authorities show crime dramatically decreased in 2012 in downtown Panama City. “This business that we’re in of redevelopment is built on a lot of good partnerships,” said William Whitson, Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) director. “One of the greatest partnerships we’ve started here is working with our police department.” Data…
