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Your Weekly FRA Update:
October 16, 2026
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2026 FRA Annual Conference: Keynote Speaker - Wednesday, October 21, 2026, 1:15 PM
John Talmage, Director, Lee County Economic Development Office, City of Fort Myers
John has spent nearly 40 years working in local economic and community development, both for municipal governments and national research organizations. Currently, John is the Director of Economic Development for Lee County. Previously, he most recently served as the Chief of Staff to the City Manager of the City of Ft. Myers and served for several years on the Sanibel City Planning Commission.
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2026 FRA Annual Conference: Keynote Speaker - Thursday, October 22, 2026, 1:00 PM
Shellie Phelps, Author of Becoming a Very Big Fish – A Small Town’s Journey to Becoming Who They Always Were
Shellie Phelps is a nationally recognized public speaker and community consultant who helps small towns rediscover their identity through creative revitalization. A lifelong artist and art educator, she blends vision, storytelling, and collaboration to inspire communities across the United States. This year, she has launched a pilot program through the North Florida Economic Development Partnership to take a boots-on-the-ground approach with a Rural Revitalization Revival in North Florida.
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Use the FRA Mobile Site!
Complete conference info is available on our mobile site - there is no app to download. Just visit the site, and you will have access to sessions, schedules, surveys, and more.
You'll want to use this at the conference, so check it out and bookmark it today!
Visit FRA Mobile.com
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As a Planning Project Manager with Axis Infrastructure, I help Florida communities turn their visions into practical plans, such as my recent work on Kenneth City’s Economic Development Strategy.
What excites me most about community redevelopment is the opportunity to strengthen local businesses, create welcoming public spaces, and preserve the character that makes each community special.
FRA membership connects me with fellow practitioners to exchange ideas, learn from their experiences, and bring fresh approaches to the communities I serve."
-Uma Sarmistha, Ph.D.; FRA-RA,
| | Be Involved: Share Your Knowledge & Learn | |
FRA's Q&A forum is your go-to platform to find answers, resources and information you need for successful redevelopment projects and initiatives. FRA members can post questions, explore ideas, and discuss topics with other MyFRA users.
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The FRA features member news in our weekly newsletter and on our social media channels - make sure you are following the FRA social media feeds to see CRA member posts; plus you can share news from the FRA's "Redevelopment Works" campaign!
FRA Members - share your stories and successes with the FRA - email us at fra@flcities.com and include a description or press release, and a photo!
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New! A Cartoonish Bronze Sculpture Will Peer Out From a New West Palm Plaza
CRAs build better communities! #redevelopmentworks
A large-scale apartment and retail complex being completed in the city’s Northwood Village neighborhood will feature an eye-catching bronze sculpture that peers back at passersby.
The striking 10-foot-tall artwork is intended to be a signature focal point in a public plaza at the new District at Northwood complex, which will feature 382 apartments, a plaza and 60,000 square feet of commercial space.
The piece, entitled “Crossroads,” depicts a spherical, cartoon-like figure peering up out of the ground near the corner of Northwood Road and Broadway.
City commissioners last month approved the design for the piece, which is being built to comply with the city’s Art in Public Places program.
The 4-acre District complex is being developed by Immocorp Ventures in partnership with the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, which owned the property.
Read more here
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New! Cape Coral, Crown near $500M Bimini East Development Deal
CRAs build better communities! #redevelopmentworks
It takes mutual trust to partner up on a 10-year, $500 million construction project, Cape Coral officials and Crown Development Inc. President Larry Nygard agreed.
Both sides appear to have earned that trust after months of negotiating a development agreement for Bimini East, a 34-acre planned community near the South Cape entertainment district.
City Council on Oct. 7 reviewed the details of the agreement and scheduled a final public hearing for Oct. 21 to vote on adopting the plan.
The city and its Community Redevelopment Agency have offered Crown an incentive package that includes $45.75 million in tax increment rebates, which would be paid only if the project comes to fruition and generates tax revenue.
Read more here
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New! Ocean One Breaks Ground At 114-222 North Federal Highway In Boynton Beach
CRAs build better communities! #redevelopmentworks
An official groundbreaking ceremony was held October 6 for Ocean One, an eight-story, 371-unit mixed-use development at 114-222 North Federal Highway in downtown Boynton Beach. Developed by Hyperion Group, Winter Properties, WREP, and Silverstein Properties and designed by Miami-based Arquitectonica, the project will include rental residences and 25,500 square feet of retail space. City officials, project partners, and community leaders attended the ceremony.
The development is supported by equity funding from affiliates of Cantor Fitzgerald and Silverstein Properties, with construction financing provided by Madison Realty Capital. Newmark arranged the joint venture equity placement and a $108 million construction loan for the project.
The Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency approved up to $11.5 million in Tax Increment Revenue Funding over a 14-year term. Under the agreement, Ocean One will provide 90 public parking spaces and 20 on-street public parking spaces in perpetuity.
Read more here
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New Hotel for Downtown Tarpon Springs Clears Hurdle
CRAs build better communities! #redevelopmentworks
A downtown lot the city has spent more than a decade trying to redevelop moved a step closer to becoming a boutique hotel when the Planning and Zoning Board unanimously recommended approval of the Tarpon Registry’s site plan.
The City Commission is scheduled to consider the site plan at its Oct. 13 meeting.
The project calls for a two-story, 11,731-square-foot mixed-use building on the vacant 8,112-square-foot property at 144 E. Tarpon Ave., Planning and Zoning Director Allie Keen told the board. It would include a 15-room hotel above ground-floor retail, a restaurant, event space and an open courtyard.
“The proposed uses will increase downtown activity and benefit the surrounding businesses,” Keen said, adding that the project “not only provides retail and event space but also offers much-needed and desired lodging within the heart of downtown.”
In October 2025, the CRA board selected Infill Studio’s proposal for a boutique hotel with retail and event space on the ground floor. The City Commission approved a development agreement for the project that December, and in July the Heritage Preservation Board granted it a certificate of appropriateness.
Read more here
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Coral Springs Museum of Art Opens Its Downtown Gallery Next Week With 57 Picasso Prints
CRAs build better communities! #redevelopmentworks
The much-anticipated opening of the Coral Springs Museum of Art’s new downtown gallery is now set for next week with a major exhibition of 57 Pablo Picasso original works.
The opening exhibit, called “Picasso: A Graphic Journey” features comes from the collection of Timothy Collins of Los Angeles.
One series follows a single image, “Tête de Femme au Chapeau,” through proofs that show Picasso’s printmaking process, from early color studies to the final composition.
City officials have said the museum’s move is intended to raise the museum’s profile and bring more visitors.
The project cost about $3.4 million. About $2 million coming from the city’s capital budget, $1 million from the Community Redevelopment Agency’s capital fund and about $500,000 from landlord and tenant allowances.
Read more here
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Plans for an Opera House and Amphitheater Move Forward in East Naples
CRAs build better communities! #redevelopmentworks
One of the more innovative strategies the city of Orlando has taken to help homeless people get off the streets is on track to surpass its goal of housing roughly 400 people over a three-year period.
The city announced Thursday that the city’s “dignity bus” program — offering overnight shelter on two retrofitted Greyhound buses — has already helped 169 people find permanent housing since the program’s launch in August 2025.
The program, dubbed 407 Connect, is a partnership between the city, the Community Redevelopment Agency, and the Christian Service Center, a local homeless service nonprofit that runs a day center for homeless people just west of downtown in Parramore. It’s based off a similar bus shelter program based out of Vero Beach.
According to the city, Orlando’s bus shelter program has provided overnight shelter, case management, and other forms of support to 260 men, women and children total since launch.
Read more here
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| | | | Thank you for supporting Florida redevelopment! Have questions or news to share? fra@flcities.com | | | | |
