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Author: Christian Clay

  • City wants Elnor Island kept build-free

    City wants Elnor Island kept build-free

    Treasure Island wants to keep Elnor Island free of new buildings.

    At an early-October workshop, the Treasure Island city commission (not Pinellas County) told city staff to review the island's title and draft deed restrictions that would ban new buildings there. Nothing has been adopted yet.

    Elnor is a 14.18-acre mangrove island east of John's Pass. The city has owned it since 1984.

    The proposed restrictions could help the city earn credit under FEMA's Community Rating System, which affects flood insurance. Treasure Island is Class 6 now and hopes to reach Class 4.

    Kayak and paddle access to the island would stay open.

    Do you paddle near John's Pass? Send this to someone who does.

    Photo: Mikereichold / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5, cropped. General 2006 view of the John's Pass area; not Elnor Island. This image is a modified version of the original and is shared under the same license (CC BY-SA 2.5).

    Source: St Pete Catalyst, Matthew Reed, Oct 21

  • Holocaust Center for Hope & Humanity

    Holocaust Center for Hope & Humanity

    A new home for the Holocaust Center for Hope & Humanity is moving forward in downtown Orlando.

    The Orlando Appearance Review Board unanimously approved the center's new design. Groundbreaking is now planned for early 2027, moved from the end of 2026.

    The 63 million project would repurpose the 1968 former chamber of commerce office building in downtown's Ivanhoe district and add a 10,000 square foot exhibition hall to the east, for 25,345 square feet in total, about 3.5 times the current space. An earlier 44,500 square foot plan at 75 S. Ivanhoe Blvd was dropped as not financially feasible.

    A perforated metal screen on the building is designed to reflect the diaspora of Holocaust survivors. A new core exhibit, "Hope & Humanity," would tell the stories of 10 survivors who settled in Central Florida. The architect is Maurizio Maso of HuntonBrady.

    CEO Tim Roberts says construction documents are on track for mid-November, then go to the city for permitting.

    Rendering: Lornec Design

    Source: GrowthSpotter

  • Polk Moves To Save A 2,950-Home Site

    Polk Moves To Save A 2,950-Home Site

    Polk County is moving to buy the Stoneridge site in Lake Wales for conservation.

    On Oct 20, Polk County commissioners approved pursuing 11 properties for the county’s Environmental Lands Program, including Stoneridge. This is the go-ahead to pursue the sites, not a purchase.

    Stoneridge is about 1,287 acres just west of the Lake Wales airport off SR 60. Lake Wales approved it in a 4-1 vote in Sept 2025 for about 2,950 homes plus a large industrial park.

    The other sites include Thompson Ranch, Fussell Ranch, Lake L, Indian Lake Estates, Whipperwill Woods and Lake Buffum Scrub, among others.

    Should this land stay green? Tell us below, and send this to someone in Lake Wales.

    Image: City of Lake Wales

    Source: Polk County Board of County Commissioners, item 26-2036

  • Port of St. Petersburg master plan

    Port of St. Petersburg master plan

    St. Pete has a new long-range plan for its working port.

    St. Pete City Council voted unanimously Oct 15 to approve a new Port of St. Petersburg master plan, replacing the one adopted in 1999.

    The plan outlines 93 million to 163 million in potential improvements over the next 10 to 20 years. It is conceptual: each project would still need its own studies, financing and approval.

    Priorities in the plan include:
    – Hub 2, about 50,000 square feet, beside the 32,000-square-foot Maritime and Defense Technology Hub
    – Marine repair
    – Small-ship cruise upgrades, including a possible 600-foot wharf extension and a new passenger terminal

    Meanwhile, American Cruise Lines returns Nov. 3 for its fourth season, with about three ships a week through April.

    What would you want to see at St. Pete's port? Tell us below.

    Photo: Concept rendering: City of St. Petersburg / Moffatt & Nichol

    Source: St Pete Catalyst

  • Ascend brings 312 apartments to Apopka

    Ascend brings 312 apartments to Apopka

    Apopka — D.R. Horton’s multifamily arm is bringing Ascend to Floridian Town Center, west of SR 429 and north of Southfork Road.

    Plans keep 312 apartments in three-story buildings with a clubhouse and pool on about 15.3 acres in the southern residential parcel. Slocum Platts Architects designed the elevations. The team still owes Apopka responses on parking, fire access, and utilities after a soft Development Review Committee pass, then Planning Commission and City Council before anything is final.

    Floridian Town Center is the larger mixed-use site with shops, restaurants, and a hotel in the long-range mix. Northern residential land would need its own approval later.

    Rendering: Slocum Platts Architects

    Source: GrowthSpotter

  • Rays ballpark bonds 4-3

    Rays ballpark bonds 4-3

    Tampa City Council moved the city's Rays ballpark money one step forward on a 4-3 vote.

    On Oct 15, the council voted to ask a judge to validate bonds for the city's 80 million share of the planned ballpark. The first vote tied 3-3 with Council member Bill Carlson out sick. He later joined virtually, and the measure passed 4-3. Naya Young, Luis Viera, Alan Clendenin and Carlson voted yes.

    The vote is procedural. A judge rules on validation next, and the council must vote again before any bonds are issued.

    The city's share would go toward a planned 2.3 billion ballpark and mixed-use district at Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry campus.

    The image is a rendering, not a finished stadium.

    Follow us for more Tampa updates.

    Rendering: Tampa Bay Rays

    Source: Tampa Bay Business Journal, Bay News 9

  • Pulte files 1,055 homes at Sunbridge

    Pulte files 1,055 homes at Sunbridge

    Pulte files 1,055 homes at Sunbridge.

    Pulte Neighborhood 11 at Sunbridge covers about 1,055 homes on about 401 acres in Orange County. Five phases. About 174 homesites in phase one. Gated. A possible second Del Webb community is unconfirmed.

    Photo: Tavistock Development Company

    Source: GrowthSpotter

  • EastGroup adds 30 acres at Crossroads Park

    EastGroup adds 30 acres at Crossroads Park

    EastGroup adds 30 acres at Crossroads Park in East Tampa.

    EastGroup closed on about 30 acres next to Crossroads Logistics Park for roughly $12 million. The park is set to grow from 3 buildings to 5, and from about 500,000 to about 850,000 square feet — about 70% larger.

    Photo: EastGroup Properties

    Source: Tampa Bay Business & Wealth, EastGroup Properties (PR Newswire)

  • Archery center breaks ground near Lakeland

    Archery center breaks ground near Lakeland

    Archery center breaks ground near Lakeland.

    Gov. DeSantis broke ground Sept. 14, 2026 on the Florida Archery Center at Tenoroc in Polk County. Budget-backed FWC expansion for competitive and para-archery. Easton and state funding planned around $16 million. The same visit highlighted an outdoor / Second Amendment sales-tax holiday through Dec. 31.

    Conceptual rendering: Easton Foundations

    Source: The Daily Ridge (Sep 14, 2026)

  • Old Badcock showroom in Lakeland is now a heart center

    Old Badcock showroom in Lakeland is now a heart center

    The old Badcock showroom in Lakeland is now a heart center.

    Lakeland Regional Health opened its new Parkview location on Oct. 6 at 1409 N. Florida Ave. It brings cardiology, cardiac and pulmonary rehab, and pre-admission testing under one roof.

    Nine providers moved in from the Hollis and Pablo campuses. The old 320 Parkview Place site is now called Lake Parker.

    Parkview is open weekdays from 8 to 5, and parking is free.

    The image is a rendering of the building.

    Remember shopping at the old Badcock? Tell us in the comments.

    Sources: LkldNow, Lakeland Regional Health
    Rendering: Lakeland Regional Health

    Rendering: Lakeland Regional Health

    Source: LkldNow, Lakeland Regional Health

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