See below for more information on each of this year’s winners and their projects.
Outstanding New Building Project: Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency 500 Ocean
The 500 Ocean project is located at the southwest corner of Federal Highway and Ocean Avenue on a 4.8-acre parcel. The project is a mixed-used development with 341 residential units, 13,300 sq. ft. of retail space and 6,600 sq. ft. of office space. Located a half mile from the Intercostal Waterway, the project will add approximately 600 new residents to the downtown area increasing demand for goods and services. The project will add life and economic benefit to Ocean Avenue.
Management Programs/Creative Partnerships: City of Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, Courtyards on 12th
The Courtyards on 12th Project is a long-anticipated workforce housing project consisting of six duplexes (12 units), providing the City of Delray Beach with a variety of permanent housing stock while building the capacity of its non-profit housing partner, the Delray Beach Community Land Trust (DBCLT), through a ground lease/management agreement. The CRA invested a significant amount of capital in the acquisition and renovation of the properties; therefore it was more beneficial to maintain ownership of the units to further stabilize the neighborhood. The partnership implemented the CRA’s goals of redevelopment without displacement and prevention of gentrification.
Outstanding Housing Project: Riviera Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Riviera Beach Renaissance
In October 2013, RBCDC was awarded a $1,014,152.97 HOME grant to complete at least five homes for low-to moderate income first time homebuyers. A pipeline of buyers eagerly prepared for this super opportunity to achieve the American Dream, which has begun to stabilize one of our oldest neighborhoods. All five of the attractive, energy-efficient homes are completed, with closings in February 2017. All of the buyers are local, single mothers or grandmothers. Riviera Beach Renaissance indeed!
Capital Projects Beautification and Annual Reports: Fort Myers Community Redevelopment Agency, Cleveland Avenue Offsite Stormwater Credits Program and the Fort Myers CRA 2016 Annual Report
The Fort Myers CRA partnered with the City on a stormwater retrofit project at the City’s golf course building additional water treatment/volume into the existing system. Creating a stormwater “mitigation” bank that developers could use in lieu of building their own onsite treatment systems, this program uses offsite credits, which can be sold or given to developers as an incentive, to increase private investment, property values and public enthusiasm. As the first municipal offsite credit bank ever permitted by SFWMD, this nutrient-removal system improves the impaired water body it feeds at the same time it spurs urban infill and redevelopment.
Focused on proving the value of CRAs while reporting on the fiscal year 2016 activities of the Fort Myers CRA, the 2016 Annual Report used an innovative Mondrian-inspired design to increase readability through bite-sized color areas of information. The well-received publication highlighted facts in call-out blocks, through quick scan charts and columns, with targeted imagery, and by composition adjusted to show content in its best light. Meeting the Agency’s sustainability goals, a single scrollable design reads well on electronic devices, prints on standard paper, and for added transparency, each page may be displayed as an individual piece of art.
Cultural Enhancement: Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency, A. Quinn Jones Museum and Cultural Center
The A. Quinn Jones Museum and Cultural Center is the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the former home of A. Quinn Jones, a community leader who made great improvements to the educational system for African Americans in the days of segregation. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of Jones’ contributions to education. The Gainesville CRA transformed the home into a museum where visitors learn about the people from the Fifth Avenue Pleasant Street Neighborhood, their histories, triumphs and setbacks and how these events related to the broader context of our national history.
Creative Organization Development and Funding: Hillsborough County Economic Development, Redevelopment Incentives for Pilot Project Areas
The primary objective of the Redevelopment Incentives for Pilot Project Areas Program is to focus on job creation efforts through encouraging investment in office and industrial development, specifically for infill and the redevelopment of obsolete structures. The key objective of the program is to draw out and encourage private sector investment in sites and buildings that will encourage retention and attraction of businesses and jobs for our community.
Outstanding Rehabilitation, Renovation or Reuse Project: Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency, 820 N. Massachusetts Avenue
It began as a 1920 A&P supermarket, later used as a furniture warehouse, filled from floor to ceiling with a variety of items including toilets, street lights, carpet and interior light fixtures. The unsightly storage was visible through the storefront on Massachusetts Avenue. The renovations of the 15,000 sq. ft. building were centered on highlighting the industrial elements, retaining the naturally distressed white brick walls, and exposing the 22-foot high wooden rafters. This premier event venue is the perfect balance of vintage and modern.
Best Promotion Project: City of Margate Community Redevelopment Agency, Margate Under the Moon
Margate Under the Moon is a continuing event series held on one of Margate’s most occupied roadways. It is intended to increase awareness and bring attendance to the area in hopes of creating a future downtown district. The event occurs during the off-season months (August-November). Attendance last season was in the thousands, which successfully attracted a younger demographic. The goal is to enhance and create a vision that encourages attendees to think of the future downtown as a place to work and play. Local merchants benefited by having a free vendor space to promote their businesses to the community.
Out of the Box award and the President’s Award: City of Miami, Omni Community Redevelopment Agency, Omni Park and Overton Plaza
Omni Park transforms 7.5 acres of blighted FDOT-owned vacant lots into an active community green space in the heart of Miami’s urban core. This project promotes economic development, enhances walkability and improves quality of life in the Omni CRA through short-term interventions intended to affect long-term change in the neighborhood. The Park includes art installations, a popup library, Omni Kitchen (a sit-down cafe), Magic City Bike Collective and a skate park. Omni Park hosts community events for thousands of locals. The space will eventually be incorporated into a permanent FDOT project as part of the long-term development of the area.
The Overtown Plaza is the oldest and largest shopping center in the Southeast Overtown / Park West CRA area. Over the years, the shopping center had become rundown and sorely in need of a facelift. In an effort to attract more businesses to the area, it underwent a $2.2 million renovation financed by the CRA. The improvements included exterior and interior renovations to house a large scale grocery store. This was significant given the absence of a large grocer in the area. The renovations have led to an increase in small businesses, job opportunities and the opening of a new grocery store in the redevelopment area.
Planning Studies: City of North Miami Community Redevelopment Agency, What’s Your Unique Market Position?
What is Downtown NoMi’s unique market position? Downtown North Miami is one target area in the North Miami CRA Plan which identifies 14 economic development goals. To achieve some of these goals, a strategic marketing plan was developed as a step-by-step guide, prioritizing objectives, strategies, tactics and budget to lead the way to success. Downtown NoMi, is now positioned in the market as a “tasteful, rhythmic, eccentric and artistic” place to dine, watch live music, find unusual mid-century modern furnishings or high-end boutique fashion and experience an art-filled cultural scene. To NoMi is to Love Me!
Cultural Enhancement: City of Orlando Community Redevelopment Agency, the Creative City Project!
The Creative City Project was birthed out of the belief that artists can change a city for the better by making it a more beautiful, meaningful and interesting place to live. In the fall of 2016, the Creative City Project came to Downtown Orlando. More than 800 artists and 20,000 people experienced performances at various downtown locations including CityArts Factory, the Gallery at Avalon Island, locations along Orange Avenue from Robinson Street to Central Boulevard, and more.