Community development

If you are planning on going to Sunfest , buy your tickets now — I mean right now, run out and buy them today. From now until 5:00 pm on March 31st (that’s Tuesday), a 5 day pass will be available for $54 at TD Bank locations in Palm Beach County. If you don’t buy this ticket deal now, tickets will be available for $29 per day in advance at Publix Supermarket locations in Palm Beach and Martin County and online ($31 at the door). Sunfest will take place this year from April 29th - May 3rd in downtown West Palm Beach along Florida’s ... Read Full Story

WEST PALM BEACH — Swim, hunt, ride a horse, club until 4 a.m. Those are some of the new selling points for Palm Beach County as the Convention and Visitors Bureau undertakes a “radically different plan” to attract tourism dollars. ‘20 distinct towns - one Palm Beach’ How the Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau is marketing the county under its new slogan: Boca Raton: Combines resorts with trendy shops and restaurants. Jupiter, Tequesta and Juno Beach: Jupiter is home to the Florida Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals for spring training and a historical lighthouse; Tequesta is an alcove of homes and adventure ... Read Full Story

A few months ago, I blogged about Miami Tour Company , a tour company in Miami that offers city tours through the eyes of a local - a great tour by the way. This is great for Miami, but what if you want to learn more about the city of West Palm Beach? You are in luck. On Fridays and Saturdays, starting next Friday, January 9th, the Downtown Development Authority will relaunch their popular Historic Trolley Tours. Although, these will take a different tone and focus more on the history of West Palm Beach, they are sure to be fascinating. Guests will hop aboard ... Read Full Story

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. --- Will Vash at the Palm Beach Post reports that Boynton Beach commishers gave American Realty Development , Inc., of Lake Mary (no web site) the nod over Carlisle Development last night to develop an eight-acre phase of the 26-acre Heart of Boynton redevelopment corridor   along MLK Blvd. in Boynton Beach. American Realty Group vice president Jim Dyal, left, told Vash he plans to recruit local CDC's and the nonprofit Northwood Renaissance in West Palm Beach to help. "These groups provide us the ability to outreach to the community," Dyal said. "They bring in a tremendous amount of experience." Vash ... Read Full Story

For those of you who have been around South Florida for awhile, you must surely remember when CityPlace used to be more of a ghetto than a tourist destination. After cleaning the area up, a huge amount of real estate development and some dedicated people devoted to change, CityPlace was transformed. OK, so I wasn’t around to see the transformation, I’ve surely heard stories, but now I feel that another area of West Palm Beach is worthy of recognition, a place called Northwood Village . Northwood Village is located 1 mile north of Palm Beach Lakes Blvd. in West Palm Beach between North Dixie ... Read Full Story

MIAMI, Fla. --- Matthew I. Pinzur reports in today's Miami Herald that Dade co commishers are set to consider a plan today to turn over control of the Miami-Dade Housing Agency to HUD and activists don't like the plan: Local leaders cannot regain control until HUD agrees that a lengthy work plan has been completed, though the county can seek a judge's intervention if the takeover lasts longer than a year. "What we need is housing, and this doesn't assure that's going to happen," said Max Rameau, [left,] a top housing activist and founder of Take Back the Land. "We need hard guarantees that ... Read Full Story

TAMPA, Fla. --- James E. Dyal is vice president of American Realty Development in Tampa, which develops affordable multi-family rental communities. A member of the Florida Housing Coalition Board of Directors, he will present a workshop on affordable housing finance and development at Florida Housing's 20th Annual Statewide Affordable Housing Conference Sept. 5-7 in Orlando. Mr. Dyal volunteers as guest lecturer at the University of South Florida Collaborative for Children, Families and Communities' summer Community Real Estate Development (CRED) certificate course and currently serves as project mentor for one course participant who is developing single-family ownership and rental housing units for workforce families in ... Read Full Story