Communication Builds Our Community

(174) stories found containing 'lake wales cra'


Sorted by date  Results 1 - 25 of 174

  • Approved Grove Manor Redevelopment Plan Includes New Downtown Apartment Buildings

    Robert Connors|Updated Apr 20, 2025

    With a minimum of discussion, the Lake Wales City Commission this week unanimously approved a Special Exception Use Permit to allow a multi-family Planned Development Project for the redevelopment of the aging 120-unit Grove Manor public housing project. "We've been working on this a long time," said Mayor Jack Hilligoss as he called for a vote. The long-awaited project is the first phase of a multi-phased Master Plan which will take place on 24.74 acres of land that...

  • Private Firms Set to Compete for Chance to Redevelop the Walesbilt Hotel

    Robert Connors|Updated Apr 16, 2025

    With the approval of a deal with Walesbilt Hotel owner Raymond Brown, the Lake Wales City Commission has cleared the way for the private redevelopment of the landmark building. The acceptance of the lawsuit settlement by the five-person commission, which also sits as the city's Community Redevelopment Agency board, ends a three-year battle over the building. The settlement brings the building back under city control more than a decade after it was given to Brown's Dixie...

  • Television News Stations Flock to Lake Wales to Cover Hotel Story

    New Staff Reports|Updated Apr 16, 2025

    Lake Wales received a wave of television coverage this week as area broadcasters sent teams to cover the big economic news of the settlement between Dixie Walesbilt LLC and the City of Lake Wales that will return ownership of the landmark hotel to the City after more than a decade. Interviews with City Manager James Slaton and Community Redevelopment Agency Chairman Robin Gibson were conducted Tuesday in front of the 10-story structure by four different Tampa Bay area...

  • City, CRA Reach Settlement to Obtain Walesbilt Hotel

    Robert Connors|Updated Apr 12, 2025

    The City of Lake Wales negotiation team has apparently approved a settlement agreement with Dixie Walesbilt LLC that will result in the return of the landmark Walesbilt Hotel to the City. The City Commission and CRA agendas Tuesday evening include the agreement which should end a two-year legal battle and set the stage for renovation of the 98-year-old hotel. The agreement attached to the meeting notices has already been executed by Dixie Walesbilt owner Ray Brown and City...

  • Downtown, Walesbilt Hotel Redevelopment Could Be Halted by Florida Legislature

    Robert Connors|Updated Apr 8, 2025

    The future redevelopment of the Walesbilt Hotel and the ongoing Lake Wales Connected effort would be placed at serious risk if the Florida Legislature adopts a pair of bills currently being considered. Florida House Bill 991 and Senate Bill 1242 would put severe restrictions on Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRAs) in Florida, effectively stopping their efforts to address declining neighborhoods. “This is serious,” said Lake Wales CRA chairman Robin Gibson. “It is incon...

  • Merlin Magic Making Laying Off 31 at Lake Wales Model Center

    Robert Connors|Updated Apr 5, 2025

    After nearly a decade of operations in Lake Wales, the Merlin Magic Making facility at Longleaf Business Park is apparently closing its doors. A filing with the Florida Department of Commerce informed them of the layoffs of 31 workers at the facility beginning May 31. That number approaches the total number of employees at the site, leading to expectations that it will be closed completely, according to local sources. Merlin is the parent company of Legoland, which recently...

  • Walesbilt Hotel Lawsuit Rumbling to a Conclusion

    Robert Connors|Updated Mar 16, 2025

    A ruling by Circuit Judge Jennifer Swensen this month has brought the City of Lake Wales and the city's Community Redevelopment Agency significantly closer to reclaiming the title to the landmark Walesbilt Hotel, bringing redevelopment of the building within reach. The legal battle over control of the historic structure began when the city filed the suit in February 2022. The most-recent ruling dismissed a counter-suit and appeal for summary judgement filed by defendant...

  • Celebration of Park Avenue Project Completion Happens Friday

    Robert Connors|Updated Mar 4, 2025

    A celebration and ribbon-cutting ceremony planned for Friday evening in downtown Lake Wales will mark the successful completion of the biggest element to date in the city's pursuit of the Lake Wales Connected plan. The transformative redevelopment of Park Avenue and the Market Plaza will be celebrated by residents, business owners, and city officials alike, all of whom are eager to show off the beauty of the new streetscape. The event will be held in the expanded new Market...

  • Reopened Park Avenue, Scenic Highway Mark Progress on Connected Effort

    Robert Connors|Updated Feb 17, 2025
    1

    After months of intensive reconstruction, the intersection of Park Avenue and Scenic Highway is expected to open to traffic this week, marking the end of one phase of an expansive Lake Wales Connected project to reconfigure and beautify the urban core of Lake Wales. Merchants, residents, and visitors alike are ready to celebrate the opening of the refurbished Park Avenue, which features wider, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks with room for outdoor café seating, as well as lush la...

  • Scenic Highway and Park Avenue Intersection Work Nearing Completion

    Robert Connnors|Updated Nov 30, 2024

    The long construction project to turn the once-desolate Park Avenue in downtown Lake Wales into an attractive pedestrian magnet is apparently approaching a conclusion. Once completed, the entire length of Park Avenue will be open for two-way traffic for the first time in nearly two years. Traffic on Scenic Highway has been detoured around the construction site since late October. The project timeline suggested a 90-day closure, but that schedule may be surpassed if progress...

  • National Town Builder's Group Tours Lake Wales, Leaves Impressed

    News Staff Reports|Updated Oct 21, 2024

    A tour of Lake Wales by an influential group of specialty builders may lead to interest in new "traditional neighborhood" housing in the area, according to organizers of the event. Several dozen members of the National Town Builders Association arrived by motorcoach to visit the area, with stops at Bok Tower Gardens, Lake Wailes Park, and a walking tour through the downtown area. The group was led by Victor Dover, principal of the planning firm of Dover, Kohl & Partners,...

  • Lake Wales Breaks Ground on Northwest Neighborhood Sidewalk and Street Tree Project

    Robert Connors|Updated Aug 23, 2024

    Lake Wales City officials and residents gathered Friday morning at the intersection of Florida Avenue and F Street in the Northwest Neighborhood to celebrate the upcoming sidewalk and street-tree planting project with a groundbreaking ceremony. The effort is expected to beautify the long-neglected area, coupling with the ongoing Community Redevelopment Agency housing rehabilitation and affordable home construction programs. The groundbreaking followed only hours after a Thursd...

  • CRA Board Turns Down New Lake Alta Proposal

    Robert Connors|Updated Aug 14, 2024

    The Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency board Tuesday rejected a proposal to reconsider higher-density development at a site near Lake Alta Park. Area residents had battled a previous plan for months earlier this year. City Commissioners, sitting in their roles as the CRA board, voted 4-1 against the concept, brought before the board by Chairman Robin Gibson. Gibson made a lengthy pitch to fellow commissioners to draw support but came up empty. The concept plan would...

  • $565,000 Lake Alta Purchase Idea Begs for a Pause to Reconsider

    News Editorial Board|Updated Aug 11, 2024

    A proposal to spend $565,000 to re-purchase the 1.44 acre Lake Alta property the Community Redevelopment Agency previously sold for less than $9,000 will be considered at Tuesday's meeting of the board. The City of Lake Wales, seeking to dispose of unused lands, had transferred the remnant parcel, part of a larger city-owned site containing tiny Lake Alta park, to the CRA in 2015. The CRA sold it through an offering that brought only one bid from Harout "Henry" Kebabjian and...

  • Northwest Neighborhood Sidewalk and Street Tree Project Slated to Begin Soon

    Robert Connors|Updated Jun 25, 2024
    1

    A new city effort will see the construction of about a mile of new sidewalk and the planting of scores of new street trees in Lake Wales. The long-neglected Northwest Neighborhood of Lake Wales, subject of a two-year Community Redevelopment Agency effort to improve housing, will soon benefit from an investment in new sidewalks and street trees. Residents will see some disruption as the improvements are made. The project is only the first portion of the two-phase project, City...

  • Free Downtown "Squeeze" Shuttle Service Off to a Fast Start

    Robert Connors|Updated May 24, 2024

    The newly-bricked and landscaped Park Avenue served as the backdrop for a recent ribbon cutting marking the official start of service by the new downtown shuttle known as The Squeeze. A happy crowd of citizens and officials representing Lake Wales Main Street, the Citrus Connection, the City of Lake Wales, and the Community Redevelopment agency shared the moment, celebrating the rapid changes coming to the city. The service is already earning great reviews from shoppers and lu...

  • Park Avenue Streetscape Project Advances, Only Tip of the Vast Connected Plan Effort

    Robert Connors|Updated May 6, 2024

    A new Park Avenue is steadily emerging in downtown Lake Wales as work continues on the first phase of a multi-million dollar reimagining of the city's heart. The ongoing work is creating a shady pedestrian oasis in the heart of the city, replete with rows of spreading live oaks, new benches, lighting, wider sidewalks, and brick-paved streets and parking areas. The stretch of Park Avenue between First and Market streets is rapidly nearing completion, offering business owners an...

  • Roosevelt Academy Programs Producing Workforce-Ready Graduates

    Casey Gist, News Correspondent|Updated Apr 6, 2024

    A new welding program at Roosevelt Academy is allowing students to learn basic and advanced welding techniques, preparing them for immediate careers. Students involved in the program also receive dual enrollment credits that could be used to further their welding training at Ridge Technical College. Seniors planning to take the test this year, including Fred Miller, Joseph Fletcher, McLens Pierre, and Juan Villalpando, will receive certification by the American Welding...

  • City Anticipates $23 Million Grant to Complete "Connected" Project

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Apr 2, 2024

    A grant application for the "Complete Streets redesign of remaining portions of 1st Street, Central Avenue, and Lincoln Avenue" has been given a high probability of success by a grant consultant working for the City of Lake Wales. The application seeks 100 percent funding for the redesign and reconstruction of most of First Street North, Lincoln Avenue, and single blocks of Central Avenue and A Street. The total project costs included in the application are $22,930,000, which...

  • Court Clears Path for Redevelopment of Walesbilt Hotel, Rules in Favor of City

    Suzie Schottelkotte and Robert Connors|Updated Mar 12, 2024
    1

    BARTOW - A Circuit Court ruling Thursday has set the stage for reverting ownership of the historic Walesbilt Hotel in Lake Wales back to the city, ending a years-long legal battle for control of the 10-story building. Circuit Judge William T. Sites ruled that the current owner, Dixie-Walesbilt LLC's Raymond Brown, fraudulently induced the city into contracting with him to redevelop the property, and ultimately to sign the deed over to Brown, according to the ruling. The...

  • A Free Press Serves as a Watchdog on Government and Politicians

    News Editorial Board|Updated Mar 1, 2024

    Government is complicated. Elected officials, even those responsible for leading a city such as Lake Wales with its hundred-million-dollar budget, face a multitude of questions and issues. It is certainly not within the capacity of any one individual to have total awareness of every matter that must be decided. The role of the press as a watchdog over government is a long-established principle, one that has for nearly 250 years of American history served to keep politicians...

  • Facts, Not innuendo, Should Guide City Business, Citizen Behavior

    News Editorial Board|Updated Feb 22, 2024

    People often look to their perceived "leaders" for guidance on conduct. In an atmosphere of charged and heated politics on a national level, it is no wonder that people are too often quick to accuse or insinuate wrongdoing even in their hometowns. Lake Wales is not immune from such behavior. Such problems can be exacerbated when evidence arises, as it sometimes will, that political decisions have resulted in unexpected outcomes. When that happens, the solution is neither ignoring the problems nor making wild accusations of...

  • Lake Alta Proposal Modified by Developer, No Longer Impacts Park

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Feb 17, 2024

    A development proposal adjacent to Lake Alta on the near north side of Lake Wales has been modified by the developer in an apparent attempt to reach a compromise with neighboring residents. Growth Management Division Director Autumn Cochella attended a Community Redevelopment Agency meeting this week to explain to commissioners that developer J. Walter Homes will bring a new proposal back to the city's Planning and Zoning Board at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 27, calling...

  • Lake Wales Has a Good "Squeeze" Coming

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Feb 17, 2024

    In an effort to help address the need for transportation around the downtown area, City Manager James Slaton and staff have brought another solution forward. The "Squeeze" is an eight-passenger open vehicle which has already proven successful in downtown Lakeland, according to Erin Killebrew, who presented the concept during a special presentation to the Community Redevelopment Agency board. The proposal would provide the vehicle as a free service to riders needing to move...

  • City Commission, CRA Considering Sale of City Park For Apartment Complex

    News Staff reports|Updated Feb 15, 2024

    A "pocket park" lying in a quiet neighborhood of single-family homes on the near north side of the city may be converted to a parking lot to serve a new housing complex, Lake Wales News has learned. The Lake Wales City Commission approved a "consent agenda" item on January 16 transferring ownership of the 3.566 acre Lake Alta Park to the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency. The city commission also sits as the CRA board. That body can negotiate property sales directly to...

Page Down

Rendered 04/24/2025 08:26