2 months ago Share City and county leaders centered affordable housing as a priority in 2020. To what extent will recently established policies bear fruit this year?
A shortage of affordable housing has long been a topic of discussion among local officials, but in 2020, both the county and the city approved a series of actions they hoped would lead to meaningful progress on the issue.
In the city, commissioners adopted a series of land use changes designed to make private construction of affordable housing easier and has $4 million set aside in a fund dedicated to the issue. In the county, commissioners identified land to be repurposed for affordable housing projects and sought to find developers willing to build those units.
Wednesday s Daily Pulse | 12/30/2020
Newly signed COVID relief package could have big impact on Florida businesses
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, around 70% of all business partnerships were shown to fail. But now, all across the country, businesses of all kinds are being forced to shut their doors either temporarily or permanently as a response to our current health crisis. While Florida has done everything possible to keep businesses open during this time, many organizations are still hurting as a result of a severely reduced tourism industry and an increased emphasis on staying home. But the newly signed COVID-19 relief package, which was passed by Congress just before Christmas, could bring some much-needed help to small businesses in the Sunshine State. [Source: South Florida Reporter]
Starting next year, Westfield Siesta Key mall in Sarasota will no longer be a Westfield property.
The 435,000-square-foot mall, at U.S. 41 and Siesta Drive in the city of Sarasota, is now owned and operated by O’Connor Capital Partners, a real estate development, investment and management firm with offices in New York, Palm Beach and Mexico City.
Unibail Rodamco Westfield and O’Connor previously owned the mall in a joint-venture partnership in which O’Connor owned 49% of the property, but now O’Connor has acquired Westfield’s interest, according to a news release from both companies. Westfield will continue to manage the mall through Thursday, and after that, the property will be rebranded.