Former Polk County Commissioner Randy Wilkinson will challenge state Rep. Colleen Burton for the Republican Party nod in August’s primary in the newly refashioned Florida Senate District 12.
Author Archives: John Haughey
Posted inBusiness, Downtown
Bodega Market Set to Open on Munn Park by Thanksgiving
Around 1,200 people live in downtown Lakeland and there will be 7,000 people who work there by Friday when Summit Consulting employees finish moving into their new eight-story, $50-million headquarters on Massachusetts Avenue.
Posted inDowntown, Housing
City OKs 7-Story Downtown Apartment Complex, Parking Garage
For seven years, the city of Lakeland has for been looking for a builder to purchase the 1.5-acre, city-owned Oak Street parking lot downtown and replace it with a multi-use development. And now it has a deal with a company that wants to build a seven-story apartment complex with a 424-space parking garage.
Posted inNeighborhoods
Survey and Public Forum in June Will Collect Comments on South Florida Avenue Road Diet
People can tell the city of Lakeland and the Florida Department of Transportation what they want to see done on South Florida Avenue between downtown and Dixieland in a June survey followed by a public forum at the RP Funding Center.
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't, Neighborhoods
Wedgewood Golf Course Sold; 1,400 Residences Planned
North Lakeland’s 90-year-oid Wedgewood Golf Course has been sold to developers who propose building nearly 1,400 homes — including more than 1,100 apartments — on the 117-acre property south of Lake Gibson.
Posted inBusiness, Neighborhoods
Development Momentum Generating Interest in Lakeland’s Redevelopment Districts
The Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency initiated 105 projects in the city’s three redevelopment districts in 2021 and completed 49. They ranged from murals in Dixieland to The Well entrepreneur center on Parker Street to affordable housing projects at Twin Lakes and Vermont Place.
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't, Neighborhoods
City to Ask Florida Attorney General if State Law ‘Expressly’ Allows Hunting in Lakeland
It never hurts to at least ask, even when the answer is likely to confirm the Lakeland City Commission is being drawn into a brewing battle between hunters and landowners that could have ramifications statewide and beyond.
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't, Transportation
Lakeland Airport in Talks With an Unnamed Passenger Airline
The Lakeland City Commission Monday unanimously agreed to renew its contract with a company that specializes in bringing air passenger service to mid-sized airports despite failing to do so since it was hired by the city in 2018. But things are looking up — literally — for Lakeland’s decade-long quest to restore passenger airline service […]
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't, Neighborhoods
Zoning Change for Grasslands Self-Storage Facility Nixed But Not Dead
The Lakeland City Commission Monday denied a proposed zoning change that would allow a 46-foot tall, 102,675-square-foot “mini warehouse/self-storage facility with outdoor RV storage” to be built on a 4.33-acre parcel on Harden Boulevard a little north of the entrance to Grasslands.
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't
Contractor Demolishing Power Plants Will Pay City $1.2 Million for Scrap Metal
In a case of good timing, the city of Lakeland needs somebody to demolish three shuttered power plants at a time when prices for recycled scrap metal have been rising. As a result, the city will net $1.2 million under a pending contract to raze and remove three shuttered Lakeland Electric plants on Lake Parker.