The city of Lakeland paid $363,000 in legal fees and expenses to 13 outside law firms and individual attorneys during the last three months of 2021, according to the city attorney’s office.
Category: Business
Posted inBusiness, City Hall / Local Gov't
With Lakeland Airport Spaces Filled, City Won’t Link Leases to Inflation
Space is getting increasingly rare – and, therefore, increasingly valuable – at Lakeland Linder International Airport with all 100-plus warehouse/office sites rented to private businesses and government agencies at the city-owned airport.
Posted inBusiness
Ignited Church Plans to Sell Its Large Home on U.S. 98 North
The 43,000-square-foot building on U.S. 98 that has housed Ignited Church for 17 years is under contract for sale, according to Steven Strader, the church’s pastor. The prospective buyer is a national home builder that wants to convert it to a trade school and office, he told The Ledger without naming the buyer. The church […]
Posted inBusiness, People
Brandon Clark Named as Third Leader of The Ruthvens in 64 Years
Joe P. Ruthven came to Lakeland from South Carolina in 1957 with his bride, the daughter of a prominent local family whose brother would someday be governor of Florida, and opened an OK Tires store on Memorial Boulevard with a partner.
Posted inBusiness, People
Amy Wiggins Named CEO of Lakeland Chamber of Commerce
Amy Wiggins, a communications professional whose career has focused on Lakeland non-profit organizations, has been named president and CEO of the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce. It’s a homecoming for her because she had been an executive there from 2005 to 2015.
Posted inBusiness, City Hall / Local Gov't
City’s Pooled Investments Earned $18.8 Million in 2021
The city of Lakeland’s pooled investment fund earned $18.8 million in 2021, a 3.26% return that fell $2.2 million below the previous year but was still “well above the average earning index” for municipal governments, city Treasurer Jeff Stearns told commissioners today during an update on the city investment performance and policies.
Posted inBusiness, Downtown
After Brewery Manager Gets $1,000 Tip, Owner Provides Another Big Tip
The general manager of downtown Lakeland’s Dissent Brewing got a $1,000 “welcome-to-the neighborhood” tip courtesy of the local Big Fat Tip non-profit. So the brewery’s owner decided to pay it forward; he donated $1,000 to the organization, which surprised a Mister Fish employee with a one-grand gratuity, News Channel 8 reports. | Big Fat Tip […]
Posted inBusiness, Food & Dining
Fresh Kitchen Plans a Build-a-Bowl Restaurant for Lakeland
Fresh Kitchen, a Tampa-based build-your-own-bowl restaurant chain, will open its first Lakeland site adjacent to the new Aldi store that is set to open in late 2022 on South Florida Avenue at Alamo Drive.
Posted inBusiness, Consumer
Grocer Aldi Plans to Build a New Store on South Florida Avenue
Low-frills grocer Aldi is coming to south Lakeland. The international chain is planning to build its second Lakeland store at 4532 S. Florida Ave., currently the site of a Golden Corral restaurant, which is slated for demolition.
Posted inBusiness, Neighborhoods
Rezoning Will Allow Apartments on Marcum Road Behind Publix
A developer is a step closer to building up to 34 apartments on roughly three acres on Marcum Road behind a U.S. 98N Publix store. County commissioners rezoned the land from residential-low to residential-medium in a 3-1 vote over the protest of neighbors on Ranch Road, The Ledger reports. Source: The Ledger