With BusinessFlare Aerial, we want to use this channel to showcase cool downtowns and other interesting places, highlight projects we have worked on, places we have worked, where we are currently working, and even places where we would love to work. We want to show how economics and place converge into opportunity through the BusinessFlare team's specialized understanding of quality of life, lifestyles, economics, placemaking, the public realm, and most importantly, a place's potential.
I was lucky enough to live in Wauchula for a few years; arrived just as the last "mom and pop" grocer folded so I saw a glimmer of what it used to be. Would rather live there than most places in America.
Frostproof Florida not far north of Lake Placid Florida would make great aerial shots above the downtown and the 2 large beautiful lakes that that the downtown is situated between.
Everglades Memorial Hospital was in Pahokee and has been torn down, the one in the video is Glades General Hospital in Belle Glade and it's still there.
The Colony Theater was challenging. It was originally a movie theater, not a live action theater. ThIs was one of the first times Historic #Preservation went up against Historic Preservation. We were needed height above the limit. We needed money. ***The original Colony was beautifully renovated by Morris Lapidus, moving the entrance to the corner to create a needed theater lobby area. City Planning required we alter the #Lapidus orientation back to the old Colony movie theater layout despite Lapidus' brilliant changes. To book potential union shows, we had to add an elevator and back house safety features. To do that, we would have to build above the height level limit of Lincoln Road. Our solution was that being on the corner, we sought a conditional use variance to match the height across the street, which had a higher limit. We were allowed a variance because it had symmetry with the next corner and because of the Colony Theater's public purpose. The irony is that the matching building that allowed us to add height to the old movie theater to make it a live theater is the current remarkable Bernard Zyscovich FAIA designed multi-story modern movie plex. Also, the beautiful old Art Deco bank turned Banana Republic is visible directly across the side street between the old movie theater and today's movie plex ***We received two State grants from Historic Resources and Historic Preservation. We had not seen the glory days TIF revenues yet. Because of spalling concrete, we had scant funding for seating area improvements. Those came later. We worked on leasing space to create a hub of activity and more revenue for up keep. This outside area which centers around a Carlos Alvarez tile mosaic fountain is still a popular meeting spot. Richard Heisenbottle, FAIA, one of the best preservation architects in Florida, did the best he could with our limited funding. He brought in the best minds for sound, lighting and the rest, advised by professional theater manager Eric Fliss. It was a wonderful effort, but we all agreed, except the Planning Department, that we erased history by not keeping the Lapidus orientation which was better for a live theater. Thankfully, the Fillmore renovation remedied some of the demand for live performance space after the City of Miami Beach passed on hosting a permanent Cirque du Soleil production. Kent Bonde Kevin Crowder, CEcD Alex Rolandelli #redevelopment #economicdevelopment #streeteconmics #change #miamibeach
