New homes are improving the look of streets in the city’s urban core as the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency and its nonprofit partners make a final push to meet a mid-February deadline for spending $23.2 million in federal grant money.

With less than two months remaining, the CRA and its partners in the Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant have spent $17.8 million, meaning they’ll need to spend another $5.4 million to meet the Feb. 11 deadline.

With another $5.8 million obligated but not technically spent, the grant partners are expected to meet the spending deadline, said Mike McManaman, grant program administrator for the CRA.

“I don’t expect us to lose one dollar,” McManaman said. Read More »

The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency is taking applications from potential buyers for a dozen townhomes designed as live-work spaces for artists.

The Urban Arts Lofts are being built in four buildings with three architectural styles — Art Deco, modern and Floridian —along North F Street and Lucerne Avenue just west of the city’s shuffleboard building.

With work space on the ground floor and living space upstairs, the lofts range in size from 2,275 to 2,653 square feet.

The two-bedroom, 2.5-bath townhomes are expected to range in price from $115,000 to $133,000, though the actual sales prices will not be known until after the lofts have been completed and appraised. Read More »