Developer North American Properties has signed the last five documents with the Tallahassee Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) to build its Cascades Project on the hem of the city’s 24-acre public park, The Tallahassee Democrat (T-D) reports.
“This is a major step in the creation of a transformational, $150,000,000 project,” CRA director Roxanne Manning wrote in a memo to the agency’s board members. “Thanks to the CRA board’s leadership and vision, we are looking forward to the creation of a project which will enhance Tallahassee’s downtown with a new activity center adjacent to Cascades Park.” (The Cascades Project website says the project value is $158 million.)
Two city blocks will be levelled to make room for the development — described as the largest of any downtown CRA project in Tallahassee’s history. There will be apartments, brownstones, retail, restaurants, a hotel, a gym and a $353.6 million total economic impact.
The T-D news site reports that the project occurs at a crucial time for the downtown CRA, “which has been the focus of an ongoing FBI public corruption investigation regarding dealings with a number of high-profile local business people and lobbyists who have ties to city elected officials.”
