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MOMMOMMEMOMMEMOMMMERWAMM DEBBIE M, ORSHEFSKY AND PAUL WARELLI Developing within a CRA Signs of a healthy CRA should be the focus of a prudent developer. DENTE K oRSHEFSKY and PAUL D }Auu[ are land use am meys in due FDrtLauderdale, FbndA office of Greenberg Traurig. r -28 Urban Laind October ZOo - e� ness (e.g., bonds) incurred to accomplish statutorily per - mitted CRA redevelopment objectives, such as land acqui- sition or it �tructure improvements.7be power of emi- nent domain enables the agency to acquire lands for its own redevelopment projects or to male them available for pri- vate redevelopment efforts. To avail themselves of these re- development tools, cities and counties in Florida have formed approximately 140 CRAB across the state. Successful CRAB in Florida are credited with having been guided by a clear "vision} for the CRA; just having a gen- eral goal of redevelopment is not enough. Although the act requires a community redevelopment plan, this broad pol- icy document roust be implemented through governmen- tal action to craft and express the vision. Without a clear vision to guide a CRA and to inspire private developer ini- tiatives, redevelopment in an area may never advance enough to generate property value increases that warrant long -term private investment in the area. In and of itself, the mere designation of a targeted area as a CRA 'LS usually insufficient to result in meaningful re- development within it. Local government comrr fitment, as evidenced by substantial public investment, is desirable to jump - start redevelopment efforts. For example, the city of Fort Lauderdale in 1989 invested apprux mately 25 m�d- lion in its beach CRA to construct roadway, streetscape, and other 'unpmvernents. This public investment was seen as a catalyst for significant private redevelopment efforts that changed the face of port Lauderdale Reach from a shabby spring break haunt to a destination resort. Fort Lauderdale is now repeating this approach in a newer CRA in the Northwest/ Flagler Heights area, an underdeveloped area north and west of downtown Fort Lauderdale, where the agency is using lg mullion in bonding capacity for a gateway project (including streemmpe and infrastructure improvements), property acquisition, and other infra - structure in the vicinity of proposed developments. Ac- cording to Kim Jackson, CRA manager, "Private develop- ers need to know that the public sector is behind therm. If government is not willing to make the initial funding com- mitments in a CRA, meaningful redevelopment may not progress;' she notes. Perhaps the most significant impediment to redevelop- ment in many CRAB is tale pattem of landownership. The fractional.ized ownership that characterizes many CRAB males it difficult and time consuming for private develop- ers to assemble parcels with the critical mass necessary to