CRA approves commercial property improvement matching grant for Veronica Shoemaker Plaza
FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Fort Myers Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) recently approved a commercial property improvement matching grant for Veronica Shoemaker Plaza in the not-to-exceed amount of $12,651.00.
The CRA Commercial Property Improvement Matching Grant Program is a matching grant for commercial property owners and businesses within Fort Myers redevelopment areas. The maximum potential grant available for a project is 50 percent of the total project cost, with a maximum award of $25,000.00 since grant awards will depend on the availability of funds. The Fort Myers CRA has offered such commercial property preservation incentives/grant programs since 2010.
The Veronica Shoemaker Plaza, located at 3510 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Fort Myers, is owned by Bennie Tyrone and Mattie Young Shoemaker. The plaza houses Veronica Shoemaker Florist shop, a family-owned and operated shop that has been serving Fort Myers and the surrounding areas since 1975, and Sozo Wellness Pharmacy.
The goals of the CRA’s property improvement grant matching program are to cure or prevent blighted and slum-conditions; increase property values; fill vacant or underutilized spaces; encourage adaptive reuse and revitalization of commercial corridors; and to improve the curb appeal of commercial corridors within all CRA redevelopment areas.
The summary of the proposed scope of work to occur on Veronica Shoemaker Plaza includes replacing the existing “Veronica Shoemaker Plaza” sign and installing 8 aluminum electric roll down shutters for all front windows and doors.
“Veronica Shoemaker’s purpose was to be of service to those who could not help themselves and she certainly accomplished that in her life,” said Executive Director, Fort Myers CRA, Michele Hylton-Terry. “I’m glad this grant will help restore the plaza that continues to display her name and houses the business she started and is now proudly run by her daughter Mattie Young.”
Shoemaker was an independent florist, the first black member of the Fort Myers City Council and well-known community activist.
About the Fort Myers Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA)
The Fort Myers Community Redevelopment Agency was created in 1984 by the City of Fort Myers, Florida, under Florida Statute Chapter 163, to formulate a plan and strategy for the revitalization of the downtown River District.
The Fort Myers CRA has continued to grow, and redevelopment areas have been added throughout the city. Today, the Fort Myers Community Redevelopment Agency encourages and oversees redevelopment in five designated areas that contain a total of 15 distinct geographic sections within the Fort Myers city limits.
The Fort Myers CRA, along with the City’s Community Development Division, prepares plans for the revitalization of each area and coordinates the implementation of the plan’s recommendations. Tax Increment Funds (TIF) generated by each area, combined with other funding sources, are used to upgrade the public infrastructure and to stimulate redevelopment in the same area where it was generated.
The Fort Myers City Council members, sitting as the Community Redevelopment Agency Board of Commissioners, oversee the Agency’s divisions and their operations. The Fort Myers CRA office is located at 1400 Jackson Street in the Downtown River District.