The City of Lakeland is seeking responses from qualified and experienced firms to provide professional services related to the modification of the Lakeland CRA Midtown District Redevelopment Plan which includes an in-depth analysis of existing conditions, performance measures, updated goals and objectives, and a 10-year extension of its existing timeframe past 2031.

Midtown, with its 4,463 acres, is the largest of the three CRA Districts.  It spans from the intown bypass (Bartow Road) to Interstate-4.  The area is anchored by the Medical District, Joker Marchant Stadium and the newly redeveloped Mass Market.  Overall, Midtown is home to 27 diverse and distinct neighborhoods with 17 actively engaged neighborhood associations. The purpose of the Plan update centers around providing higher quality of life for the neighborhoods, better connectivity, purposeful development and to stimulate private investment through strategic economic growth.

The CRA is a dependent special district whose purpose is outlined in the Florida Statutes. All work conducted by the CRA must be authorized by statute and included in the redevelopment plans. The selected consultant must have an intimate familiarity with the State of Florida’s Community Redevelopment Act (Chapter 163, Part III, Florida Statutes) and state and/or nationally recognized community redevelopment best practices and principles.

The consultant will provide professional urban planning, design, research, analysis, and plan amendment services for the Midtown District. The final product must be visually attractive, simple to understand and to navigate and ready for approval by the Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency and adoption by the Lakeland City Commission.

The plan will be authorized from the effective date of adoption through termination of the redevelopment area’s existence. Project recommendations shall be strategic, tactical, catalytic and feasible, considering and aligning with projected TIF generation. Plan updates are anticipated in 5-year increments in accordance with planning best practices. A 5-year implementation plan shall accompany the redevelopment plan with the capability of updating annually. Since the geographic area of the Midtown district is expansive, the Consultant should consider employing a neighborhood and/or subarea-specific approach to focus expenditures and efforts in smaller areas to create a dramatic impact.

The existing Midtown Redevelopment Plan may be accessed here: https://www.lakelandcra.net/redevelopment-areas