Florida

Florida Senate puts up $5 million for Pensacola’s effort to acquire old Baptist Hospital

Published

2 years ago

February 1, 2024

Florida Senate puts up million for Pensacola’s effort to acquire old Baptist Hospital

The Florida Legislature appears set to back Pensacola’s effort to redevelop the old Baptist Hospital property with $5 million.

Florida House and Senate committees backed their version of the state’s budget plans — $115.5 billion on the House side and $115.9 billion on the Senate side — and included in the Senate version was $5 million for “Live Local Pensacola” the name of the city effort to acquire and demolish the old Baptist Hospital property.

The city’s working plan is to clear the property and find a developer who can transform the campus into a new mixed-income community with all levels of affordable housing.

Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves’ funding plan to demolish the old hospital in a single year included at least $5 million from the Florida Legislature.

Also included in the Senate version was $2.2 million for funding for Bay Bluffs Park and $1 million for a terminal expansion at the Pensacola International Airport.

The House version of the budget contained $750,000 for funding for the airport.

Reeves thanks Sen. Doug Broxson for the inclusion of the projects in the Senate version of the budget, which was published on Friday.

“This is just the first step in seeing if these projects end up getting funded,” Reeves said. “They have dollar amounts tied to them, but there’s a lot more work yet to come.”

The lack of inclusion of the Baptist Hospital project in the House version of the budget comes after Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, said he couldn’t move the project forward because the city had not committed to using the dollars if the state allocated them.

The issue has strained the working relationship between the mayor and Andrade, whose district contains the entire city limits of Pensacola except for the new Baptist Hospital campus on Brent Lane.

Andrade’s view had not changed when he spoke to the News Journal in a text message on Wednesday.

“It shouldn’t have been a surprise I didn’t put money in my budget for it,” Andrade said. “The city didn’t do what I needed them to do to justify putting it into my spreadsheet. I did put money in for the airport because they committed to using it.”

That doesn’t mean Andrade is not supporting the project, however, as the budget is far from final.

Andrade said he still plans to support the project when the House and Senate versions of the budget get to a conference to unify the two spending plans.

“So long as I have the funds, my plan is to match (the Senate’s version) at $5 million when I go into conference negotiations,” Andrade said.

If the funds are approved and survive Gov. Ron DeSantis’ line-item veto, the city will have won a large portion of the $16.4 million it says it needs to accept the property from Baptist Hospital.

Last week, Reeves announced his full funding plan for acquiring the property. It would still require Baptist Health Care to contribute $3 million and Escambia County to contribute $2 million. The Pensacola City Council will vote next week to pledge $1 million to the project.

Proposed funding breakdown:

Pensacola: $1 million
Other grants: Up to $5 million for commercial property
Escambia County: $2 million
Baptist Health Care: $3 million
Sale of land to affordable housing developer Paces Foundation: $2.9 million
Florida: Between $5 million and $8 million
Total: $13.9 million to $16.9 million

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Florida

7 of our favorite Florida restaurants in Vero Beach and Fellsmere

Published

8 hours ago

June 20, 2026

Press Room

7 of our favorite Florida restaurants in Vero Beach and Fellsmere

TCPalm staff share their top restaurant recommendations in Vero Beach, Sebastian, Fellsmere.

Indian River County is home to many unique restaurants, far too many to choose from.

There are so many restaurants on the Treasure Coast to try, but it can be hard knowing where to start.

Here are the TCPalm staff’s recommendations for restaurants in Vero Beach, Sebastian and Fellsmere.

Indian River County restaurant recommendations

Olivia Franklin is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at olivia.franklin@tcpalm.com, 317-627-8048 or follow her on X @Livvvvv_5.

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Florida

Pilot program aims to build $200K homes in Central Florida to help low-income families buy, not rent

Published

18 hours ago

June 19, 2026

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Pilot program aims to build 0K homes in Central Florida to help low-income families buy, not rent

ORLANDO, Fla. – For many Central Florida families, the dream of owning a home feels further out of reach than ever.

With the median home price now topping $400,000, a new pilot program in Orlando is trying to change that by building new homes for about half the cost.

A lot off Quill Avenue in Parramore may not look like much right now, but organizers say it could soon be the site of a new home priced around $200,000 for low-income families.

“We just really wanted an opportunity to bring actual affordable housing to people who have basically been forever renters,” said Satrina Whithead with the GXVE Homes Initiative.

The GXVE Homes Initiative says the goal is to help families earning between $16,000 and $65,000 a year get a chance at homeownership. Whithead said the homes could range from 500 to 1,400 square feet, depending on the lot size and location.

The Orlando Regional Realtor Association reports the median home price in the area is now more than $400,000. Whithead said GXVE hopes to sell homes for about half that.

“There’s nothing wrong with profit, but at the end of the day, I want to help where the need is greatest,” Whithead said.

Organizers say they are already planning to build in Parramore and are working to close on two additional properties. They also say they have properties planned in Sanford and Mims, with a goal of bringing eight homes a year to Central Florida.

“You can pay 80 percent of your salary on rent just to have a place to live. So getting that number back down to around 50 percent is extremely important,” said Mike Harris, vice president of GXVE Homes.

Florida Made Tiny Homes, which is partnering with the organization, said it plans to build concrete homes that exceed safety requirements for the area.

“I don’t think there’s going to be anything available on the market in that price range, much less new construction,” said Dylan Grace, co-founder of Florida Made Tiny Homes.

Program organizers say they expect to start construction in the fall and hope to complete the first home within six to eight months after work begins. For more information please click here.

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Florida

Ex-Florida juvenile probation officer accused of leaking court info to drug traffickers

Published

1 day ago

June 19, 2026

Press Room

Ex-Florida juvenile probation officer accused of leaking court info to drug traffickers

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A former Florida juvenile probation officer is facing more than 100 felony charges after investigators said she leaked confidential court and law enforcement information to people tied to a drug trafficking investigation.

Crystal Gaynell Ann Lawson was booked into the Orange County Jail on Thursday, according to Orange County Corrections records.

Investigators said Lawson improperly accessed the Comprehensive Case Information System, or CCIS, more than 100 times and shared information from active criminal cases with members of a drug trafficking organization.

FOX 35 Orlando reported Lawson was arrested on 113 felony counts of computer crimes for unauthorized access. Investigators said she allegedly accessed the database 106 times between January and May.

Lawson is accused of using the database to search for active criminal cases tied to members of the organization. Authorities said some of the information that was leaked included arrest warrants and documents connected to an active investigation.

Lawson was hired by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice in February 2022. As part of that job, she was given access to the CCIS database. Authorities said she was fired later that year after an arrest, but her database access was not terminated.

See also: ‘Elf,’ ‘Couples Retreat’ actor jailed with no bond after Florida arrest

Investigators said the leaks resulted in lost evidence, unrecovered assets and at least one person fleeing to avoid arrest before later being taken into custody.

Lawson previously worked for the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, where she had access to the court information system as part of her job. Authorities said she was later fired, but her database access was not terminated.

Orange County Corrections records list Lawson’s case status as “presentenced” and show multiple entries for “offense against computer users.”

The records list the arresting agency as the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and show bond amounts of $10,000 on several listed case sequences. The jail record also notes an “ICJIS Affidavit.”

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