HEALTH CARE
- BayCare broke ground on a 44,377-sq.-ft. HealthHub in Wesley Chapel that will bring emergency care and imaging services to residents of Epperson and Mirada, two of Pasco County's fastest-growing master-planned communities, by 2028.
- AdventHealth's West Florida division is planning three freestanding emergency departments in Pasco, Polk and Marion counties.
- David VanMeter will head the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System as executive director, leading more than 5,100 employees across nine sites in Southwest Florida. He previously served as deputy medical center director of the Tampa VA Healthcare System.
- By 2029, Moffitt Cancer Center will open a new outpatient facility on 34 acres in Lakeland, representing its first location in Polk County and the start of its Central Florida Campus.
- Thanks to a $1-million gift from the Schoonmaker Foundation, the Neighborhood Health Clinic in Naples is adding more diagnostic equipment for women's health, cardiology and laboratory services.
AVIATION
- Acron Aviation, a provider of pilot training, simulation and avionics, has moved into a new 242,115-sq.-ft. global headquarters in downtown St. Petersburg. The company's original site closed because of Hurricane Milton in 2024.
HOUSING
- The Venice senior living community Village On The Isle acquired 50 acres for $21.5 million to create a satellite campus about six miles away.
- Naples-based Onda Housing Group broke ground on Wave at Rose, an affordable housing complex bringing 230 rental units to Immokalee.
- The University of Tampa plans to build an 11-story student housing project with 238 units about a block from its downtown campus.
HIGHER EDUCATION
- Beginning this fall, Saint Leo University is partnering with IBM to integrate digital fluency and AI-driven competencies into every major using the company's SkillsBuild platform.
- Anne Kerr, the recently retired president of Florida Southern College in Lakeland, is serving as interim president of Polk State College.
CONSTRUCTION
- Limbach Holdings — which specializes in providing mechanical, electrical, plumbing and controls to facilities — is relocating its headquarters from Pennsylvania to Tampa.
REAL ESTATE
- John R. Wood Christie's International Real Estate expanded its Southwest Florida footprint with the acquisition of Punta Gorda-based Walker Realty Group and its 11 agents.
- Lakeland-based Saunders Real Estate is bringing commercial and land appraisal services fully in-house for the first time by launching Saunders Valuations.
RETAIL
- German consumer goods giant Henkel has acquired DeMert Brands, the parent company of Tampa-based Not Your Mother's hair care products.
SPORTS
- A burgeoning partnership between Polk County, its school district and Florida Southern College aims to add an $18-million track and field stadium in South Lakeland.
- In May, Bradenton embarked on a $30-million-plus multiphase project adding new baseball fields, a public park and a community resource center to LECOM Park, home to the Bradenton Marauders and spring training hub for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
DEVELOPMENT
- PMG Affordable, a division of Miami-based Property Markets Group, was selected to redevelop four properties in downtown Tampa into 1,150 residential units — 70% of which would be reserved for affordable and workforce housing.
ENVIRONMENT
- Manatee County is partnering with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to buy conservation easements on 438 acres of Mossy Island Ranch and 1,045 acres of Thundercloud Ranch, two privately held cattle operations in East Manatee.
LAYOFFS
- Trulieve — Florida's largest cannabis operator — laid off 58 customer service representatives at a call center in Clearwater.
Pit Boss
Travis Lunn — who most recently served as president and COO of Mandalay Bay, The W, Luxor and Four Seasons for MGM Resorts International — is the new president of Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa.
Museum Reimagined
St. Petersburg's Dalí Museum will break ground this fall on a 35,000-sq.-ft. expansion with flexible galleries for experiential exhibitions, a learning center and community spaces inspired by the Spanish artist Salvador Dalí. The Beck Group — the Dallas-based architecture and construction firm behind the museum's landmark 2011 building — will design and build the $65-million project.
"This is a defining moment for our institution and for St. Petersburg," says Hank Hine, the museum's executive director. "It's not about being bigger, it's about being bolder." The Dalí will remain open throughout construction and plans to debut the new space in 2028.
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
"I plan to have this project completed expeditiously so people can once again enjoy this great recreational attraction."
— Gov. Ron DeSantis announcing that a new fishing pier will be constructed on the Manatee County side of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The existing pier on the Pinellas County side — which was damaged during 2024's Hurricane Milton — will also be renovated and extended.
$3 billion
— That's the estimated economic impact of the St. Petersburg Innovation District over its first decade. The 560-acre collaborative district near downtown supports more than 10,000 jobs across high-growth sectors, including marine science and life sciences.