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What’s ahead for Space Coast development? Everything from luxury homes to high-tech centers – Florida Today

Brevard has been on a building boom lately, a trend likely to continue in the coming year.
Development is expected to be robust in 2025, particularly in the residential sector, including single-family homes, apartment complexes and hotels.
Commercial and industrial projects also are proceeding throughout Brevard County, as are projects at the Space Coast’s colleges.
Port Canaveral CEO John Murray said he saw record amounts of lumber and plywood coming through the port’s cargo terminals in November and December — an indication that the housing industry is about to rebound in the second quarter of 2025.
“This is how things work in the global markets,” Murray said.
So what’s ahead for construction and development along the Space Coast in 2025? Here is a sample from throughout the county:
A number of residential projects are underway in Palm Bay, as Brevard County’s most populous city adds to its current population of just over 140,000.
Palm Bay Deputy City Manager Joan Junkala-Brown said that there are 9,264 housing units within the city that have been approved and are under construction. Another 21,133 units are going through the review process.
Junkala-Brown said one of the big projects that has been approved is Cypress Bay West, near Babcock Street and Mara Loma Boulevard in southeast Palm Bay. It’s a three-phase project that is targeted to include 1,219 single-family homes and 124 townhome units. The single-family homes are being is being developed by D.R. Horton.
Another is the Palm Vista Everlands project, which has a mix of 854 single-family homes and 624 multifamily villas and townhomes, including some in age-restricted communities. The site is not far from St. Johns Heritage Parkway, north of Malabar Road, in northwest Palm Bay. There will be three subdivisions in which Lennar Homes is the developer.
Junkala-Brown said two high-tech companies are in the midst of large expansion projects in Palm Bay.
L3Harris Technologies has two major projects currently under construction at its Palm Bay campus.
L3Harris’ Project SAMT — an acronym for secure advanced manufacturing technology — currently is constructing a 105,000-square-foot facility. The project is projected to create about 100 jobs over three years, with private capital investment of $110 million, $80 million in manufacturing equipment, plus $11 million in business personal property.
L3Harris’ Project LEO — an acronym for low-earth orbit — is under construction as well, with a 93,000-square-foot facility. The company projects 101 new jobs over three years, with private capital investment of $70 million in building construction, plus $13.1 million in manufacturing equipment.
The projects received approval from the Palm Bay City Council for city property tax breaks over a 10-year period. The combined property tax breaks are worth an estimated $1.14 million a year during each of the first five years, with reduced tax breaks later on, Junkala-Brown said.
Another company to receive city property tax breaks was Rogue Valley Microdevices, an Oregon-based semiconductor company that is developing a facilty at 2301 Commerce Drive in Palm Bay, with a grand opening tentatively scheduled for mid-2025.
Rogue Valley is occupying and renovating an existing 50,000-square-foot facility, investing about $25 million in private capital for equipment and facility improvements. Rogue Valley projects an addition of at least 75 jobs over a three-year period.
Junkala-Brown said the Palm Bay City Council approved tax breaks for Rogue Valley over a seven-year period, with the incentive of nearly $570,000 a year during each of the first four years, with reduced tax breaks later on.
Titusville City Council member Sarah Stoeckel said one of the big residential projects underway in the city is The Shores at Tranquility, located north of the NASA Causeway, along the Indian River Lagoon shoreline.
This project is being built in phases, with Phase 1 consisting of 99 single-family homes, Phase 2 consisting of 104 single-family homes and Phase 3 consisting of 75 single-family homes. Additional phases are planned for the future, along with a marina and a town center on the site.
Stoeckel said residential developments like this one also help generate interest in national retail and restaurant companies locating in Titusville. An example is the planned Panera Bread restaurant, in a smaller “urban store” format, along State Road 50/Cheney Highway.
But Stoeckel cautions that Titusville must strike a balance between new residential development and commercial development, while also focusing on infrastructure improvements, and preserving wetlands and green space areas.
“Everything has to align perfectly, and everything has to have balance,” Stoeckel said.
Stoeckel said the City Council and Titusville’s Community Redevelopment Agency are working to devise plans to spur more development downtown, including shops, restaurants and service businesses.
Stoeckel — who has been a City Council member since 2016 — said city officials also must work to resolve the split among Titusville residents, some of whom want more development and others who want to keep the city’s “small-town feel.”
Separately, a developer is continuing his effort to transform the site of Titusville Mall (formerly known as Searstown Mall) along U.S. 1 into a multiuse complex. The developer is hoping to include a hotel, an apartment complex, an assisted-living faculty, retail space, restaurants, a medical complex and other offices on the site.
Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey said he expects construction of the Compass Landing by Margaritaville resort project to be moving forward in 2025, after experiencing some economic roadblocks that delayed construction.
“This has been a long road, but, as the financial climate has improved for the developer, construction can begin again,” Alfrey said. “It has been a bumpy road for Margaritaville.”
Compass Landing by Margaritaville is planned for 4.6-acre riverfront site just south of Cherry Street on U.S. 1. Plans for the tropical-themed Melbourne Margaritaville include a seven-story hotel facing the Indian River Lagoon; a two-story restaurant building with 400 seats; a 221-slip marina; a 14,000-square-foot lawn with stage for concerts and events; a four-level parking garage; and a public boardwalk.
Melbourne-based Certified General Contractors was selected as the general contractor for the project.
“We’re super-excited about it,” Certified General Contractors Vice President Corey Runte said. “Everything is moving forward,” with construction expected to begin in March or April on the two-year project. Pre-construction work already is underway.
Runte’s company also is working on a 240-unt apartment community in Melbourne at the former site of a Sears department store, near the intersection NASA Boulevard and Babcock Street.
Runte said construction is underway on the $58 million project, called Midtown Melbourne, with completion scheduled for early-2027.
The former Sears itself will be repurposed and renovated into a self-storage facility. The remainder of the site will be redeveloped into the luxury apartment community, with eight buildings, four stories tall.
Among the amenities at Midtown Melbourne will be a clubhouse, resident garages, a pool, a dog park and green space.
More than $7 million in site upgrades will be invested toward stormwater, infrastructure and other upgrades.
The developer is Inlet Property Co. and the management firm will be Madison Communities, with Certified General Contractors as the civil engineer.
Construction is continuing at a strong pace in West Viera, one of the faster-growing areas of the county.
Here are details on some of the residential projects from Eva Rey, senior vice president of community management and communications for The Viera Co.:
Aripeka: This is a 260-units, gated “eco-community,” which Rey notes has “wooden gates, natural landscape, and lakes framed by majestic live oaks and mature sable palms.”
“These features speak to a focused and deliberate effort made to work with the existing land, rather than clearing it and replanting.” Rey said. “Our development team drew lot lines that preserved natural areas, realigned roads, created landscape islands and preserved native habitats.”
Future amenities will include a clubhouse, a playground, an outdoor pavilion and trails.
Crossmolina: Enhanced designs for a total of 314 single-family homes, of which 154 are attached duplex villas, are in this Viera Builders neighborhood. Amenities include a central pool, shade canopies, a playground and benches.
Farallon Fields: This is Viera Builders’ latest community, with new lot sizes in a gated section of the neighborhood being releasing for sale soon. The area has a broad variety of home designs, with a total of 576 units. Amenities at Farallon Fields include a community pool and pavilion, a playground with a tot lot and open recreation spaces.
In addition to the Margaritaville complex in Melbourne, there are a number of other hotel projects in the pipeline along the Space Coast. That includes eight hotels with a total of 948 rooms projected to open in 2025, according to Space Coast Office of Tourism Executive Director Peter Cranis.
Here is a rundown, with their potential opening month — although construction timelines often are pushed back:
Construction is proceeding at Eastern Florida State College‘s Melbourne campus on a new Center for Innovative Technology Education for the training of high-tech workers.
The $20 million facility is scheduled to open next August, with programs that can lead to bachelor degrees, associate degrees and college certificates.
EFSC President Jim Richey said the complex would “set a high standard in Central Florida to meet the surging workforce demands for local business and industry. As such, it will be a critical component in creating jobs and helping ensure the continued economic growth of the Space Coast.”
The 31,500-square-foot building will feature labs that can be configured to provide students with access to software used by high-tech employers, simulation labs and collaboration areas where students can work together to solve problems in real time.
The center will support students in various programs, including engineering technology, robotics, mechatronics, 3D printing, computerized drafting, computer information systems and cybersecurity.
Florida Institute of Technology is building six-story, 557-bed student housing complex on the northeast corner of South Babcock Street and University Boulevard, west of Albemarle Street.
The 212,000-square-foot complex will have apartment-style accommodations with three or four bedroom and two baths, plus full kitchens and living room.
There also will be a classroom area, multiple study and lounge areas, a multipurpose room, e-bicycle parking, and two outdoor courtyard areas that incorporate outdoor dining and recreation.
Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at dberman@floridatoday.com, on X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54

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Man fatally shoots security guard at Honduran Consulate in Georgia – USA TODAY

A security guard at the Honduran consulate near Atlanta was shot dead on Monday by a man who refused to hand over his weapon before entering the building and instead fired on the security guard, the Honduran foreign minister said.
The man, who was not identified by police, killed the guard and wounded another person before he was taken into custody, said city of Doraville spokesperson Emily Heenan. Doraville police were called to the scene of the shooting at the suburban office park, about 16 miles north of downtown Atlanta at around 2:30 p.m., according to Heenan.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson strongly condemned the attack in a statement Monday evening.
“Attacks and threats against diplomatic facilities are unacceptable,” the spokesperson said. “We are in contact with Honduran consulate officials and consistent with our obligations under the Vienna Conventions, the Department is committed to the security and safety of diplomatic facilities and the diplomats who work in them.”
The Honduran consulate in Georgia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Heenan told USA TODAY more information on the suspected shooter and victims would be available soon. Doraville police are holding the suspect and the wounded person was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina told a press conference in Tegucigalpa the suspect was a Honduran national. The private security guard was of Mexican origin.
“The individual refused to hand over his weapon and unfortunately pulled out his weapon, mortally wounding the security guard with five shots,” Reina said.
The security guard managed to close the door, preventing the armed man from entering and possibly sparing more victims, the foreign minister said.
A Honduran witness waiting to enter the consulate noted the fleeing suspect’s license plate number and reported it to police, Reina said.
Contributing: Reuters

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579 animals at exotic pet shop killed in fire at Dallas shopping center – USA TODAY

More than 500 pet shop animals were killed in a fire that erupted at a shopping center in Northwest Dallas on Friday morning, officials said. Three individuals who were inside the building during the fire escaped safely without injuries.
Dallas Animal Services removed 579 dead animals from an exotic pet shop inside Plaza Latina Bazaar, a shopping center in Northwest Dallas, following the extinguishing of a fire on Friday morning, Dallas Fire-Rescue Public Information Office Jason Evans confirmed. Most of the animals were small birds, but Dallas Animal Services also removed chickens, hamsters, two dogs and two cats, Evans added. The animals in the shop died from smoke inhalation.
Evans said Dallas Fire-Rescue is unaware of the pet shop’s name and Plaza Latina Bazaar did not immediately respond for comment about the fire when contacted by USA TODAY on Saturday.
The three people who were inside the building at the time of the fire escaped safely after being alerted by the building’s fire alarm and sprinkler system activation, Evans said.
In a Facebook post shared on Friday, Plaza Latina Bazaar shared that the shopping center will remain closed until further notice.
“It is a regrettable situation that we had this morning,” Plaza Latina Bazaar shared on Friday. “We ask for your prayers for all the families who work here, hoping to be back firmly, to give them the attention that (your) family deserve.”
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Dallas Fire-Rescue was dispatched to a 911 call for a structure fire at Plaza Latina Bazaar at 9:12 a.m. local time on Friday, Evans said. Firefighters were met with heavy smoke and fire conditions, so a second-alarm response was requested. In total, 40 to 45 firefighters extinguished the fire over a two-hour period, Evans said.
The fire left behind “severe” structural damage, Evans said, including a partial roof collapse.
According to the Plaza Latina Bazaar online directory, the shopping center boasts more than 50 businesses, ranging from restaurants and candy shops to a tattoo parlor and insurance agency.
Chayin Martínez, a content creator based in Dallas, appeared in two videos shared by the shopping center on Friday. In the first, Martínez appeared to be driving to the shopping center to access the fire damage for the first time.
“(There) are many families that depend on this place and obviously I am part of that family,” he said. Martínez can be heard taking a deep sigh before the video ends.
The fire remains under investigation.
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at gcross@gannett.com.

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Your Guide to the Top Social Sportsbooks Offering Free Bets Now – SportsGrid

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If you’re looking for the best social sportsbooks offering free bets so you can kick off your New Year with a bang, then you’ve come to the right place! We’ve got the best social sportsbook free bet offers right here!
From Sportzino to SportsMillions, Legendz to Thrillzz, we’ve got plenty of bonus offers and promotions for both new and existing players. This includes Sportzino’s amazing welcome bonus offer of up to 170,000 Gold Coins + 7 free Sweeps Coins and Fliff’s two hour daily reload. Sounds good right? Let’s dive in for all the details!
Let’s take a quick look at the best offers available right now at some of our top social sportsbooks.
Let’s kick this guide off with Sportszino! This social sportsbook offers a super comprehensive range of sports available for placing bets including major leagues like NFL, NBA, NHL, etc. The betting options available very much depend on the sport/major league you’re looking to place bets on, for example for NFL matchups you can place Moneyline, Spread or Total bets and for NBA games you can place more specific bets like Total Assists, Player Points Over/Under etc. You can check out our full Sportzino review if you’d like more details on the range of bets offered!
If this sounds like it’s for you, then let’s discuss the social sportsbooks’ free bets available for new betters. Right now if you sign up with Sportzino, you’ll have the opportunity to claim up to 170,000 Gold Coins + 7 free Sweeps Coins. Amazing! To claim this offer you’ll need to click our links to head over to Sportzino and follow the instructions to make a new account. You’ll then see you have 20,000 Gold Coins + 1 free Sweeps Coins in your virtual currency balance. To boost this up to 170,000 GC + 7 SC, you’ll need to to follow these super quick steps:
Finally, if you login to your account after 24 hours, you can claim the daily login bonus of 20,000 GC + 1 SC. How great is that?

SportsMillions is one of the best new social casinos and social sportsbooks of 2024, with some incredible free bets offers available for new and existing players. If you’re new to SportsMillions then you can claim 1000 GC + 3 SC when you sign up using our links, or by clicking the banners on our page. This will give you a decent amount of coins to get started on your New Year bets, and you can boost this daily with a daily login bonus of 200 GC + 0.25 SC. But if you’d like to top this up even more, you can also make an optional Gold Coin purchase, taking advantage of your first purchase bonus which gives you 200% extra free coins. So, if you purchase a Gold Coins package for $9.99, you’ll get your 6000 Gold Coins and 30 free Sweeps Coins. Wow!

Legendz social sportsbooks free bets offers are very generous, particularly for those looking to claim free SC coins. If you sign up today using our links, you’ll be able to grab 3000 GC + a whopping 20 free Sweeps Coins – this is the most amount of free Sweeps Coins available of all the social sportsbooks in this guide so don’t miss out! You can then use your free Sweeps Coins to place bets on over 30 sports, including many less common sports, and each one has upwards of 100 betting market options so really, you’re spoilt for choice.

Thrillzz is also offering social sportsbooks free bets in the form of their welcome bonus. Right now, if you sign up to Thrillzz using our links you can claim a very nice 3000 Thrillzz Coins + 3 free Thrillzz Sweeps too. Thrillzz’s shining star is definitely their mobile app, which is available for Apple and Android users. The app is super easy to use, all the sports options are easy to filter through and you can quickly direct yourself to the major leagues and find the game you’d like to use your free virtual coins to place bets on.

Finally, we’ve come to the end of our list of the best social sportsbooks and we’ll finish off with Fliff. Fliff have some great social sportsbooks free bets offers including their welcome bonus, daily login bonus and a fantastic first Fliff Coin purchase bonus too. Let’s start with the first one – so if you are a new user you can sign up to Fliff today using our links and have the opportunity to claim 1000 Fliff Coins and 1 Fliff Cash. Once you’ve made your account, you can login every day to claim even more free coins as Fliff offers a regular virtual coin boost of 1000 Fliff Coins + 0.1 Fliff Cash which you can claim every two hours. Now let’s talk about this first purchase bonus – if you choose to make a Fliff Coin package purchase, you’ll receive a 100% matchup up to a total of $100 in Fliff Cash. If you combine all of these fantastic offers, you’ll have plenty of coins to cover all your New Year bets on your favorite sports teams.

There you have it, our top 5 social sportsbooks free bets offers for 2025. With a huge range of sports and betting options available, you can definitely find your new favorite social sportsbook in this list, and with their incredible welcome bonus offers, you can take your time to explore each site and all their social betting options. You could sign up to Legendz and enjoy an incredible 20 free Sweeps Coins or if you love a fantastic first time purchase bonus then why not sign up with Fliff to claim their 100% matchup bonus on eligible Fliff Coin bundles, or SportsMillions to grab 200% extra free coins on your first GC purchase. You’re truly spoilt for choice! Remember to click our links or the banners on our page to sign up to these social sportsbooks to claim these offers today.
Wherever you are, SportsGrid can be there too. Here are all the platforms and subscription services you can find us on:
© 2024 SportsGrid INC.
DISCLAIMER: This site is 100% for entertainment purposes only and does not involve real money betting or prizes.

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Blum Telegram Trends #4 Video Code – Followchain

Blum simplifies crypto trading by offering all types of tokens and features in one platform.
It has options like decentralized exchanges, P2P trading, and Telegram integration.
To get started, add the Blum Telegram bot: t.me/blum/app?startapp=ref_yACkPAtBx4.
After you’ve added the bot, launch the app > Earn > New > Latest video.
This article contains the Blum Telegram Trends #4 video code for keyword verification to get 250 BP.
The Blum History of Bitcoin video code is “GOTAP” (without quotation marks).
After you’ve submitted the code, you’ll get 250 BP as a reward.
The code can be obtained from the Blum YouTube video titled “Unlocking Telegram Money-Making Trends 4/4: Content | Blum Academy”.
You need to watch the videos and pause at a certain timestamp to get the code.
The full code will appear for a few seconds somewhere in the video.
Blum Telegram Trends #3 Video Code
Blum CEO @ Binance Blockchain Week Video Code
Blum History of Bitcoin Video Code
Lim How Wei is the founder of followchain.org, with 8+ years of experience in Social Media Marketing and 4+ years of experience as an active investor in stocks and cryptocurrencies. He has researched, tested, and written thousands of articles ranging from social media platforms to messaging apps.
Lim has been quoted and referenced by major publications and media companies like WikiHow, Fast Company, HuffPost, Vice, New York Post, The Conversation, and many others. One of his articles about the gig economy was quoted by Joe Rogan who hosts The Joe Rogan Experience (arguably the most popular podcast in the world), in the This Past Weekend podcast by Theo Von.
In his free time, Lim plays multiple games like Genshin Impact, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Hearthstone, RuneScape, and many others. He creates guides, walkthroughs, solutions, and more on games that he plays to help other players with their progression.

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