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Bradenton council approves Dover, Kohl contract for urban renewal action plan
Summary
The City of Bradenton approved a roughly $180,000 contract with Dover, Kohl & Partners to write an urban renewal action plan intended to identify three special areas and short-term 'day 1' actions; the plan is to be developed with the Bradenton Area EDC and is scheduled to take about eight months.
Bradenton — The Bradenton City Council voted 5-0 on May 28 to hire Dover, Kohl & Partners to produce an urban renewal action plan for the city, a consultant-led effort billed as a short-term, implementable blueprint to attract private investment and guide public projects.
The contract approved by council covers a base fee of $179,640 plus reimbursable expenses not to exceed $20,000, for a total not-to-exceed cost of $199,640. The work is structured in four phases: research and analysis; identification and concept-level planning for three special areas; refinement and implementation strategy; and final adoption. The consultants and city staff told council the timeline is approximately eight months if work starts in June.
The plan will be produced in partnership with the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corporation (EDC). Victor Dover, principal of Dover, Kohl & Partners, told the council the firm focuses on producing visual, investor-ready choices and “day 1” action steps rather than a plan that will sit on a shelf. Andrew Georgiades, Dover Kohl senior project director based in the region, showed examples from nearby Florida cities and described the firm’s combined design-and-economics approach.
EDC director Miss Hillstrom (EDC) said the EDC reviewed four finalist firms and recommended Dover, Kohl because the firm could deliver within the city’s $200,000–$250,000 budget window; she told council staff had paused earlier to review prior plans so the new effort would not duplicate existing work. Council members repeatedly asked about implementation and oversight; consultants and EDC staff said the process would be interactive with early draft reviews to avoid late surprises and to identify options with enough consensus to attract private investment.
Vice Mayor Kramer moved approval and Coachman seconded; the motion carried 5-0. Council directed that the EDC and city staff manage consultant oversight and deliver regular updates during the project.
City staff and consultants emphasized the plan will identify three targeted special areas, produce illustrations and economic scenarios for each, and highlight prioritized, implementable projects and funding pathways. Deliverables include a Bradenton blueprint, three special-area concepts, visual renderings and an implementation strategy that lists early actions for council and partners.
The action sets the city on a short timeline to generate planning-level documents the council and EDC can use to pursue investments and grants. Dover told council the firm’s urban economists will provide the financial analysis to demonstrate how proposals could be “investable.”
