The Volusia County (Fla.) Council on Thursday gave "approval on a 5-to-1 vote" to a $20M grant toward One Daytona, "less than 24 hours after the city of Daytona Beach agreed to give" the $289M mixed-use project $20M in tax abatements, according to a front-page piece by Dinah Voyles Pulver of the Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL. One Daytona officials said that the combined $40M to help with the $52.9M in infrastructure costs "means construction can start as planned this summer." The officials added that they are "racing against the clock so the project’s opening could coincide with the completion" of the Speedway’s $400M renovation, called Daytona Rising. Jacoby Group Managing Dir Brian Leary has said that the 75-acre first phase of One Daytona will be "anchored by a Bass Pro Shops store and a Cobb Theatres." He estimated that it would "take six to nine months of moving earth and building infrastructure to begin," and that by early '15 they will "begin putting pads on the ground for their clients" (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 3/7).
VILLAGE PEOPLE: In St. Louis, Gabe Hartwig reports Busch Stadium's "neighboring entertainment complex, Ballpark Village, is set to open its doors with a big reveal of Phase I on March 27." The first phase of the project "includes the Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum, restaurant Budweiser Brew House, rodeo-themed cowboy bar PBR St. Louis, piano bar Howl at the Moon and Fox Sports Midwest Live!" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 3/7).
