City’s redevelopment agency forced to police loans

A city committee originally created to revamp Hollywood’s suffering
retail has instead had to police for defaulted loans and bad debts. The
Community Redevelopment Agency was formed to reinvest property taxes
for development in Hollywood, where about 20 percent of retail is
vacant. However, it has been distracted with situations like last year,
when the developers of the HART project defaulted on a $3.5 million CRA
loan intended to help build a charter school, theater and luxury
apartments. Last month, the CRA hired outside lawyers to collect
$145,000 from a restaurant and a boutique after the businesses left
town shortly after receiving CRA money.