Lake Wales Connected
A Community Based Vision For The Future
In 2022, the City of Lake Wales partnered with Hale Innovation to bring its Lake Wales Connected master plan to life.
Through our strategic funding alignment and grant expertise, Hale Innovation guided the City to secure $22.93 million in federal RAISE funding.
Roadmap To Funding Success
Project Snapshot
Lake Wales Complete Streets Project
Receipient: City of Lake Wales, FL
Project Type: Transportation
Urban or Rural: Urban
RAISE Grant Funding: $22.93 Million
Lee Hale and Hilary Waers
“You can’t count on grants, but we always try to go after what’s out there”
City Manager James Slaton, describing the City’s decision to retain Hale Innovation in a master grants strategy.
“The cost to retain Hale was a fraction of a percent”
The Vision
The Lake Wales Connected plan was built on years of community collaboration. Led by the urban design firms Dover, Kohl & Partners, and Catalyst Design Group, the plan reimagines downtown as a vibrant, walkable, and green destination. Echoing the city’s original “City in a Garden” vision, inspired by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.
Community workshops in 2019 shaped the plan’s key goals:
Restore the historic downtown district with outdoor dining, markets, and gathering spaces
Connect downtown to the Northwest Neighborhood through tree-lined streets and safe cycle routes
Reclaim public space for people, not just cars
Promote inclusivity and long-term economic resilience
The Partnership
Vision and plan in place, City of Lake Wales leaders turned to Hale Innovation to help fund it.
Hale’s team, led by Lee Hale and Hilary Waers, conducted a deep review of the City’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), aligning it with federal programs like the USDOT’s RAISE grant.
The first application was competitive but unawarded. After a detailed debrief and extensive research with USDOT and FDOT, Hale Innovation refined the submission, expanding technical data, incorporating traffic studies, and optimizing every scoring criterion.
In June 2024, persistence paid off. The City of Lake Wales was awarded $22.93 million, fully funding the implementation of its Complete Streets vision.
The Impact
This project represents a long-term commitment to community revitalization and equitable urban growth. By aligning funding, design, and public engagement, the City of Lake Wales and Hale Innovation have transformed a local vision into a federally funded reality.
Interested in learning more about a Hale Innovation Partnership?