As more homes and businesses go up in the Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI) in Wesley Chapel, the more attractive the area becomes.
Those prospects excite the new home builders in the master-planned community, like Lennar, which is currently building 118 townhomes and 29 single-family homes in The Arbors at Wiregrass, located on Cozy Creek Dr. near Estancia at Wiregrass, just off Bruce B. Downs Blvd.
“What’s unique about the Wiregrass Ranch experience is the beauty,” says Steve Seeger, the director of sales and marketing in Lennar’s Tampa division. “There are certain parcels of land that are inherently beautiful…I think this is one of them.”
The Porter family, stewards of the 5,000+ acres of land in the Wiregrass Ranch DRI, has carefully and methodically developed the land. There’s a lot to like about the Wiregrass Ranch community, from the Shops at Wiregrass mall to Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel to coming attractions like a new indoor athletic complex (see pg. 6) and a new movie theater.
New schools are another piece of the DRI pie at Wiregrass Ranch, and with that, come new communities.
“It really was an intersection, no pun intended, of a great location and a great parcel of land that has beautiful characteristics, and is located in the path of growth,’’ Seeger says. Lennar’s latest offering — it currently is building in eight other developments in Pasco County, including Meadow Pointe and Union Park (both in Wesley Chapel) — will feature three products, ranging in sizes small, medium and large, from 1,800-sq.ft. to nearly 2,500-sq.-ft.
There will be attached three-bedroom, 2.5-bath townhomes — one built with two-car garage access from an alley behind the townhome, and the other featuring front access. The townhomes range in size from 1,801-2,466 square feet.
The single-family homes range from 1,982 square feet (with three bedrooms and two bathrooms) to 2,462 square feet (with four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms) and have detached two-car garages behind the house with open-air breezeways connecting to the home and serving as an outdoor living space.
All told, there are 10 different floor plans in The Arbors.
Pricing starts at just under $200,000, which is a point that makes The Arbors an attractive entryway into a bustling area.
“(Buyers) don’t have to wait to purchase a luxury home that might be too aspirational for them,’’ Seeger says. “Instead of something that might be years down the road for them, we give them an opportunity to live in Wiregrass now.”
There are already 15 homes completed in the community, with roughly another 100 planned to begin construction this year. A handful of residents have already moved in — Traci Moore and her family were among the first, moving down from Michigan after looking at more than 70 homes in several cities.
“The layout of the home was different than any other home we saw while looking to move to Florida,’’ Traci said in a Lennar press release. “We loved the spacious, open floor plan, and the detached garage connected by a breezeway adds a level of privacy that you don’t always find in residential communities. This home was exactly what we were looking for.”
Each home in The Arbors also is part of Lennar’s “Everything’s Included” program, another feature that Seeger thinks distinguishes the Lennar brand.
“It’s very significant that we include the washer, dryer, refrigerator, window blinds, front and rear landscape and irrigation system,’’ he says.
People like Moore will be able to grow with their new community. As the area continues to expand, so will the desire of even more home shoppers to live here.
“There’s a point where the builders, in the infancy of a community, it’s a bit about the product and what can I get at this location, what’s the price of it?,’’ Seeger says. “And,there’s the exceptional communities, where the community becomes the attraction and becomes the magnet. There will be a point in time when people come in and tell us, ‘I am only considering Wiregrass.’”
For more information, visit Lennar.com. The Welcome Center at The Arbors at Wiregrass is located at 28493 Cozy Creek Dr., and can be reached by phone at (844) 483-1935.
Is the Macy’s at the Shops at Wiregrass mall off S.R. 56 on the chopping block?
According to the EDC, the project is expected to bring $10 million in investment and 50 jobs to Pasco County. The Pasco EDC assisted the company in obtaining expedited permitting.