If you were thinking there couldn’t possibly be more “stuff ” coming to Wesley Chapel this year (or at least by early 2027), think again.
Among the projects that are well underway but that we don’t have any kind of timelines for include:
• The completion of Mast Capital’s $92 million improvements to Saddlebrook Resort (above). We showed you the improvements that have already been completed in our last couple of issues, but there is still plenty more to come.
Since the Brew coffee shop and Rare 1981 restaurant opened, the Palm House Grill out by the resort’s revamped Superpool also recently opened. We’ll show you pictures of the Palm House’s food and beverages next issue. We also were told that all 27 holes of Saddlebrook’s golf courses also are open.
Still to come this year? The Sports Tavern off the resort’s lobby and the Saddlebrook National private club for members only. We’ll update you about all of these improvements in future issues.
Pinecrest Academy High School
Here & There, This & That…
Avalon Park — In addition to Phase 2 of Avalon Park’s downtown expected to begin building, Avalon Park Blvd., connecting the community’s single-family subdivisions with the downtown area, could be completed any day now and may even be open as you’re receiving this issue.
Pasco Fire Rescue Station No. 2
In addition, although the existing buildings at the Pinecrest Academy charter school are already serving kids in grades K-11, the separate, new Pinecrest Academy High School will open to grades 9-12 for the 2026-27 year, which will allow kids in Pinecrest Academy’s middle school (Grades 6-8) to have their own building.
Pasco Fire Rescue Station No. 2 — The much-needed new fire station on S.R. 54, less than a mile east of the new AdventHealth Meadow Pointe Emergency Room, should be ready to open before the end of this year.
New Walmart (Morris Bridge Rd @ S.R. 56)
New Walmart — Located southwest of the intersection of Morris Bridge Rd. and S.R. 56, Wesley Chapel’s second Walmart store hasn’t broken ground yet, so it’s possible that it may not be completed by the end of 2026, but it should at least begin building this year.
Two Rivers Updates — Even though Two Rivers is all technically located in Zephyrhills (with a portion in Thonotosassa south of the Pasco-Hillsborough county line), the private club to be called The Landing at Two Rivers is well under way and could be completed before the end of 2026. We have no further updates on the planned Peak Surf Park in Two Rivers, but will try to update that story in an upcoming issue. — GN
Dr. Neil Manimala, his wife Rachel and baby Mariam. (Photos provided by Dr. Neil Manimala)
Over the past few months, we’ve introduced you to a couple of candidates who hope to replace District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera in 2027.
There is an important mid-term election coming up later this year, however, so when Luis introduced me to local urologist Dr. Neil Manimala at a recent event in New Tampa and told me that Neil was running for the countywide District 5 Hillsborough County Commission seat currently occupied by Republican incumbent Donna Cameron Cepeda, I knew I wanted to talk to Neil about what made a successful doctor decide that he wanted to serve the public in a completely different way.
A lot of politicians will say that they’re running “for the right reasons,” but if you spent 90 minutes with Neil, the way I did a couple of weeks ago, you’d believe the way I do that his heart is 100% in the right place and that he genuinely plans to serve all constituents on both sides of the aisle in Hillsborough County.
First, A Little Background
Now 35 years old, Neil was raised in Valrico, even though his parents were both from Kerala in southern India and emigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s. His parents raised Neil and his younger brother Nevin Catholic and he graduated from the King High International Baccalaureate program before attending USF.
He met his wife Rachel, a traveling registered nurse, online when she had just moved back to the area from Orlando. Rachel’s parents live in Easton Park in New Tampa, so Neil has spent a lot of time in our area and knows it well. The Manimalas recently welcomed their first child, their daughter Mariam, into the world.
Neil says that when he first went to USF, he was thinking about becoming an engineer. “I have a lot of respect for the computationally gifted folks, like my brother, who lives for statistics,” he told me, “but I realized that just wasn’t for me.”
He also thought about going into research. “I did a bunch of work at Moffitt and my mentor at the time was an M.D./Ph.D.,” Neil said, “but when I shadowed him seeing patients, the first patient we saw, about 20 years ago, was a guy who had lung cancer and, unfortunately, it was terminal. He had been under treatment by my mentor for about two years and it was during that visit that my mentor told him there was nothing more they could do, that they had exhausted all of the treatment options available at that time. The patient and his wife were in tears, but you could tell during that encounter that, despite the terrible news, they were glad that it was my mentor who delivered it — that even though the chance of a cure was shot, there was still dignity to be had. That’s when I realized that I wasn’t meant to be doing research behind a bench. I wanted to have that human-to-human interaction.”
He said he realized pretty early on that, “Even though you’re seeing some people during some of the darkest days of their lives — whether being told they have cancer or that their child had passed away — you also get to see people having some of the brightest days of their lives, hearing that their cancer is cured or that they can have kids again. That’s a huge gift.”
Neil says that his first taste of “politics” was in student government while in medical school in USF. “I was in one of the last cohorts in med school at the main Tampa campus before we moved to Water St. downtown, and my student government group was very instrumental, from the student perspective, in shaping that campus.”
Neil also did his residency with USF, but he was still in med school when he met Dr. Steven Specter (who isn’t an M.D., but has a Ph.D. in virology), who became another one of Neil’s mentors.
“I remember student government was advocating for more student parking spots at the med school and I said, ‘Dr. Specter, I’m just sick and tired of politics.’ And, he told me ‘Neil, as long as you have two or three people sitting in a room, you’re going to have politics. You have to find a way to navigate the politics to help the people who matter most to you.” And, for me, that’s the people of Hillsborough County.”
Hillsborough Health Care Plan
Neil with District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera
Neil also told me that one of the things that he plans to continue fighting for, that he first learned about while in residency, is the Hillsborough County Health Care Plan (HCHCP) through USF, which was originally funded by a half-cent ad valorem property tax but is now primarily funded by a sales tax.
But, with state lawmakers discussing rolling back property taxes this year, there is growing concern about the long-term stability of HCHCP, even though it isn’t still funded by property taxes.
“There are people ‘on the margins’ in this county who would never have access to top-of-the-line specialty physician care without that plan,” Neil said. “I currently serve on the Board overseeing that plan, which is how I first got into working with the county government. But, [HCHCP] has won awards nationwide for how it’s been taking care of people, and conservative estimates say that, for every dollar put into it, [the plan] brings back a return of $1.50 for all taxpayers. So, one of my priorities, if elected, will be to ensure it continues to be funded.”
Neil also is a supporter of improving public transportation. He told me that, “HART is the most underfunded public transportation agency in any major city. That’s an embarrassment. I hope to be able to work to build it out, rather than cut more routes, so that we are able to have some sort of regional bus rapid transit system.” He added that he remembers when then-Gov. Rick Scott turned down $2.4 billion in Federal funds for a high-speed rail connection between Tampa and Orlando.
“But, we need that kind of connection now, Neil said. “Just adding lanes to roadways creates what’s called ‘induced demand’ to build more homes and fill those lanes. Lane expansion should just be one tool in the toolbox, not the only tool.”
He also believes that if the goal is to get vehicles off our roadways, “Why don’t we use our waterways? There was a plan that would have created a ferry to connect East County with MacDill Air Force Base, which would take 2,000 cars off the road every day. But, it got axed because some people on the County Commission disagreed ideologically with the people who proposed the plan.”
He also said that, despite the partisan wave dominating state government, he hopes to, “build something sustainable where every citizen of this county sees that there’s something worth paying attention to on a local level. Let’s take care of all of our people and leave the partisan politics to Washington and Tallahassee.”
Before deciding to run for elected office himself, Neil helped a couple of candidates with their campaigns, including New Tampa resident and 2024 County Commission candidate Patricia Alonzo, who lost her bid to unseat long-time District 2 incumbent Ken Hagan.“Patricia is a good person, but she was running against a local powerhouse and got into the race late,” Neil said. “I have a lot of respect for Ken and, when he first ran, he had a one-year-old at home, so there are some parallels between us.”
He added, however, “While there are downsides to being in power for two decades, there’s also something to be said about having institutional knowledge about your job.”
Neil also said that even though the County Commission is currently five Republicans to two Democrats, “there are current Republican commissioners, including Hagan, that I know I can work with to find common ground on important issues.”
He also said that as a countywide candidate, he knows he has to appeal and answer to all 1.6 million people in the county, and he’s off to a great start — he doesn’t have a primary opponent and he’s secured endorsements from people like Dist. 14 U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, State House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell and Viera.
He’s also dominating the fund-raising side of his race, having raised more than $121,000 so far, compared with just $6,000 raised by Cepeda’s campaign. But, when Cepeda beat Mariella Smith for the Dist. 5 seat in 2022, Smith also out-raised Cepeda by a wide margin.
“I know money isn’t enough to win,” he said. “I also am getting out there to talk to people. I’m running to serve all of you.”
To find out more about Neil Manimala or donate to his campaign, visit NeilManimala.com.
The Jan. 9 ribbon-cutting event and Grand Opening of the Moffitt Speros Outpatient Center in Land O’Lakes. (Photos by Charmaine George)
Even though it’s located at least 20 miles from any part of New Tampa, perhaps the biggest news story in Pasco County for 2026 is the opening of the sprawling new 775-acre Speros FL campus of the Moffitt Cancer Center — the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center based in Florida — located on Wilton Way in Land O’Lakes.
Moffitt Pres. & CEO Dr. Patrick Hwu
The first building to open in this amazing innovation hub, where science, technology and patient care will converge in the fight against cancer, is the 120,000-sq.-ft. Moffitt Speros Outpatient Center, which was introduced to an invited crowd on Jan. 9 with a huge event attended by an estimated 500 people, including Florida Secretary of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, State Senator Danny Burgess, State Rep. Kevin Steele, all five Pasco County Commissioners and 84-year-old former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives H. Lee Moffitt, the man who founded the nonprofit cancer center named for him.
The event included the following speakers:
Speros Pres. Dr. Josh Carpenter
• Dr. Patrick Hwu, the president & CEO of Moffitt, who noted that 2026 is the cancer center’s 40th anniversary year. Dr. Hwu also played the keyboards in the Speros band following the ribbon-cutting ceremony. He also noted that the next building to open in the Speros campus will be the Richard M. Schulze Proton Center, which will open in just a few months and will be home to one of only three proton radiation machines in Florida. That opening will be followed by the opening of the 100,000-sq.-ft. research center. Dr. Hwu also noted that the first patients will begin being treated at the outpatient center, “within a few weeks.”
Speros & Moffitt Board members Tim Adams and Marty Lanahan
• Dr. Josh Carpenter, the president of Speros who also is the VP & chief integration officer of Moffitt and who noted that Speros means “hope.” Dr. Carpenter thanked everyone who played a part — and those still playing a part — in the construction and opening of the many buildings coming to the Speros campus.
• Speros Board chair Marty Lanahan, the executive VP of First Horizon Bank, who introduced Moffitt Cancer Center’s Institute Board chair Tim Adams. Adams said that Lee Moffitt charged him with the task to cure cancer and sent him to Tallahassee in 2005 to talk to Simpson, who was then a State Senator who was going to be the president of the Florida Senate within three years. “Wilton told me that he’s had his eye on Moffitt for a long time,” Adams said, “but if we really want to cure cancer, you’re going to have to start thinking a lot bigger than a 20-acre campus in Tampa.”
Wilton Simpson H. Lee Moffitt
• Commissioner Simpson, who said he knew Pasco had the land to “do something like this and that people could fly into Tampa International from all over the world and be here in 30 minutes to get treatment. I’m very proud of the tens of thousands of lives, starting now, that we’re going to be saving on an annual basis. How many grandparents will now get to see their grandchildren get older? How many children are going to be cured? How many moms and dads will see their kids get married because of the work that Moffitt will be doing on this site?”
Debra Schulze
• H. Lee Moffitt himself, who said, “What a day! The reason we’re here is because of the hard work of every single person in this audience and I can not thank you enough for your dedication, zeal and vision to help us get to where we are today. I would like to thank and applaud the efforts of all of our friends that have worked for us since I started the cancer center 40 years ago and embraced our mission and contributed to the prevention and cure of cancer. By golly, we are making a difference and I appreciate all of your efforts in this quest!”
• The final speaker was Debra Schulze, speaking on behalf of her father Richard M. “Dick” Schulze, the founder of Best Buy Co., the largest electronics store in the U.S. Dick Schulze was unable to attend the event himself, but his family’s foundation supported the Speros Center with a $15-million investment in the campus’ Proton Therapy Center, “which is more than just advanced technology,” Debra Schulze said. “It is a place where skilled clinicians, dedicated researchers and hope-filled patients will come together in the pursuit of healing and progress. On behalf of my father, our family, and our foundation, thank you to the Moffitt leadership and staff. We are proud to stand alongside you and share in the excitement and the impact that this Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Proton Therapy System Center will have on the future of cancer care.”
For more information about Moffitt’s Speros Outpatient Clinic and the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Proton Center (16370 Wilton Way, Land O’Lakes), visit Moffitt.org.
The Speros FL nurses The packed Speros FL lobby during the Jan. 9 Grand Opening event Aerial drone shot of the Speros FL campus
The area near The Grove at Wesley Chapel has been busy, with both the new Target store, Woody’s Wash Shack and now, the Belk Market all opening recently. And yes, there have still been many changes in the KRATE at The Grove container park, too.
But, while it’s possible that neither of these projects — both of which are located across Oakley Blvd. from the entrance to The Grove (both also are in front of the Avasa West apartments) — will be completed before the end of 2026 (since only one of them has broken ground), we also wanted to tell you about them.
Oakley Place Skilled Nursing Facility
We’ve already mentioned the planned 202-bed Oakley Place Skilled Nursing Facility at the northwest corner of Oakley Blvd. and Grove Isle Dr., but we recently heard that the facility may be getting ready to break ground soon. Of course, we’ll keep you updated, but a large additional skilled nursing facility would be a welcome addition to the area.
We also recently saw that The Goddard School-Oakley — which will be the second Goddard School private pre-school in Wesley Chapel (the other is off Bruce B. Downs Blvd., across from AdventHealth Wesley Chapel — has cleared the land in preparation of getting ready to build on the southwest corner of the same intersection, across from the Goddard School.
New Clubhouse At Valencia Ridge
The upscale Valencia Ridge community being developed by GL Homes (next to the builder’s successful Winding Ridge community) is getting an equally upscale 29,000-sq.-ft. clubhouse on a 7-acre recreational complex. The facility will include on-site dining, a poolside bar, sports lounge, racquet club & pro shop, resort-style pools, a shaded yoga garden, fitness center, exercise studio, massage room and more.
Swig #2 Coming To Epperson
The day before we went to press with this issue, correspondent Joel Provenzano found that Swig Drinks had received its site development placard from the county in December, which means that construction of the area’s second Swig (the other, of course, is between Academy Sports & PopStroke on the north side of S.R. 56) could begin any day now off Curley Rd. Joel said that plans for the new Swig were not downloadable at our press time, but we’ll keep you posted.
Whole Foods & Lifetime Fitness
And of course, we also had to show a drone shot of the progress on the new plaza on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. north of Aronwood Blvd. in Meadow Pointe that will be home to both Whole Foods and Lifetime Fitness. We just provided a big update on this plaza — which also will have a Pop-Up Bagels, CAVA Mediterranean, Naked Farmer, Petfolk, Tox wellness spa & a nail salon in our Dec. issue or this would have been one of this issue’s biggest stories!
Feel free to let me know anything we’ve left out of this issue and we’ll try to cover it in our next edition! — GN
Former Pro Cricketer Says He Is Training The U.S. National Team’s Stars Of The Future!
(Above) Coach Vishal Jain (in back, with sunglasses) poses with the younger group of cricketers in his Excel Cricket Academy, which has been based at the Wesley Chapel District Park on Boyette Rd. since 2024. (Photos by Charmaine George)
I’ll be honest — I don’t understand the sport known as cricket. I know it is similar to baseball, in that it has pitchers, called “bowlers,” catchers called “wicket-keepers” and hitters, called “batsmen,” and that the object of the game is to score more runs than the other team.
But, how the teams score runs, how they record outs (there are three different ways) and why the batsmen run while still holding their bats after hitting the ball are all mysteries to yours truly. Even so, it is still a super-exciting game to watch, whether live or on TV.
One of Jain’s young players drives the ball while another (below right) shows how to execute a defensive shot. (Below left) Jain explains some of the basics of the sport to his young cricketers.
Fortunately for anyone in New Tampa, Wesley Chapel and the entire Tampa Bay area whose child is interested in learning how to play cricket like the pros, Vishal Jain, a former pro cricketer, from the Indian capital of Mumbai, is now available to teach kids ages 8 and older all of the fundamental techniques and rules of this hugely popular sport. Jain’s Excel Cricket Academy meets every Saturday and Sunday on Field #2 at the Wesley Chapel District Park, which also hosted a cricket tournament the day I visited. And, Jain says, he hopes to be able to one day teach kids how to play cricket at the City of Tampa park now being designed that will one day open in K-Bar Ranch.
(Note-Although the city budgeted the money to design the park in K-Bar [which also will include other facilities, in addition to a cricket pitch], the necessary funds to build it are not yet in the city’s budget.)
Jain has all the credentials anyone who wants their child to learn how to play cricket could possibly want. He played for both Mumbai and Goa and won India’s premier first-class cricket tournament, known as the Ranji Trophy, which was named for K.S. Ranjitsinhji, the first Indian to play Test cricket. The Ranji Trophy is India’s oldest and most prestigious domestic red-ball competition, with Mumbai being the most successful team historically, having won the prestigious trophy more than 40 times.
Jain was trained by the esteemed Ramakant Achrekar, the legendary coach of Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar, widely regarded as the biggest icon in the history of the sport — which will be played for the first time since 1900 as a medal sport at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. And, in addition to playing cricket at the highest level, Jain (who also owns Excel Cricket Academies in Mumbai) also has been the head coach of the Mumbai Central Zone U19 and U23 teams.
His bio on the “Excel Cricket Academy Tampa Florida USA” Facebook page says, “Known for his expertise in diverse coaching methodologies, Coach Vishal is dedicated to helping players unlock their full potential. His approach emphasizes mindset, discipline and continuous learning, incorporating personalized training, workshops and motivational sessions.”
He also has battle scars on his hands and arms, from fielding the balls hit with the heavy cricket bats bare-handed. Only the batsmen and wicket-keepers usually wear gloves in cricket.
All I can tell you, after watching one practice with his younger Excel Academy group, he definitely has the attention and admiration of not only his young athletes, but also of their parents, many of whom travel from Brandon and as far away as St. Petersburg to have their children trained by Jain.
And, it was immediately obvious why. While “bowling” the harder-than-baseball balls to each Academy student, he not only told but also showed each one how to execute a defensive “shot” one moment, how to drive the ball the next and which foot to focus their weight on for each batting maneuver.
And, the kids and parents all really seemed to love him, and he certainly seemed to be in complete control of them, without ever raising his voice. When he tried to get his younger players all to pose for the picture above and some of them were acting up, all he had to do was point at them and say “Discipline” and they all got the message. Super impressive.
“And, if they ever still don’t listen, I will pack up their stuff, bring it over to their parents and tell them to take them home and come back next week. They get so embarrassed I’ve never had to do that to the same player twice.”
Training Future U.S. National Stars
It’s clear that virtually all of the young players Jain coaches are of Indian descent, but the Excel Cricket Academy is open to anyone who wants to learn the proper way to play this sport that continues to grow in popularity here.
“The U.S. National Team is one of eight teams (India, Australia, England, Afghanistan, South Africa, Bangladesh and the West Indies are the others) that qualified for the 2026 [ICC Men’s T20] World Cup,” Jain says. “In other words, cricket is growing in this country and I want to train the future stars of the sport here.”
And, best of all, he says, there are no set fees to train with Coach Vishal — who also offers individual coaching sessions for those who want them. “The parents usually agree to an amount to each pay me (for the team sessions),” he says. “I’ve already made money playing cricket. All I want now is to find and train the best players I can and help each one reach his or her potential.”
For more info about Excel Cricket Academy, call (813) 523-5871, email Coach Vishal at excelcricketacademytampa@gmail.com or stop by the Wesley Chapel District Park, Field #2 (7727 Boyette Rd.) any Sat., 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Small Kids 10-11:30; Leather Ball Kids 11:30- 1:30) or Sun., 8 a.m.-11:30 a.m. (Small Kids 8-9:30; Leather Ball Kids 9:30-11:30).
The older group of Excel Cricket Academy players and their families are excited to pose for pictures with Coach Vishal. (Photo provided by Vishal Jain)
