Category: Business

The other area where things are really clicking is the Wiregrass Ranch DRI, the 5,000+-acre tract located east of BBD, south of S.R. 54 and straddling both sides of S.R. 56. Wiregrass Ranch today has the being-expanded Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (see story on pg. 4), the Shops at Wiregrass mall, Pasco-Hernando State College, Wiregrass Ranch High, John Long Middle School (and the set-to-open-next-year Wiregrass Elementary), the already-being-expanded North Tampa Behavioral Health and upscale homes in communities like Estancia and The Ridge.

But, what’s still to come in Wiregrass Ranch is what’s really exciting. We only had room in this issue to run one map of the northern portion of the Wiregrass Ranch, where the Porter Family and the Dowd Companies (a West Palm Beach-based developer with experience throughout the southeastern U.S., including several of the projects in Wiregrass Ranch)  are actually in the process of starting development on two projects  — the Wiregrass Shops on S.R. 54 (which is shown on this map) and the Wiregrass Commons on S.R. 56 (which is not shown here, but will be shown in our May 20 issue).

The Dowd Companies website (TheDowdCompanies.com) says that the Wiregrass Ranch DRI will be home to:

•More than 27,000 Residents

•6,947 New Single Family Homes

•3,526 New Multi Family Homes

•2,720,800 sq. ft. of New Retail Space

•2,000,000 sq. ft. of New Office Space

•600,000 sq. ft. of New Medical Space

•300,000 sq. ft. of New Recreational Space

•600 New Hotel Rooms

•New 18 hole golf course

•3 New Elementary Schools

•New County Park

•New Sheriff’s Office

•New Pasco County Fire Station

•Possible Rail or Rapid Transit Line

   With Stops from Tampa

•Park & Ride Stop

•Planned new 581/Bruce B Downs Bypass Road to connect BBD to Wiregrass Ranch Blvd & the Walmart off S.R. 54

•6 Stop Lights on SR 56 between BBD & Meadow Pointe Blvd.

The Wiregrass Shops on S.R. 54 will be home to the relocated Publix supermarket currently in the Hollybrook Plaza on S.R. 54 at BBD, and other new retail establishments that had not yet been announced at our press time. The plaza will be 12,600-sq.-ft, with spaces starting at 1,200 sq. ft. The Dowd website says the plaza is expected to open in the “Spring of 2016,” but considering that nothing has gone vertical on the property yet, that seems more than a tad ambitious.

The delay may be due to the ongoing discussions about the planned 581/BBD Bypass Road, which has existing businesses on BBD south of S.R 54 concerned about how they will survive if the thousands of cars that normally drive past their location on their way to turn onto 54 headed east or west will be diverted to the Bypass, a half mile south of their location.

The good news is that JD Porter of the Porter Family and Dowd President & CEO John Dowd, III, will be the featured speakers at the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC)’s Economic Development Briefing on Thursday, April 28, 11:30 a.m., at Pebble Creek Country Club (10550 Regents Park Dr., off BBD).

WCCC CEO Hope Allen, who helped me get some of the information for the maps in this story, says Dowd and Porter are expected to talk about both the Wiregrass Shops on SR 54 and the Wiregrass Commons on SR 56, as well as some of the other plans for the DRI. And of course, we’ll be attending that meeting, in case you can’t go.

SR 54, East & West Of I-75

Also indicated on the map on this page east of I-75 is a new Chase Bank that is being built between Chili’s and the Bank of America, a rumored Popeye’s Chicken on land between the existing Wesley Chapel Village Market and I-75, as well as the now-confirmed location of Lexus of Wesley Chapel, which will be built by the Williams Group next to the Williams-owned Toyota of Wesley Chapel.

And, west of I-75, you’ll find the location of the Aldi grocery store, which is beginning development shortly off Oakley Blvd., behind the Shell gas station/Circle K on 54. Also indicated, across from The Grove shopping center (behind the Sleep Inn), is the recently announced 40,000-sq.-ft. FreeFall Zone entertainment complex, which according to developer Craig Patel, will include trampolines, laser tag, rock climbing wall, bumper cars, arcade games, party rooms and food concessions.

Please let us know what you think!

On any given afternoon, the emergency department at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC) can get pretty busy. With all of the people living in and near Wesley Chapel and choosing FHWC for their care, sometimes every emergency room (ER) bed is full and the staff has to get creative to accommodate all of the patients who need to be seen.

So, it’s a good thing that the hospital’s expansion is already well underway. In December, FHWC’s emergency department will expand from 18 rooms to 35, which is, perhaps, the most vital part of a $78-million expansion that is adding three floors and 111,993 square feet of new space to the hospital, which already is 200,000 square feet.

“This expansion is important, so that we can continue to provide excellent care for folks in our community,” says FHWC director of marketing Tracy Clouser. “We are blessed that the community continues to choose us and we are adding space to better serve those patients.”

FHWC originally opened in 2012 with a plan to expand in five years or more, but due to the need in the community, the expansion began much sooner than initially anticipated. Because the hospital was designed to be expanded, construction of the new space – which started last August – has moved quickly.

The hospital includes three wings, referred to as the North, Center, and South wings. The current expansion adds three stories to the Center Wing and adds a three-story “connector wing,” called the “Southeast Connector,” between the Center and South wings.

In the Center Wing, patient rooms are being constructed on the fifth and sixth floors, while the fourth floor will remain a “shell” for future expansion. Clouser explains that the plan was to open two floors and keep one for future expansion, so the decision was made to leave the fourth floor shelled to minimize the disturbance to hospital patients on Floors 1-3 during construction.

In addition to new emergency and patient rooms, the expansion allows FHWC to add more doctors, especially in orthopaedics, providing more physician choices and more procedures available to people in the community. Also, when the expansion is complete, the hospital will have a new gym for in-patient rehab, so patients will no longer have to do rehab in their rooms or in the hospital’s hallways. Additional observation rooms will be opened for both pre- and post-op patients. Other changes include the operating room for women who have to undergo a C-section being moved up one floor, so that patients no longer need to be transferred by elevator to the mother/ baby unit.

The hospital’s central energy plant also is being expanded to accommodate FHWC’s new footprint. Clouser explains that if there is a power outage, all medical essentials plugged into the hospital’s red plugs will come back online immediately. Non-essentials, such as computers, will come back on within seven minutes.

A Work In Progress

Every day, about 200 people are working on FHWC’s expansion. On the day the Neighborhood News toured the construction areas, crews were putting in HVAC ductwork and starting drywall in the three-story addition to the Center Wing. Pre-cast concrete panels were being raised by a crane – weighing anywhere from 12,000-30,000 pounds (or 6-15 tons!; right photo on previous pg.) – and were put in place to form the new outside walls of the building.

The expansion construction will be completed in October or November of this year. The building will open in December, once inspections by Pasco County and hospital authorities have been completed.

Renovations, Too

As part of the construction, more than 10,000 square feet of the hospital’s existing space is being renovated. One renovation that’s already complete is the new heart catheterization lab (photo, right), which includes accommodations requested by cardiologists who specialize in electrophysiology, which is the study of the heart’s electrical system.

Some of the innovations in the heart “cath” lab include a “tilt and cradle table,” allowing doctors to move the patient for scans or procedures without having to prop them up with towels, as they would on a table that doesn’t tilt. Everything in the lab is on booms, so that all of the equipment can be moved easily, in whatever configuration the doctors need it. And, a 55-inch flat screen TV allows doctors to see any of six views, including a patient’s CT scans.

A Healing Place

“The original hospital design was very intentionally created to be a healing environment,” says Clouser. “We have lots of natural light and open space, with inviting colors, artwork that depicts scenes of nature, and lots of plants and trees visible from both patient rooms and waiting rooms.”

Some of the plants and trees are growing in FHWC’s two healing gardens, located in the hospital’s courtyards, although one is currently used for construction and will re-open when the renovations have been completed.

Clouser explains that FHWC’s healing environment will be continued throughout the new construction, too. Just like in the current hospital, many details that may not be apparent to visitors have been intentionally done to protect patients.

“For example, the building’s sprinkler heads are built into the ceiling so they don’t collect dust,” says Clouser. “In our intensive care unit and emergency department, the blinds are inside the glass so they don’t collect dust.”

She also says that the hospital has two elevator systems so that visitors don’t share elevators with patients. “This is both for patient privacy and to protect patients from germs.”

FHWC is located at 2600 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in Wesley Chapel. To learn more about the hospital, visit FloridaHospital.com/Wesley-Chapel or call 929-5000.