When Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan tossed his shovel of dirt at the groundbreaking of the new and improved Branchton Regional Park last month, he did so with one thing in mind — this is going to be more than just a park. It’s going to be a destination.
Work has begun on the area’s latest county park project, bringing a host of activities to 43 acres just off the southwest corner of Morris Bridge Rd. and Cross Creek Blvd.
The current Branchton Park — a large patch of nature with a trail, basketball court and small playground — is being re-created just south of its current location.
“Currently, it’s a very beautiful, picturesque park,” Hagan said, “but really, it only has a small playground and basketball court, with a shelter. We’re going to turn it into a destination.”
That will involve a larger playground, four pickleball courts, all-sports courts for basketball, volleyball and other sports, a splash pad and walking trails, to name a few of the amenities.
And, that’s just the start.
“It gets even better, because that’s only Phase 1,” Hagan said. “The next phase will have a dog park for both large and small dogs, an event pavilion, additional walking trails with a boardwalk, and a really cool…zipline, which will be the first one in Hillsborough County.”
The zipline is expected to be a private-public venture, and Hagan said he hopes to add more private-backed amenities in the future.
Hagan also has broached the idea of adding a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office substation to the area. He says he has already secured the $6 million needed to complete the first phase of the park’s upgrades, which could be completed by sometime in 2023.
Two years ago, the county polled local residents about their preferred amenities. More than 500 people responded online to the survey, and the county has incorporated many of those requests into the new park’s design.
“When we build this park, there will be something here for everyone,” said Rick Valdez, director of the county’s Parks & Recreation Department. “From birth to 90 years old, there’s going to be something that you can come out and enjoy at this park.”
When District 2 Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore argued for his apartment moratorium, he promised people that there were more than enough multi-family projects coming. He was opposed to land zoned for commercial and retail being turned into land slated for sprawling apartment complexes, saying there were plenty of entitlements for multi-family projects already in existence.
Moore may have had a point.
At the moment, there are more than 20 apartment complexes, ranging from the usual to those promising “luxury” and even “elegant” living locations in Wesley Chapel’s three zip codes — 33543, 33544 & 33545 (see map on pg. 7), that are either making their way through permitting, under construction or recently completed.
If you count other projects just outside the border of the Wesley Chapel area, that number grows. There are apartments coming to the Zephyrhills side of Eiland Blvd., just across the street from Wesley Chapel. In Land O’Lakes, Zephyrhills and San Antonio, that number exceeds 30 rental communities.
All in all, Wesley Chapel could be home to nearly 10,000 apartment dwellings in the next two years, if not sooner.
And, there are more projects not even in permitting yet, large multi-family communities headed to Wiregrass Ranch, the Two Rivers area on S.R. 56 and Epperson.
“The message I was attempting to send is justified by the number we’ve seen either come out of the ground or that are already (in permitting),” Moore says. “And there’s a ton more parcels that already have the multi-family zoning. There’s people holding out or not ready to develop and are holding on to those entitlements. That’s a lot more.”
While Moore continues to worry about apartment oversaturation, the debate still goes on in the County Commission. As recently as Oct. 11, members sparred over whether apartments were more important than jobs.
The Silverslaw Apartments (above) are being built just north of the Hyatt Place Wesley Chapel on the north side of S.R. 56 near I-75, and are one of many large rental complexes on the Wesley Chapel schedule over the nest 2-3 years. (Photo by John C. Cotey)
District 3 Commissioner Kathryn Starkey argued that the county has “hundreds of thousands of jobs coming…these people will need someplace to live.” District 2 Commissioner Ron Oakley, who represents the northern and easternmost parts of Wesley Chapel, agreed.
Eric Garduño, the government affairs director for the Bay Area Apartment Association, says Pasco County has always been near the bottom of statistics when it came to apartments per person. And the Tampa Bay area in general has always adopted zoning ordinances that favored single-family home developers over apartments.
“I think that’s starting to change in the sense that you can’t build single-family and single-family only to meet the housing needs as a community and a nation,” he says.
Wesley Chapel Blvd., which has expansion plans, is home to a number of large incoming complexes. The area around the bustling Grove Entertainment has close to 1,000 units on tap, including many that are already taking lease applications, and the corridors on S.R. 54 and 56 towards Zephyrhills have already attracted a number of projects.
“I think, generally speaking, policy makers really need to look at attracting jobs, and how that goes hand-in-hand with housing,” Garduño says. “You are starting to see it in a lot of places.”
On Oct. 18, roughly MP 30 residents gathered to ask Pasco County for solutions to traffic problems on County Line Rd. and near the schools on Mansfield Blvd. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
Kyle Molder tried a few years back in 2019 to draw attention to the unsafe crosswalks along County Line Rd. in Meadow Pointe Areas I and II, with minimal success.
But, as time went on, the danger only seemed to grow. In 2020, there was a car crash that killed the driver and led to the speed limit being reduced from 40 miles per hour (mph) to 35 mph, but it didn’t stop the speeding. The sounds of revving engines can be heard in the early hours of the morning, say residents who gathered at an Oct. 18 meeting at the Meadow Pointe I Clubhouse.
Another accident, back in September, involved three cars and, while no one died, it was just another example of County Line Rd.’s local reputation as a “drag strip.” Molder, who is running for Seat 2 on the Meadow Point II Community Development District (CDD), filmed his daughter trying to cross at one of the crosswalks, only to be stuck at the median as cars whizzed by and refused to yield.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) Statistical Report requested by Molder, there have been 37 (FHP only) accidents in 2022 on County Line Rd. between Bruce B. Downs (BBD) and Mansfield Blvds. through Sept. 9.
With nearly four months to go in 2022 when that report was compiled, the total crash number is already more than in any other year going back to 2016.
This accident on County Line Rd. in Sept. was the latest in a string of speeding incidents that have concerned Meadow Pointe residents who live near the roadway. (Photo courtesy of Kyle Molder).
Molder organized the Oct. 18 safety meeting, and invited Pasco officials to attend, in order to shine a light on what they deem is a public safety hazard, as well as help deal with the traffic on nearby Mansfield Blvd., which is home to a preschool, three public schools and a college.
“The school zones need to be reinforced,” said Alicia Willis, the Vice-Chair of the Meadow Pointe I CDD (in Seat 3), who helped run the meeting.
Venkat Vattikuti, P.E., PTOE, the traffic operations manager for Pasco County, was more than an hour late to the 90-minute meeting but managed to squeeze a lot of good news in a short period of time to the 35 or so residents who attended.
Vattikuti said there is little the county can do about ending speeding. Even after reducing the speed limit on County Line Rd., a study showed that speeding had actually increased.
“Did we slow them down? No,” Vattikuti said. “We can’t fix the stupids. And we know all those stupids are in our neighborhoods.”
What the county can do, Vattikuti says, is fix the crosswalk issue. Currently, there are 19 crosswalks along County Line Rd. between Bruce B. Downs Blvd. and Mansfield Blvd.
Vattikuti said that is too many. He said the county is recommending consolidating 19 crosswalks into four, each spaced a half-mile apart.
Kyle Molder (left) and Venkat Vattikuti, P.E., PTOE, the traffic operations manager for Pasco County, talk to a gathering on concerned Meadow Pointe residents last month. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
Those crosswalks would have flashing beacons that are activated by pedestrians. According to Vattikuti, studies show that the percentage of drivers yielding at crosswalks goes from 20 percent to 90 percent when there is a flashing light.
Vattikuti said that Pasco County is willing to pay for two of the crosswalks, with the Meadow Point I and II CDDs having to pay for the other two. Once installed, however, the county would maintain all four at no cost to Meadow Pointe.
If Meadow Pointe puts in a request for the enhanced crosswalks, Vattikuti promised they would be installed in early 2023. “That I can guarantee you,” he said.
And, since speed tables are not allowed on County Line Rd. because the roadway exceeds 3,000 daily trips, Pasco is experimenting with raised crosswalks — which would serve nearly the same purpose as a speed table — in New Port Richey. If those prove to be productive, they can be employed on County Line Rd. as well.
Molder said he was pleased with what Vattikuti told the crowd. “I think it will help,” he said. “It’s a good start.”
As for the tangled Mansfield Blvd. school zones, Vattikuti said the county would be installing a 4-way light at Oakwood Preserve, in the hopes that it will break up the congestion. Additional signage already has been installed to help keep the sidewalk free for kids walking and riding to school.
Because the county did away with courtesy busing within two miles of the schools in that area — which include Wiregrass Ranch Elementary, John Long Middle School and Wiregrass Ranch High, foot and bike traffic in that area has doubled, according to those in attendance at the meeting.
“We have to keep it going now,” Willis told the residents. “Keep emailing. Keep calling. Don’t stop.”
As we’ve reported before, Wesley Chapel is getting a new Publix off S.R. 54, right across Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. from the Wesley Chapel Walmart.
And, guess where the old Publix, which is just a skip, jump and a hop away in the nearby Hollybrook Plaza on S.R. 54 and Bruce B. Downs Blvd., is headed?
Nowhere.
In fact, starting next year, the Hollybrook Plaza Publix will be beginning renovations.
That will probably be news to you, and a good many others, including us. After years of being told, and dutifully reporting, that the Hollybrook Publix would be “moving” or “relocated,” to make way for the new store, we, well, stand corrected.
“You (wrote) that the current location was closing,” says Hannah Herring, the marketing manager for Publix Supermarkets Inc., “and that is actually not happening. We’re keeping that one (in Hollybrook) open, and we’re opening another.”
That is definitely new news. We reported in September that the new Wiregrass Ranch Publix had filed plans with Pasco County for a new 60,548-sq.-ft. center, which would be anchored by a 48,848-sq.-ft. grocery store, which is correct.
But, the opening of the new store does not mean the end of the larger (60,632-sq.-ft.) Hollybrook location, which was built in 1997.
The store closing was something we had reported many times over the years. In 2015, we were told by developers at an old Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC)’s Economic Development Briefing that the Hollybrook Publix would be “relocating.” It has been repeated and reported a few times since.
“That was the story,” says Hope Kennedy, the CEO of the old WCCC and now of the North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC). “That was my understanding.”
Heck, there was even a rumor floating around that the whole plaza might be razed once Publix was gone in an effort to design an intersection at S.R. 54 and BBD that actually works and would decongest traffic.
Instead, it appears that S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel will be home to two of the closest Publix grocery stores (to each other) anywhere. According to Google Maps, there’s only about a half mile between the two grocery stores if you take the roads, or a 10-minute walk.
“As it stands, we’ll have two locations, and one is going to be fairly close to the other one,” Herring says. “I’m not sure if it’s the closest, but we do have some locations that are really close to each in some areas.”
New Tampa, for example, has three Publix stores of its own. The New Tampa Blvd. location on BBD is less than five miles from both the Morris Bridge Rd. and Tampa Palms locations.
And, according to the Publix website, there are 15 Publix stores within 12 miles of the 33544 zip code in Wesley Chapel. Considering that Publix has 836 locations in Florida and is known almost as much for its level of saturation as is Starbucks, it does make sense.
Jim Hoff, who owns the Sonny’s BBQ just in front of the Hollybrook Plaza (on the BBD side), said he always thought the day would come that the Publix behind his restaurant would be replaced by the newer Publix once it was built.
He’s glad to hear that is not the case.
“This is the first I’m hearing that it is staying,” says Hoff. “We’re pretty established where we are, but would it have hurt a little? Yes. Publix is Publix. Having it there can only help us.”
For locals who have been asleep the last ten months, the Wesley Chapel/New Tampa area’s first and only rooftop bar is serving food and drinks at the Residence Inn Tampa-Wesley Chapel, which is adjacent to the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County.
According to the company’s VP of Openings & Transitions Tom Haines, the Marriott-branded Residence Inn was designed by Mainsail Lodging & Development to be not only the perfect complement to the Sports Campus, but also to the explosive growth area known as Wesley Chapel.
“In addition to sports, Wesley Chapel has a lot of new businesses relocating people here and is becoming a health care medical mecca,” Haines says. “I live here, my kids go to school here and we love Wesley Chapel.”
Mainsail, which was founded by Joe Collier in 1998, now has 13 hotel properties in Georgia and the Tampa Bay area (including the Fenway Hotel in Dunedin and the Epicurean in South Tampa) and six more in development, with 1,100 total employees and more than $200 million in annual revenues.
As for the local Residence Inn, Haines says Mainsail decided to build it because Collier was the chairman of the Hillsborough County Sports Authority, which made an attempt to get RADDSports (the private partner of Pasco County that manages the programs at the Sports Campus) to develop a Sports Campus-type facility there, “and RADD kept Mainsail involved here. This isn’t our usual build, but there was the draw of sports, which presented an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.”
The hotel is the first-ever Residence Inn with a rooftop bar. It is a 128-room all-studio hotel with 65 studio king suites, 24 studio kings with conservation views, 19 studios with two queen beds, 8 one-bedroom king studios, 8 one-bedroom studios with two queen beds and 4 two-bedroom suites with one king and one queen bed. All of the suites feature a pull-out sofa sleeper, full-sized refrigerators, kitchens and all amenities for cooking.
Other on-site amenities include complimentary breakfast, an outdoor swimming pool (that is heated in the winter), a fitness center, 24/7 Market, on-site laundry with washers & dryers, rental bicycles (where the first hour is free) and outdoor grills, as well as on-site meeting space for up to 26 people.
The Wesley Chapel Residence Inn has a new general manager and director of sales, Rebecca “Becky” Hayes, who brings a lot of enthusiasm for the hotel and the community with her to her new jobs.
“I’m really looking forward to getting out in this community and meeting more people,” she says, “especially with the holiday party season coming up. This hotel is great for any kind of social event.”
Plus, if you book your holiday party for up to 100 guests by Oct. 31 for any Sun.-Thur. (Nov. 14-Dec. 23), your venue rental (a $500 value) will be waived and you’ll receive a complimentary champagne toast.
Skybox — Food, Drinks & Fun!
Whether you or your out-of-town visitors stay at the Residence Inn or not, you should still check out our area’s only rooftop bar to have a few drinks and a little something to eat.
The Skybox’s appetizer “Bites” include Bavarian pretzel rolls with beer cheese, spinach & artichoke dip, shrimp, crab & parmesan dip and the current favorite — loaded kettle chips with pulled pork or chicken, nacho cheese, chili, jalapeños, pico de gallo, olives & sour cream.
There also are grilled southwest chicken, BBQ pulled pork and roasted veggie wrap sandwiches, salads and a reasonably priced kids’ menu, as well as a variety of desserts.
Skybox bartenders also serve a great selection of premium alcohol craft cocktails, fine wines and craft beers.
For more information about the Residence Inn Tampa-Wesley Chapel (2867 Lajuana Blvd.) and the Skybox Rooftop Bar, call (833) 214-9098 or visit Marriott.com or SkytopRooftopBar.com.
