The memory board of Dave displayed during the celebration of Life
Join Us When The Former Proprietor Also Will Be Celebrated At Stonewood Grill On Monday, July 28, 1 P.M.-???
Even though I had met David (“Dave”) Rathbun when he managed the Carrabba’s Italian Grill on N. 56th St. in Temple Terrace, I didn’t really get to know him until 2002, when he opened the first Stonewood Grill & Tavern in the Tampa Bay area.
There weren’t a lot of great restaurants in our area at that time — heck, there weren’t a lot of restaurants, period — but Stonewood became New Tampa’s favorite restaurant pretty much from the day it opened and there’s no doubt that Dave had as much to do with it as the restaurant’s steaks and seafood.
The way Dave seemed to remember everyone’s name after one or, at the most, two times meeting them, the way he made sure his instant slew of regulars always got their favorite table or seat at the bar — literally everything about the guy was warm, funny and genuine. He was the very definition of the word “hospitable” in the hospitality industry.
(L.-r.) Emily Barreira, Gina & Dave Rathbun (Photo provided by Emily Barreira)
I didn’t know that Dave’s wife Gina was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, better known to many as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”) for the first several years she was stricken with it, and it wasn’t because Dave didn’t talk about Gina. It was because he constantly talked about how wonderful she was, what a great mom she was to her daughter (and Dave’s beloved stepdaughter) Emily and what a talented artist Gina was. The first time I found out Gina was ill was when Dave asked if I could publish an article about her in the paper to show some of her art, which I did and I wish I could’ve found the issue with that story before I went to press with this issue.
Now, mind you, Dave Rathbun never asked me to write anything about Stonewood. He literally had never asked me for anything until that day. And, for the first time ever, I saw pain behind his ever-present, infectious smile.
When Dave left Stonewood, a lot of people were heartbroken. There were some who told me that they couldn’t keep going to their favorite place if Dave wasn’t there anymore.
The next time I heard from Dave was in 2023, when he had accepted a position as a manager at Bella Brava New World Trattoria in The Hub at Bexley (off S.R. 54 in Lutz) , which opened a few months later. He introduced me to general manager Tina Stormer and made sure the Neighborhood News was on-hand for Bella Brava’s “Friends & Family” pre-opening and introduced us to co-owner Thomas Sanborn, who was the original chef at Stonewood when Dave opened it.
Dave seemed to thrive in his new position at Bella Brava, but in April, he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that affects the kidneys. Suddenly, after years as Gina’s primary caregiver, Dave was receiving dialysis treatments three days a week for several weeks.
In June, Dave decided to work a full shift at Bella Brava, even though Emily — who is a nurse with two degrees — was concerned that her stepdad wasn’t fully recovered from his weeks of dialysis treatment. He just loved the work.
But, when Dave got home, he told the caregiver that he wasn’t feeling well. He went to sleep…and never woke up.
At only age 69, the man who loved his wife for 28 years and had taken care of her for the last 17 years as she struggled with ALS, was gone.
Tiny quickly organized a Celebration of Life in Dave’s honor and memory on July 14 and an estimated crowd of 300-400 people showed up to hear his family and closest friends talk about what a wonderful husband, father, brother, friend and manager of people he was. Here are a few excerpts from the speeches given about Dave that day:
Dave’s stepdaughter Emily Barreira & her mom & Dave’s wife Gina Rathbun (Photos by Charmaine George)
Gina (Emily read a letter from her Mom to her husband Dave): “From the moment David came into our lives, he became a second father figure to Emily, loving her as if she were his own. He was endlessly dedicated and loyal not just to me, but to our whole family. He showed his love through his strength and unwavering support by always putting us first. David, you carried your confidence and kindness with you. Wherever you went, your compassion touched countless lives, and your love will always remain alive in the hearts of everyone who had the privilege to know you. But, you left me so fast and unexpectedly. I love you more than you will ever know, and I will miss your radiant smile everyday. Your love is the lasting legacy you left with me and your family. Your kindness was a true gift to everyone who had the chance to know you.”
Emily: “David always had a favorite story that he love to share. When I was four years old, I was sitting out in the living room with him watching TV. My mom came over and reminded me that it was time to go to bed. I looked up at her and said, ‘No, mommy, I can’t go to bed. I’m watching baseball with my ‘little stepdaddy.’ From that day on, that’s what he was to me… my little step daddy. He instantly became my bonus dad at a very young age and supported me throughout the rest of my life.”
Dave’s brother Paul Rathbun
Paul (Dave’s brother): “When I was 16 years old, and we lived in Boston. David, John myself and Dave’s friend Tim took us to see the Trammps, a disco band in the seventies, and they were pretty hot at the time. There were a lot of problems with that evening, not the least of which was that four of us were under age. The five of us were invited on stage to sing the finale, “Disco Inferno” with the group. It was amazing. Okay, it was the seventies. Dave loved his family, He loved the restaurant. He loved the people he worked with. He loved his customers. He just loved people.
“Dave loved reading his devotionals. A recent one he shared was, ‘He’s Preparing a Place for You.’ Jesus promised that he’s preparing a place for us, a place where we will be with him forever. It’s not the size of the room or how fancy it is. It’s about being in his presence, where there’s joy, peace and love that never ends. Dave, you have fought the good fight. You finished the race. You have kept the faith. Well done, my brother.”
Dave’s brother John Rathbun
John (Dave’s brother): “He and I talked about the power of positive thinking — in the things you do, the things you say, the things you think — it all determines your destiny and the energy you give off to people. Dave greatly valued his family, connecting with his creator, and mentoring his coworkers. He loved his customers and obviously, his friends, and many of his customers became his friends.
“The French have a phrase “‘Joie de vivre,’ which means “the joy of life.” I think Dave possessed that. He put a lot of effort into his relationships with his coworkers and his customers. and he brought a lot of joy to you guys and, to be honest, you brought a lot of joy to him, too.”
Dave’s close family friend Tim
Tim (Dave’s long-time friend): “Dave had gone to school for physical education but when he moved here, he was going to nursing school and he was working in an Italian restaurant (Lorenzo’s). And I would come down from Tennessee to visit and you could just tell that he loved it. I soon realized that he all the things that he could do as a P.E. teacher, he could do in the restaurant business.
“He mentored so many people and was a great coach. He was so inspirational to so many people. I’ll never forget that we were working on a paint crew here in Florida. I was going to school, and I’m borrowing money to go to school and I didn’t know what I wanted to do. And I was really beating myself up and I had one conversation with Dave and he said to me, ‘Timmy, don’t worry about it. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. You’re smart, you’re a hard worker and people like you. Just focus on doing the best that you can every day and treat people around you the way you want to be treated, and you’ll be successful.”
Dave’s friend Kelly Barnett
Kelly (another long-time friend): “I worked at the Olive Garden in New Tampa, right across the parking lot from Stonewood. Dave and I had worked together like 30 years before that, and we end up working right next to each other. So, one day I was eating there and I’m just watching him.
“I knew what he was like, but I never got old to watch him work a dining room. He knows everybody by name. And he knows something about each of them. It’s not like he’s just out there saying, ‘Hey, how’s your dinner?’ And the person I was with was also in the restaurant business. And they said, ‘Oh my God, he’s like the Mayor of Stonewood!”
Bella Brava Bexley GM Tina Stormer (with Emily & her husband Ryan Barreira)
Tina (Bella Brava GM): We closed the restaurant today so all of our employees could be here to celebrate Dave. He was the definition of hospitality at its best. They called him ‘Diamond Dave’ for a reason. If he didn’t know who you were when you walked in, he would definitely know you by the time you left.”
Please join us for a second Celebration of ‘Dimond Dave’ Rathbun’s life on Monday, July 28, 1 p.m., at Stonewood Grill & Tavern.
(l-r) Dave’s brother Mark Rathbun, his sister Martha Peddle (with Paul) & his sister Mary DeSantis
Editor’s note – Unfortunately, due to the timing of our issues, we were not able to get this recap of the extended Florida Legislative Session that finally ended on June 16 into the June 24 New Tampa issue, but I did sit down for a chat with District 67 State Representative and Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell (photo) a little more than a week after that lengthy session ended to get her impressions of the hits, misses and what the people of her District, which includes all of New Tampa, can expect between now and the start of the 2026 Legislative Session next January. — GN
NN: First, give me your general impressions of this year’s session.
FD: To me, this felt like a session of missed opportunities, because the Speaker set a tone at the beginning of the session, that it was going to be a member-driven process and that we were going to focus on affordability issues, and basically there would be opportunities to collaborate on such issues. But in the end, this session was marked by, in-fighting amongst Republican leadership. The Speaker of the House, the Senate President and the Governor just could not seem to get on the same page, so what was supposed to be a 60-day session wound up being over a hundred days. And unfortunately, the budget was the biggest bargaining chip and the budget process was held up and it wasn’t as transparent as it typically is, meaning that there wasn’t really the opportunity for the public, I don’t think, to advocate, as much as they specifically would have for their budget appropriations. It was really tough — for the public and for lawmakers — because we also were kind of pretty much in the dark. It just seemed like they couldn’t even agree on even whether or not they were fighting, much less what they were fighting about. In spite of everything, though, I think, in the end, it was an O.K. budget. Definitely not an A+ budget, but it was an O.K. budget.
NN: What’s missing from the budget?
FD: What I would like to have seen that was missing were more funds for housing affordability. By my estimation, we actually reduced funds for affordable housing and this is not a time to do that. Especially here, when we know the Tampa Bay area is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, and it’s becoming too expensive for locals to live here.
You’ll also notice that the Governor vetoed a number of water projects, just like he did last year. The problem with that, as we continue to endure stronger storms and flooding events, is that we need to have the right infrastructure to try to protect human life and property.
NN: What do you see as your caucus’ victories, despite the Republicans’ super-majority?
FD: In the end, they actually kept the funding for Advanced Placement courses and International Baccalaureate programs and certain certifications for students. And I think that was the right thing to do. And I give full credit, both to the Democratic caucus and to the public for really springing into action and embracing a lot of noise about that, so that they had to reverse course. I am really proud of our advocacy for students and families on the AP classes. We really hammered them on that, which was good.
NN: What about your own successes?
FD: I was really proud to secure some significant appropriations. For example, in a prior session, I helped sponsor legislation to establish what we believe are the first Sickle Cell Disease Centers of Excellence in the country.
So this year, we were able to secure $3.75 million for sickle cell disease projects — $1.25 million to establish a “cause of death initiative” aimed at addressing a long-standing gap in knowledge surrounding sickle cell disease mortality. There hasn’t been enough study and focus to understand the exact causes of death for many in the sickle cell population. We’re trying to understand more about what happens to sickle cell patients and try to strengthen advocacy efforts.
Then, there’s another $2.5 million that is going to help that population with non-emergency transportation access because what we found is that transportation is a huge obstacle to that patient population from getting consistent preventive care. They miss a lot of appointments. When that happens, you know, things that were preventable become real complications, and they have worse outcomes.
This is going to allow for two transportation vans at each of the 15 sickle cell centers, including the one in my District on E. Fletcher Ave.
The other thing that we did get was a $350,000 appropriation for the Hillel Jewish Student Center of Tampa on the USF Tampa campus. We’ve heard stories of students feeling threatened on campus. Probably like a month or two ago, there was a gentleman found with weapons on campus, who was not a student, and he had a copy of I believe it was Mein Kampf.
There’s been an uptick of anti-Semitism, so we’re very proud to help our students feel safe. The appropriation is for school “hardening” and some technology, plus educational and cultural programming to try to counter disinformation and anti-Semitic rhetoric. The daughter of one of my colleagues in the legislature is half-Jewish, half-Black, and she used to wear a Star of David at school. But, there were some things happening at school and now, she doesn’t even feel safe to wear to wear her star anymore. And, she’s only in middle school.
There also was some drama this year where the Senate’s Democratic leader — Jason Pizzo — resigned his leadership position part-way through session and announced that he’s becoming an NPA. It was very dramatic. I’ve been in this position now for about three years, and I’ll tell you that leadership is hard. There’s no glory in it. It sounds like a very nice title, but it’s tough. And, for whatever reason, he’d had enough. So then, the Senate elected Lori Berman unanimously as its new leader and I will tell you that Sen. Berman and I work together really well. And, from that point on, I’ve found that we’ve been very coordinated. The Senate and House Democrats are already working on a joint platform for next Legislative session, because we recognize that we’re stronger together.
And, we did have some platform bills that we worked together on this year, particularly related to housing affordability, expanding Medicaid, safe gun storage and universal background checks. These are things that are not easy to pass, but I do think it’s important to raise them so that we are a part of the conversation, and so that we keep trying to keep the conversation centered on affordability, because that’s what our constituents want. The most calls that we get are people worried about housing affordability and dealing with property insurance. And, even though we’re the minority party, I think it’s important that we uplift the voices of our constituents and our neighbors.
NN: Which bills of yours didn’t pass?
FD: I had a bill that was seeking to give clarity and direction to doctors with respect to the six-week abortion ban because we continue to hear reports of doctors being unsure of what they can do with respect to miscarriage management because, technically, that could be considered an abortion procedure sometimes. So, in consultation with physicians who practice in this area, we worked on a bill that would just give them some guidelines. Unfortunately, it didn’t pass.
Recently in the news, there was a Republican Congresswoman here in Florida who suffered an ectopic pregnancy, and she was having difficulties getting health care because the doctors weren’t sure what they could do. So, this is something that really has a need. That’s a dangerous thing to have an ectopic pregnancy and to have a doctor not know if he or she can provide care for that. I may not be the one who carries it, but we’ll definitely bring it up again next Session.
There was also a bill that I carried on water quality improvements. It actually was a platform bill for our caucus. I read a report that Florida is one of the states with the highest amount of lead in our drinking water. So, I was pushing for a study, so that we could better understand the issue and start to remedy this. The bill also is basically asking for the state to implement the recommendations that were made by the Red Tide Task Force that looked at that issue. But, when something is a big hot topic in the moment, the legislature will take action, but then, maybe once the news coverage dies down, they just put things on the back burner. But, our beaches are critical to our economy, so maybe we should be more preventive with it. That was a real disappointment that we couldn’t get that to go anywhere because environmental issues have been fairly bipartisan in recent years.
NN: So, you have one more legislative session in your current role before you’re term-limited out. What’s your next political move?
Pasco BCC Votes 4-1 To Bring In Veteran Management Company; Parking At The Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus To Be Addressed
Clearwater-based Sports Facilities Companies (SFC), which manages 90 sports facilities around the country, will take over the management of the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus (WRSC) on August 1. That’s the good news.
The better news is that SFC has six months to figure out the long-standing problem of not having enough parking at the facility. The not-as-good news, according to the only Pasco County commissioner who voted against entering into the agreement at the June 17 Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting, is that improving the parking situation isn’t in black-&-white on that agreement.
When the BCC voted 4-1 to approve SFC as the new management company to operate the Sports Campus, District 5 Commissioner Jack Mariano cast the only dissenting vote — not because he doesn’t think SFC will do a good job of managing the facility, but because there is no official commitment regarding parking in place in the agreement, other than SFC has agreed to conduct a feasibility study, to determine the best way to add more parking at WRSC.
Mariano also said that it was obvious that the county’s tourism department, which goes by the moniker “Florida’s Sports Coast,” did not do a thorough or correct enough job of looking for a new operator when it put out its Request for Proposals (RFP) for companies to take over the management of the Sports Campus.
“You say you did it right,” Comm. Mariano said to deputy director of tourism Consuelo Sanchez before the agreement was voted on by the BCC. “But, we had only one bidder. If this company coming in says you need to do a feasibility study and you haven’t already done that, you can tell me you think you did a good job, but there’s a flaw there and they (SFC) exposed it.”
Sanchez said that the RFP went out to 7,800 sports facilities operators around the country, with only four responses and only one company, SFC, that submitted a bid.
Since June of 2023, the $56-million WRSC has been managed by Pasco’s Parks & Recreation Dept., after the BCC first voted to default (in Oct. 2022) and then bought out the contract of WRSC’s previous operator (RADDSports). According to RADDSports partner Anthony Homer, however, his company was on track to bring in 40,000 room nights when the agreement was bought out in 2023.
In 2024, the first full year the county managed the facility, Sanchez told the commissioners that the events at WRSC only brought in 21,000 room nights and the facility was on pace for about the same number of nights this year. SFC has committed to bringing in 30,000 room nights annually. The county, which is still paying off the four-year, $3-million buyout of RADDSports’ agreement, also has incurred costs of about $20,000 per month for the Parks Dept. to run the WRSC.
Under the newly approved agreement with SFC, the county will pay SFC $750,000 — an initial financial commitment of $500,000, which Sanchez called “bridge funding to offset potential revenue shortfalls,” plus a “management fee of $18,000 per month paid out of the Operating Account (an account to be managed by SFC which serves as the central fund to collect facility revenue and disburse expenses).” The 10-year agreement also calls for, “up to $250,000 for Facility Floor Resurfacing Reimbursement, since Sanchez said, “the gym floors [at WRSC] haven’t been resurfaced since the facility opened in 2020.”
She added, “This necessary upgrade must be completed regardless of facility management to ensure athlete safety, event eligibility and competitive standards.”
When Comm. Mariano raised the question of whether or not SFC was planning to provide additional parking for the Sports Campus, which already has a huge lack of proper available parking, Sanchez called Sullivan up to the microphone to confirm that his company is planning to conduct the study.
Sullivan noted, “We are really excited about this opportunity. We’ve been working diligently with Consuelo, with Keith (Pasco Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources director Keith Wiley) and their teams to find out what’s been working at the facility and what needs to be improved upon — and parking has been one of the challenges. It does us no good to not have convenient and adequate parking and we have full intention of solving the parking solution. We have proposals from three parking garage developers — two from here in the Tampa Bay region — and we know [parking] is going to be the number one thing we need to address.”
Wiley said that it appears that the only available space for more parking at the facility is an 18-acre lot located north of the 98,000-sq.- ft. AdventHealth Sports Arena, which already is north of the five outdoor fields.
“It is a bit of a walk from that location to those fields,” Wiley admitted. Dist. 3 Commissioner & Board chair Kathryn Starkey asked if golf carts could possibly shuttle people back and forth from the parking area to and from the fields.
The resolution passed 4-1, with Mariano’s the only “Nay” because of the parking concerns.
Wiregrass Ranch developer JD Porter, who attended the June 17 meeting, but was not asked to speak, told the Neighborhood News after the meeting, “We are very pleased with the approval by the Board of the outside operator. From our conversations and research, they [SFC] seem more than capable of running the facility, as the donation agreement outlines, as an upper echelon sports tourism facility. We look forward to [SFC] raising the bar of the tournaments and tax dollars brought into Pasco County.”
Following the vote, the Neighborhood News emailed Sullivan a number of questions about SFC’s plans for the Sports Campus, including:
1) Will SFC have management on-site at the facility?
2) How many weekend events are already on the books at WRSC for the rest of 2025?
3) Are there any weekends available this year for SFC to book events? If not, when will SFC (or its LLC created to run the Sports Campus, WRSC SFM, LLC) be able to start adding new weekend events?
4) Will you be retaining all of the existing employees at the Sports Campus or will you be deciding on a case-by-case basis which of those employees you will retain?
5) Will you be continuing the local programming that’s currently in place or will SFC be replacing that programming with programs of its own?
6) When will the parking feasibility study actually begin?
7) Have you spoken with JD Porter and/ or Scott Sheridan of Locust Branch, LLC, since being awarded the contract?
8) Have you been in contact with the Peachtree Group about the Residence Inn that shares the Sports Campus site to address any concerns the hotel company may have?
Sullivan’s response to our email was: “We do not take over operations until Aug 1. I would like to kindly decline any media interviews/discussions until we are formally engaged. I appreciate your understanding.”
Nicole (left) and Sommer Cholnik were first in line to buy a dozen cookies at the new Cookie Plug store in The Grove at Wesley Chapel on June 28. (Photos by Charmaine George)
Cookie Plug, an edgy, innovative bakery with more than 25 locations nationwide (and growing), has opened its newest storefront in The Village at The Grove at 6013 Wesley Chapel Grove Blvd., Suite 102 (next to the Ice Dreammm Shop). A nice crowd of locals lined up outside the new Cookie Plug at 11 a.m. on June 28, where they received free samples of the different flavors. There also was a DJ and a great Opening Day special — eight free giant-sized cookies when you purchased four, plus a drink.
Cookie Plug Wesley Chapel is owned and operated by Florida resident David Johnson, who says he is eager to introduce the uniqueness of the bakery to locals. With support from his wife Jackie, Johnson plans to open more locations in the state, including one in Highwoods Preserve in New Tampa, which is at least a couple of months behind the Wesley Chapel store.
“I was initially drawn to the creativity of the concept and the nod to hip-hop culture that Cookie Plug brings to the table, but then, the minute I tasted the cookies, I was hooked,” Johnson said in a press release. “We are particularly excited to serve the Wesley Chapel community in a space that is surrounded by thriving businesses, shops and homes. We are eager to bring this sweet addition to the area, offering thick-cut cookies in a variety of flavors that are unlike anything else you can get in Tampa Bay and beyond.”
Originally founded in Riverside, CA, in 2019, Cookie Plug was inspired by graffiti and street art with the aim to add a unique twist to the conventional bakery. Offering cookies made fresh daily that are part cake, part brownie, part cookie and 100% delicious, the brand’s inventive menu offers 12 different flavors, including: s’mores, chocolate chip, sugar, triple chocolate, strawberry cheesecake (Charmaine and I both loved this one), red velvet, snickerdoodle and two rotating flavors, including this months “Black Ops,” the brownie-flavored cookie with red, white & blue star sprinkles shown in the box held by Nicole and Sommer Cholnik, who were first in line on June 28.
Cookie Plug also has keto cookie options available, as well as mini “plug popper” cookies, ice cream sandwiches and custom cakes to satisfy any sweet tooth.
“We have an incredible product and I can’t wait for locals in Wesley Chapel and Tampa Bay to experience it for themselves,” said David Denker, president and chief growth officer of Cookie Plug.
Cookie Plug Wesley Chapel is open Mon.-Thur., noon-11 p.m.; noon-midnight on Fri. & Sat.; & noon- 9 p.m. on Sun. For more info, follow Cookie Plug on Instagram or Facebook @cookie.plug or visit CookiePlug.com/wesleychapel. For franchising opportunities, visit Franchise.CookiePlug.com. — GN
Updates On The County Park & School Sites, Private Club, Peak Surf Park, Publix & The Homes At The Massive Development
Introduction by Gary Nager Story by Joel Provenzano
As the publisher and editor of the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News, I’m having a dilemma — What should I do about the 6,000-acre development known as Two Rivers?
For more than three decades, I have used Morris Bridge Rd. as the eastern boundary of both Wesley Chapel and New Tampa. But, the Thomas family’s Two Rivers Ranch is just to the east of Morris Bridge, both north and south of the Pasco-Hillsborough County line, which, by my definition, is located in unincorporated Zephyrhills (not to be confused with the City of Zephyrhills, which is well north and east of Two Rivers) in Pasco and Thonotosassa in Hillsborough.
But now, with the Pasco side of Two Rivers already home to hundreds of new homes, plus the announcement last year that the Tampa Bay area’s first-ever surf park was coming to the community, and even more recent announcements of a Publix beginning construction, plus a private club, schools and the most recent addition — a Pasco County-record $18-million purchase of 85 acres on the south side of S.R. 56 to be developed as a district park — and its location just to the east of Morris Bridge, it’s clear that Two Rivers is very much Wesley Chapel-like and we have already published multiple stories about it in these pages.
So, my dilemma is — should I start mailing the Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News to everyone who currently lives — and those who will one day move into the thousands of additional homes, apartments and townhomes — in Two Rivers?
The answer is most likely going to be “Yes,” even though we’re already mailing our Wesley Chapel issues to more than 40,000 residences and businesses — and more than 110,000 people (according to U.S. Post Office estimates) — in zip codes 33543, 33544 and 33545 and Two Rivers addresses (at least so far) are all in 33541.
In other words, to misquote Bette Davis in “All About Eve”: “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!”
In the meantime, for the latest updates on everything currently happening in Two Rivers, keep reading!
While not even a single ounce of dirt has been turned on the Hillsborough side of the Two Rivers development yet, whole communities (and most of the infrastructure— roads, utilities and drainage) — have been completed on the Pasco side, the side we’re going to be focusing our updates on, and there’s quite a bit to update for you.
In case you’re somehow not familiar, Two Rivers is the name for the entire 6,000-acre master planned development being developed on the Thomas family’s Two Rivers Ranch property both north and south of S.R. 56 between Morris Bridge Rd. and U.S. Hwy. 301, with approximately 3,500 acres in the Pasco portion and 2,000+ acres south of the Pasco-Hillsborough county line, technically in Thonotosassa. The entire Two Rivers development is being managed by the Eisenhower Property Group, with multiple home builders building out the individual communities..
To put the size of Two Rivers into perspective for locals, the combined area of Meadow Pointe II and III, The Ridge, Union Park, Woodcreek and the upcoming Wyndfields development also total about 3,500 acres.
Construction on the project began in late 2022, after the S.R. 56 extension to U.S. 301 was completed in 2019. Most people noticed the two communities on the north side of 56 popping up almost overnight, with entire streets of houses going vertical within a couple of months, and it’s been breakneck speed ever since, with seemingly no shortage of buyers since the beginning.
This article will update the progress on Two Rivers, following meetings with the builders’ sales associates, driving the entire area and researching Pasco and Hillsborough records for clarity.
Our research and discussions indicate that most of the residential development on the Pasco side of Two Rivers will likely be completed within the next 2-3 years, with the commercial properties taking a little longer. So, anyone wanting a house in Two Rivers should probably start looking soon.
2025 Pasco Plan Amendment Updates
The best way to know what’s coming to Two Rivers is to look at the total entitlements the county has granted to the entire development. There was an original list, but it was modified at the beginning of 2025, and included in the “Project Needs Assessment” document from January. Below is the current list of Pasco entitlements:
• Single Family – 4,047 Dwelling Units
• Townhomes – 514 Dwelling Units
• Villas – 108 Dwelling Units
• Multi-Family – 1,878 Dwelling Units
• Assisted Living Facility – 300 Beds
• Office/Target Industry – 1,335,000 sq. ft.
• Retail – 1,335,000 sq. ft.
• Industrial – 1,335,000 sq. ft.
• Hotel – 480 Rooms
• K-8 School – 2,000 Students
• High School – 1,814 Students
• County (District) Park – 85 acres
• Surf Park – 35 acres, 700 parking spaces
These numbers indicate the maximum uses to be granted to the development, so it could be shy of what’s listed. The interesting items are the categories that were deleted, added, or modified.
The first such item to note is that Two Rivers has bucked the recent trend in Wesley Chapel and fully removed the original 55+ community entitlement of 1,125 homes. Added instead to the list is a 300-bed assisted living facility.
Also added are 480 hotel rooms, 108 villas (aka fancy duplexes, especially since Homes by WestBay will be building them), 514 townhomes, and the number of apartment units was upped from the originally approved 1,400 to 1,878.
Instead of separate 762-student elementary and 1,306-student middle schools, there is now a combined K-8 school of 2,000 students being proposed, which had been rare for Pasco, but Kirkland Ranch K-8 off Curley Rd. is one of the four currently in the county. Combining the two schools on one campus helped free up land space for the retail entitlements to be increased from the original 630,000 to 1,335,000 sq. ft.
Apartments & Townhomes
While the townhomes are shown on the most recent Two Rivers Map, the location of the upcoming apartments had not been.
Six commercial outparcel lots were submitted for plat this year, with 146 townhomes behind them. The plat was finalized in June, and now the townhome parking lot is almost complete, with vertical construction of the townhomes to begin soon.
The first apartment complex on the list is labeled ‘Parcel G Apts’ in the map above (east of Morris Bridge Rd.). There will be 324 units, with eight 3-story buildings in total. The site ground work has been started and vertical construction should begin soon, as the pool for the apartments received its final permit in April.
The second known apartment complex will be called “Oasis at Two Rivers” on the south side of S.R. 56, directly aligned with the full median opening at the entrance to the Northwater subdivision (at Wide Water Way). Construction of this site is in full swing and Oasis will feature eight 4-story buildings with 344 units in total.
Communities Aplenty
If you drive into Two Rivers, there’s a cohesiveness to the entire development, from one community to the next. Everything from the playgrounds, to the beautifully designed mail stations, to the heavy emphasis on landscaping, the consistent rustic theme carries clearly throughout. It also helps that almost all of the streets were built by the developer at one time, so there’s no choppiness as you drive back.
In addition to the aesthetics, one thing we quickly noticed was just how much has already been completed — as the Lennar sales office was being converted into the last private residence in the community of Childers, which means that by the time this issue reaches your mailbox, this community on the north side of 56 will be the first in Two Rivers to be completely sold out.
DR Horton sales reps in the Northwater subdivision, also north of 56, believe that community is only be about eight months behind Childers, given how much inventory there is left. Homes in Northwater currently start in the low $300k range for 1,560 sq. ft., but that may not last forever, because the next DR Horton community of Archer (south of 56) — with a sales office that has only been open for a couple of weeks — has homes currently starting in the high $400k range, but this could change when the builder moves into narrower 40’ lots in a future phase.
Lennar might only be gone for a short time, as the builder’s next venture will be the community of Creekwood on the eastside. While Lennar has started building houses in Creekwood (well south of 56, almost to the Pasco-Hillsborough line), we did not see any models completed or a sales office open yet.
At the higher end of the current scale, builders like Homes by WestBay and M/I Homes are offering homes reaching well up into the $1-million range, with up to 70’-wide lots, 7 bedrooms, and 5,500 sq. ft. of space, some even offering to build pools before the house closes for an additional charge. Even if this is too rich, there’s a plethora of other builders (10 so far) to fit every need in-between.
Most of the builders we talked to are offering some type of special financing, too, as low as 3.99%, with others covering up to $40k for closing costs, and/or substantial savings in the prices of homes, depending upon when customers intend to buy. These incentives make it seem like now is one of the best times to buy new construction, as the competition is hot to attract potential buyers.
Because of the endless choices, most real estate agents in the area still recommend buyers bring an agent with them to tour new construction, as many are well versed and know the ins and outs of the new construction process very well.
Here’s a complete list of the single- family communities on the Pasco side of Two Rivers. The villas are included, given their prominence:
Two Rivers North:
• Childers (Lennar)
• Northwater (DR Horton)
Two Rivers West:
• Tamarack (Park Square Homes & William Ryan Homes)
• Ryals Field (Homes by WestBay)
• Fairwood ‘villas’ (Homes by WestBay)
• Delyle (Pulte Homes)
• Shortgrass (M/I Homes)
• Hammock (DR Horton, Pulte Homes, Taylor Morrison Homes)
• Holter (unknown at this time)
Two Rivers East:
• Archer (DR Horton)
• Fieldcrest (Casa Fresca Homes)
• Ackley (Meritage Homes)
• Creekside (Lennar)
Clubhouses & Amenities
The only two single-family communities in Two Rivers to have their own amenities inside the subdivisions themselves are those located north of 56 — Childers and Northwater, each of which has its own pool, clubhouse and playgrounds.
All of the other single-family communities in Two Rivers listed above will have one central amenity center, depending upon which side of Two Rivers a resident lives.
The Two Rivers East communities will have access to The Nest at Two Rivers, which will have everything one might expect for a normal-size community amenity center, like a pool, pickleball courts, dog park, playground and a clubhouse (but no gym). The Nest currently is under construction and should be completed sometime in early 2026.
The Two Rivers West communities will have a larger The Landing at Two Rivers, a private social club whose size reminds us of the exceptionally large amenity center in Connerton up in northern Land O’Lakes. This will be an independent private club, not associated with an HOA or CDD, to keep the consistency and quality high. As stated in The Landing’s club brochure, “Our lifestyle director and team will be on-site managing club operations and member experience.”
The Landing (rendering above) has just begun construction and is anticipated to open by late 2026, with a hefty price tag of $27 million. It will offer a lot for residents, including tennis and pickleball courts, playgrounds, event pavilions, massive resort-style swimming pool with slide, along with a junior Olympic-sized lap pool, poolside food and drink service, bars, onsite casual and fine dining, and a dedicated fitness building complete with separate cycling and aerobics/yoga studios, where classes will be offered.
In the future, Two Rivers will be adding one more club feature on the Hillsborough side that many newer communities have stopped providing — a golf course. Speaking of the future Hillsborough side, the developer writes, “The centerpiece of this community is a private, members-only 18-hole golf course designed by renowned Scottish architect David McLay-Kidd. Expect a golfing experience that breaks free from the typical Tampa landscape, with subtle nuances that transport players to a world afar.”
It’s Important To Know Your Fees!
Every potential Two Rivers resident needs to understand their Homeowners Association (HOA) fee sand what they include, the Community Development District (CDD) fees, and whether or not there is a separate mandatory club fee, for each community. Here’s what we found;
It appears that all Two Rivers communities will have an annual CDD (whether for Two Rivers East, West, or North) fee. The CDD fees range from around $1,700 in the villas, up to $3,500 for other communities, depending upon lot width, builder and which side of Two Rivers the community is on. The manager for all of the CDDs is listed as Jayna Cooper with Inframark.
Two Rivers North appears to have higher (on average) CDD fees, because both Childers and Northwater have their own amenities, but their HOA fee is lower — less than $15 a month — because utilities have to be paid separately.
However, in Two Rivers East and West, the HOA fees are higher, from around $70-$140 a month ($385 for the villas because that includes exterior maintenance), due to the HOA fees in these sections also including Spectrum UltraFI Internet with speeds advertised up to 2 gigabits/sec (Gbps).
That seems like a good deal, considering many Spectrum customers (not new customers on a promotion) could be paying around $95 a month for regular high-speed internet (400 Mbps) with wifi, due to Spectrum’s advertised price hikes.
It appears that annual CDD fees for Two Rivers West are about $1,000 lower on average than East, but that is due to the fact that there will be a separate mandatory $285 monthly fee per household ($3,420 annually) for all West residents to have The Landing Private Club membership.
This mandatory fee is expected to begin in mid-2026, as the club gets closer to opening. This means that some West communities could have well over $600 per month total in community fees. For the villas, it would be just over $800/month.
For East residents, the CDD fee also includes access to The Nest amenity center. Holter, in Two Rivers West, is the only community that isn’t currently listed for any amenities, nor does it have any itself, and we’re not sure if additional info about Holter will be made available in the future.
Walmart & Publix
For a while now, residents have been looking forward to a proposed Lowe’s Home Improvement store, which was expected to be built at the southwest corner of S.R. 56 at Morris Bridge Rd. Unfortunately, that preliminary plan is gone and has been replaced with a full set of final engineering plans for a new Walmart, which were submitted to Pasco on June 11.
While not technically located inside of Two Rivers (see map at the top of the page), Walmart is being proposed just outside of the development, and will serve the residents at a very convenient location, considering the closest Walmart is eight miles away, on S.R. 54. The plan also shows something very interesting — a proposed roundabout on Morris Bridge Rd. as a way to handle traffic entering and exiting the southern driveway, located halfway between S.R. 56 and Colston Ave.
While nothing in the permit explicitly states that this is a new Walmart, the size is correct, and it has a proposed liquor store, a drive-through pharmacy and the curbside pick-up area design is uniquely Walmart’s new model. It’s what the New Tampa Walmart was changed to look like.
One thing we are certain of is that Publix has a plan to be in Two Rivers, and had even started construction, but things abruptly stopped. The Publix location is right at the main entrance to Two Rivers in a spot that actually didn’t seem obvious for a grocery store, as we drove right by it without realizing that was the spot, which is on the southwest corner of S.R. 56 at Two Rivers Blvd.
It almost doesn’t seem big enough for a Publix, but that could be because, unlike many other Publix stores that are part of plazas, this will be a fully standalone Publix,, with no other stores (except Publix Liquors) or outparcels on the site.
The permit reads, “This project entails the construction of a 58,834 SF Publix and a 2,100 SF Liquor store with associated vehicular use areas, parking, landscaping, utility connections, and storm water conveyance into the existing storm ponds.” A review of the plans shows it also has a drive-up pharmacy.
Some earthwork grading on the site is already completed, and the outline of the building and parking lot can be seen, but otherwise it appears construction is on hold for the parcel. We investigated a rumor that it was on hold because there was a question as to who would be installing the signal on S.R. 56, and when it might be installed, but had no confirmation from Pasco County staff about that rumor.
The permit shows that Traffic, Planning, and a few other county departments issued comments to request additional revisions to the updated plans that were submitted in April of this year but the exact comments were not visible, and revised plans have not yet been produced, which is likely what is causing the hold-up.
Schools & Parks
Two Rivers is a huge development that currently doesn’t yet have any schools built, but given the overall size of the community this will be a necessity moving forward. Currently, Two Rivers residents are zoned for Chester Taylor Elementary, R.B. Stewart Middle School and Zephyrhills High, with an option for students to apply to go to either one of the nearby charter schools — Union Park Academy K-8 or Pinecrest Academy K-9.
The Pasco County School District recently solidified a clearer plan for the Two Rivers school locations than it had at the beginning of the development, but there’s still a question as to when it will proceed forward, as we are not aware of any formal site plans that have been submitted yet.
What is known is that the School Board has purchased the two parcels needed for the proposed 2,000 student K-8 school — one of 23.43 acres and the other of 12.4 acres — for a total of 35.83 acres at the northern limit of the development, just east of Northwater, for $8.15 million total in Oct. of 2024.
For perspective, John Long Middle School’s site in Wiregrass Ranch is 29.2 acres, which means this Two Rivers K-8 school might have to be multistory to fit on the site. The proposed 40- acre (50 acres gross), 1,914-student high school site immediately to the south, has been identified (see map), but has not been purchased yet. This site also is a little on the small side, compared with, say, Wiregrass Ranch High, which is 60 acres, meaning it’s likely the future high school might also have to be multistory to fit.
Immediately east of the school sites is planned to be an 80-acre (85 acres gross) Pasco County Park, similar in size and function to the Wesley Chapel District Park on Vandine Rd. (see story below).
And, although Two Rivers in not getting a massive Crystal Lagoon, as we reported last year, it is expected to have Peak Surf Park, the first of its kind in this part of Florida, although no plans have yet been filed. It was announced that Peak owner Tony Miller was planning to acquire 35 acres immediately east of the county park location to build the surf park. The most recent park rendering indicates that the 700 or so parking spaces (according to the plan amendment discussed on pg. 4) were covered with solar panels, so it will be interesting to see if Miller plans to generate all the electricity the surf park will need, or if that’s just for show.
Pasco To Buy Two Rivers Park Site For Record $18M+
At the June 17 Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting, the commissioners voted 5-0 to approve the purchase from EPG Two Rivers QOZP LLC of an 85-acre (roughly 80 acres net) site at the eastern end of the Two Rivers development (see map above). The park site is located to the east of a 35.83-acre site purchased by the Pasco School District in Oct. 2024 for what is now being planned as a combined campus for grades K-8. To the south of the K-8 school site is a 50+-acre site (about 40 acres net) dedicated for a high school, although the School District has not yet purchased that site.
“This is the most money we’ve ever spent on a park site,” said District 5 Commissioner Jack Mariano during the June 17 meeting. “In the future, when we’re negotiating, I think we have to start working these developers at the start, saying that we want to put a park there and we want a good price. I think we should say we’re going to build it quicker to help sell more homes, instead of coming in at the end. Then, we’d have a lot more leverage to get it done.”
District 2 Comm. Seth Weightman, who took the vote to purchase the park off the BCC’s consent agenda in order to discuss it, noted, however, that, “The park site is the most prime piece of real estate in the [Two Rivers] project for commercial development. Historically, the county gets less-than-desirable properties for park sites.”
Among those less-desirable park sites, apparently, is the planned 240-acre “Superpark” located in the Villages of Pasadena Hills, adjacent to the Connected City, both of which are located in Comm. Ron Oakley’s District 1. The BCC and parks director Keith Wiley have been looking into procuring additional park land in the Connected City itself since the Apr. 9 BCC meeting, but there was no discussion of those efforts when the Two Rivers park purchase was discussed on June 17.
Commissioner Oakley — Two Rivers also is in his district — said, “I’m very grateful this is coming forward. It’s another large park in District 1 and we need as many parks as we can get. It takes a lot of funds to have more and better parks. This park is going to be great and I’ve been working with Robert Thomas (whose family owns the Two Rivers Ranch, where the Two Rivers community is being developed) to name it the ‘Bob Thomas Memorial Park at Two Rivers.’”
We were told by the county staff that the size of the Two Rivers development triggered the County’s parks concurrency requirement — one community park (20-80 upland acres) is needed per 20,000 residents, a district park (80+ acres) per 55,000, and a natural resources park per 85,000 residents. As part of the zoning process, the developer was required to dedicate park land. By law, the County has to purchase that park land at fair market value. In this case, the appraised value was $18 million. The purchase wasn’t entirely cash, however. The agreement included $13.5 million in cash, $3 million in park impact land credits, and about $1.6 million in facility credits. — GN
