Those of us who have been in New Tampa for the last 20 or more years recognize that certain restaurant locations just can’t seem to find a successful concept to stick around long-term. And, while Kobe Steakhouse seems to have finally stabilized the freestanding space in front of the Pebble Creek Collection that first opened as Harris & Co., there’s little doubt that the space first occupied by Good Fellas in the plaza now known as the Shoppes of Amberly still has not found a long-term winner.
Since Good Fellas, the space has been Crabby Bill’s, a New Tampa Oyster House and Sushi Tsu Japanese Steakhouse, all of which had some success but didn’t stick around as long as some of us had hoped (especially Sushi Tsu), but now, the most recent eatery at 15363 Amberly Dr. — Casa Ramos Mexican Restaurant — which opened in 2013, also has gone the way of the dinosaur.
The family-run chain of more than 20 upscale Casa Ramos and Azteca restaurants at one time had 40 locations in Oregon, Washington state and Orlando, although we were not able to get in touch with anyone about why Casa Ramos closed sometime around the first week in January.
Mellow Mushroom Opens On SR 56
Even though I’ve never been the biggest chain restaurant fan, I am really enjoying the new Mellow Mushroom that opened last month as the anchor tenant of a new plaza on S.R. 56, across from the Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO).
Only open a few days at our press time — Aspen Dental, T-Mobile and Mattress 1 all opened a week or two earlier (with Men’s Wearhouse, Great Clips and Noire Nail Bar all set to open shortly) — Mellow Mushroom (25662 Sierra Center Blvd.) already is attracting crowds with its thin- and crisp original (thicker) crust pizzas, delicious meatballs, salads, oven-baked wings and the most spacious bar area near TPO this side of Ford’s Garage.
For more info, stop in, call Mellow Mushroom at (813) 948-7337 or visit MellowMushroom.com.
Congrats Go Out To…
The Dimmitt Automotive Group and its new Audi Wesley Chapel dealership on S.R. 56 in the Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI) on S.R. 56 (at 2500 Lajuana Blvd.).
The Dimmitt family hosted an awesome VIP event on Jan. 18 which included the dignitaries shown to the right: (l.-r.) Pete Hamilton, the southern region president of Audi of America, Dimmitt Auto co-president Peter Dimmitt, Cian O’Brian, the executive VP and COO of Audi of America and Audi Wesley Chapel GM Allen Majewski. Not pictured is Dimmitt CEO Scott Larguier, who hosted the event.
For more info about Audi Wesley Chapel, visit AudiWesleyChapel.com or call (813) 607-3100.
We also congratulate the expanding Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCC) for its move to its new office at 1868 Highland Oaks Blvd, Suite A-1, in Lutz (not a misprint!).
For membership and upcoming event info, visit WesleyChapelChamber.com or call (813) 994-8534. — GN
 A year ago, Judy McFarland was in her early sixties, working out five days a week for at least an hour a day. The problem was that she wasn’t seeing the results she wanted.
Two years ago, Kate Green (before & after photos on this page) — also in her early sixties — had never worked out. Earlier in her life, she had lost 50 pounds by dieting, then put the weight back on — twice. She had put 50 pounds on again and wanted to find a way to get that unwanted weight off and keep it off, for good this time.
Now, both women say Samantha Taylor Fitness has changed their lives.
Judy lost 31 pounds and 36 inches in just four-and-a-half months.
Kate lost the 50 pounds she wanted to lose… and then kept losing. Kate says she has dropped from 170 pounds to 110.
“Samantha completely turned my life around,” says Kate. “I was on the verge of being an ill-tempered old woman, but now I’m having a blast – horseback riding, zip lining, and off-roading in my new Jeep.”
Wesley Chapel is one of Samantha’s five fitness studios, including her first location in nearby Land O’Lakes, plus the location she opened about a year ago in Carrollwood, a new location in Westchase, and a location in Palm Harbor that will open in February.
In 2018, Samantha (right) says she plans to open a new Wesley Chapel location, behind Buffalo Wild Wings on S.R. 56, near I-75. The current Wesley Chapel studio will move to the new location.
As the company continues to grow, Samantha says that translates into more women like Kate and Judy whose lives are being transformed.
“We’re saying that 65 is the new 40,” Samantha says. “We’re teaching women a way to eat that they love. It’s not a diet, not a pill, not shots; just understanding how to eat, how to work out their muscles for tone, and develop a healthy lifestyle they can keep for life.”
While many women in their 60s think they have to accept that their bodies will decline because they’re getting older, Samantha says that’s just not true.
At all locations, Samantha offers both personal training and Fit Body Boot Camp programs. Programs include fitness training and nutritional counseling for women only, helping them to “age backwards,” as Samantha likes to say.
“I feel like I’ve found this fountain of youth,” says Kate, “and I’m having so much fun. I wake up in the morning with more energy than I know what to do with, I work out, then I come back energized for the rest of the day.”
Judy agrees, “I feel like I’ve got the energy of a teenager and I just turned 62 a few days ago. I’ve had such a transformation – people think I’m 35 years old.”
Personal Training Or Boot Camp?
Whether a client wants personal training – the most customized and private option — or boot camp classes, both programs start with a completely free, no-obligation consultation called a “Body Transformation Analysis” to determine goals and plan a fitness program.
Personal training can be done in one-on-one, semi-private, or small group sessions. In addition to personal training sessions, each client also meets with an assigned results coach monthly, to be sure they’re progressing.
Clients who choose the boot camp option attend regular or beginner Fit Body Boot Camp sessions, which vary in cardiovascular intensity levels. Several classes are offered every day, and women choose three or more times each week to attend.
“We are getting women in amazing shape,” says Samantha, who is a Certified Personal Trainer who began her career 25 years ago and launched her own business 18 years ago. During that time, she estimates that she has trained 6,000 local women. Samantha uses her experience as a personal trainer, seeing what works and what doesn’t with her many clients, and her years of intensely studying the human body to coach women in fitness and healthy eating.
Kate Green is rightfully proud of the way that Samantha Taylor Fitness Studios has transformed her body, after dropping 60 lbs. and keeping it off.
“Most of the people who come to us have done all the diets,” says Samantha. “The shakes, pills, protein diets and calorie deprivation diets. They’re shocked they can eat the way I show them, they love the food, and they lose weight.”
Kate agrees. “Her eating plan is the best I’ve ever been on. I can have bacon and eggs and cheese – things I couldn’t have on other diets I was on,” she explains. “I’ve found her way of eating something I can maintain long term.”
Judy also enjoys the food and doesn’t mind the adjustments she’s made to her nutrition. “I don’t feel like I’m on a diet,” she says. “I feel like I’m just eating better – high protein, moderate fat and low carbs.”
Samantha says many of her clients see more than just weight loss — they’re getting healthier as well.
“They are preventing diseases such as heart disease and diabetes,” she says. “Some women no longer have to take cholesterol or blood pressure medication, and no longer suffer from muscle pains and aches.”
Judy’s Story
Judy (before & after photos on this page) says she went from working out eight or nine hours each week to just three 30-minute sessions at Samantha Taylor Studios.
So, how is it that she lost 31 pounds by working out less?
“The nutrition adjustment made a big difference,” she says, “plus the quality of training and the intensity of the workouts. After 30 minutes, my body is burning but feels so energized.”
She credits the trainers at Samantha Taylor Fitness Studios, who she says are equipped and experienced to help people succeed.
“Any of us can do what we set our mind to do, and what seems to be impossible is very possible,” says Judy, “especially with the kind of support and resources that Samantha’s organization provides.
The Six-Week Challenge
Beginning on Monday, January 29, Samantha will start her next six-week “Body Transformation Challenge,” where she gives away thousands of dollars in prizes, including a Grand Prize of a cruise for two for the woman who loses the most weight (as a percentage of her total body weight).
Participants in Samantha’s last 6-week challenge lost a combined total of 1,215 pounds and Samantha says she always hosts a big party to celebrate.
To register, or for more information, go to 6weekBTC.com.
Samantha also does a regular segment on “Tampa Bay’s Morning Blend,” which airs on WFTS-TV, the local ABC affiliate. She brings guests on the show, sometimes clients, and shares nutritious recipes, which she says are delicious.
For recipes and to view segments of the show, including Kate’s story in her own words from when she was Samantha’s guest on “Tampa Bay’s Morning Blend,” visit SamanthaTaylorFitness.com.
The Wesley Chapel Samantha Taylor Fitness studio is located is at 2653 BBD Blvd., Suite 205 (second floor). For more information, visit SamanthaTaylorFitness.com or call (813) 377-3739.
When they aren’t solving their clients real estate questions, the folks at Berkshire Hathaway are active in the community, like when they delivered food and toys to Metropolitan Ministries on Dec. 15.
A drive through New Tampa and Wesley Chapel pretty much tells the story about how popular our communities are as places to live and raise a family.
A crowded commute is one clue, but a look around reveals a lot of new housing construction adding to the existing high-quality home inventory and brand new shopping centers on prime commercial properties.
There’s a lot going on real estate-wise and at the center of much it are the professionals at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group’s New Tampa Market office, located In the Publix-anchored The Shoppes at New Tampa in Wesley Chapel, on the southeast corner of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and S.R. 56.
Berkshire Hathaway’s New Tampa office is run by president and managing Broker Otis Bass, Jr., who joined the company in 2014 after a stint at Charles Rutenberg Realty. Bass says his team is ready to handle just about any kind of transaction that serves a client’s real estate needs.
“We are full service,” Bass says. “So we’re doing residential, luxury, commercial, and we even do property management.”
Bass also includes helping landlords find tenants as a service the firm’s property management team provides. Berkshire Hathaway’s online portal for rental properties is RentAHomeWithUs.com, which is the site to browse for rental properties and for tenants and owners to conduct business for everything from making payments to reporting maintenance needs.
“We help our clients get what they need in real estate, be it insurance, or a mortgage, or anything along those lines,” Bass says. “We have so many people within our circle we can give to them, so they can shop those services and decide which one is the best fit for them.”
He adds that the vendors Berkshire Hathaway works with share his firm’s commitment to providing high-quality service.
“We want to make sure they are client-centric; they put the customer first,” he says.
Although located in Wesley Chapel, Bass says that his office has a wide footprint that extends through eastern Pasco County and northern Hillsborough County.
The Berkshire Hathaway New Tampa Market office has a staff of more than 80 sales professionals, including sales associate Kathy Britton.
When it came time to buy a new home, and in short order turn around and sell her old one, Charla Harper-Hagen turned to Berkshire Hathaway. She is one client who is happy to attest to the high level of customer service provided by Britton and Berkshire Hathaway.
Otis Bass Jr. is the president and managing broker of Berkshire Hathaway’s New Tampa Market office in Wesley Chapel.
“I honestly can’t say enough good things about Kathy,” says Harper-Hagen. “We had two transactions, inside of a 45-day period, (and both) went smoothly.”
Harper-Hagen says a big reason her real estate deals went well is that Britton kept her informed throughout the process of buying, and selling, her homes. She said the level of personal service she received was excellent.
“Kathy answered all of my questions,” Harper-Hagen says. “She anticipated all of my needs and made sure that, as a buyer, I was comfortable with what I was signing up for and that I understood all the ins and outs of the offers that were presented.”
Bass says he honed many of his own current skills working in the mortgage industry for more than a decade. That experience, he says, has provided him additional perspective when it comes to his real estate management job.
“Getting into real estate was second nature for me,” he says. “I already understood contracts, titles, appraisals, surveys, and I pretty much knew what I was getting myself into. Once I got into real estate, I was having more fun than I was with mortgages.”
While the Berkshire Hathaway team has the industry expertise to conduct business, Bass says the ultimate decisions are made by their customers.
“What sets us apart is our approach, which is more of a consultative approach,” he says. “We want to help our clients make good decisions for themselves.”
Berkshire Hathaway’s role in those good decisions involve, among many things, interpreting market data or deciphering the terms of a contract for clients.
“We’re going to help them understand what they are doing,” he says.
New Tampa and Wesley Chapel families are probably used to their year-round home in paradise becoming a vacation destination for extended family members living outside of the Sunshine State, so an extra bedroom or other living space is part of a lot of transactions. Bass, who lives in New Tampa, says there’s also a growing popularity in properties that can accommodate more kin than just parents and kids.
“It’s quite a good area for multi-generational families, and that’s a lot of what I’m seeing,” he says. “We’re seeing grandparents living with nuclear families, and some of the builders are building multigenerational houses.”
CalAtlantic of Estancia, Bass says, is one example of builders specializing in extended-family housing.
A Name You Can Trust Globally
A review of the listings carried by Berkshire Hathaway’s New Tampa Market office shows homes from Odessa to Eustis in Lake County, but by virtue of Berkshire Hathaway’s corporate relationships, suitable dwellings can be found for moves to anywhere on the globe. Through the company’s international listings, Berkshire Hathaway also can help Floridians market their properties worldwide.
In fact, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Property Group’s online presence is a huge resource for information about home listings, as well as tips for buyers and sellers. There are links to Berkshire Hathaway’s YouTube channel, Twitter feed and Facebook page on the company website at BHHSFloridaProperties.com.
If the name Berkshire Hathaway seems familiar beyond the real estate business, it’s because it is derived from the holding company Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., which is chaired by billionaire financier Warren Buffett, who also is the company’s CEO. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group is one of the companies that make up HomeServices of America, Inc., which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
The HomeServices group of companies, of which Florida Properties Group is one, provides all the resources involved in supporting real estate transactions and investments under one roof, such as mortgage originations, title and closing services, insurance, home warranties and even relocation services that span the globe.
But, the company remains just as strong locally, as well.
The Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group name went up on The Shoppes of New Tampa signage in early 2014. The company was founded in 1959 as Tropical Realty and Dewey Mitchell and Allen Crumbley acquired the business in 1984.
In 1988, they aligned with the Prudential Real Estate Network, which Berkshire Hathaway bought in 2012. There was a two-year transition period between 2012 and 2014 for the change to become complete for the Florida Properties Group.
That nearly 60-year period has coincided with the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel areas evolving from scrub land and cow pastures into vibrant active communities to live and conduct commerce.
Bass, a Florida native, is quite familiar with the market and its transformation.
“I grew up in Wesley Chapel before it was Wesley Chapel,” he says. “I’m one of the very few people you will meet who is from the area.”
Many, including Bass, feel that growth will continue unabated because of the quality of the area’s schools, access to healthcare and the promised addition of jobs.
“The population of Wesley Chapel is really going to grow in the next few years,” he says.
As members of the community they are helping to grow through their business, Bass says his Berkshire Hathaway team is committed to taking action to improve the lives of all residents.
This past Christmas season, for example, the company’s annual Cabernet Sleigh drive collected money, non-perishable food and gifts at its offices and delivered them to Metropolitan Ministries in Tampa on Dec. 15. Crumbley and Mitchell headed up the Cabernet Sleigh drive, which gets its names from the cabernet and cream colors the company uses.
You can meet the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group New Tampa Market team at their office, located at 1830 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. (between Bealls & Publix), visit online to browse listings at BHHSFloridaProperties.com or call (813) 907-8200.
Wesley Chapel may be developing at breakneck speed, but hundreds of Meadow Pointe residents think there are still lines that need not be crossed.
One of those lines is at the southwest corner of Mansfield Blvd. and County Line Rd., where developers are hoping to build a 3,010-sq.-ft. 7-Eleven gas station and convenience store — adjacent to the Kids R Kids Learning Academy of Meadow Pointe.
A petition started by Meadow Pointe II resident Chris Dillinger was quickly approaching 1,000 signatures last week, as residents expressed concern about having a 16-pump gas station located so close to a preschool.
“That is our No. 1 concern,” said Dillinger, a 39-year-old high school counselor at Sunlake High in Land O’Lakes. “The way the school is set back off of (Mansfield Blvd.), it will basically be blocked in by 16 fuel pumps. It’s not a good set-up. It makes the school less safe.”
Dillinger and other Meadow Pointe II residents have been in contact with Pasco County governmental officials, voicing their concerns.
Trout Creek Properties, Inc., is either making a request for a special exception to sell gas under its current C-1 (neighborhood commercial) zoning, or asking to be granted a Substantial Modification Request to have the 5.32-acre parcel rezoned from C1 to C-2, which is general commercial.
Trout Creek’s first meeting with the county’s Development Review Committee (DRC) in December was first continued to today, but Pasco County senior planner Corelynn Howell said the meeting this afternoon was likely to be continued as well, to a date to be determined.
According to Howell, the developers will need to re-notice the development, which involves mailing notices to all of the property owners abutting the proposed development, as well as re-posting signs.
“The county has concerns about it, so we’re going back and forth with the applicant, negotiating the issues on both sides,” Howell says. “Everyone needs to get their ducks in a row.”
Howell did say the county is leaning away from granting a re-zoning to C-2, because it prefers the property remain residential commercial. In that case, a special exception appears to be the way forward for Trout Creek.
Meadow Pointe II has an ally in Pasco County District 2 commissioner Mike Moore, who represents the area on the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BCC).
Moore told organizers that if the re-zoning request made it past the DRC to the BCC — which he chairs — he would vote against it.
“I agree with them,’’ Moore said. “This is a terrible location for these gas pumps. With a daycare center right behind it, it’s just not compatible with the area, in my opinion.”
Another proposed 7-Eleven is currently working its way through the permitting process, near yet another preschool. Developers are looking to build a 2,988-sq.-ft. 7-Eleven at the corner of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and Vanguard St., in front of the existing Goddard School and the new Premier Heart & Vascular Center.
The developers had their pre-application meeting with county planners in October.
For more information about the Meadow Pointe II petition, visit http://bit.ly/2CvXWYw.
Residents who live near the Quail Hollow Golf & Country Club golf course packed the Dade City Courthouse hoping to keep a developer from replacing the golf course with 400 homes.
Connected City, Sports Complex & Quail Hollow Kept The BCC Busy In 2017
We could probably dedicate all 48 pages of our upcoming Wesley Chapel issue to its rapid growth in 2017. It was just that crazy busy.
In fact, one could argue it was the busiest year on record in Wesley Chapel, with massive projects either gaining approval, moving ground or sprouting up in almost every corner of the area.
Let’s focus here, however, on what was approved in 2017 and coming down the road, and save what actually opened its doors for our story on 2017’s best new businesses.
The biggest project, the 7,800-acre “connected city,” was approved by the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) in February by a 5-0 vote, which is expected to help create something no other city in America has — a built-from-the-ground-up gigabit community.
District 2 Pasco commissioner Mike Moore, who represents much of Wesley Chapel, said after the vote, “We actually made history today.”
After nearly two years of studies and planning, the BCC’s green light has already triggered major development in the connected city sector, which includes the area running north from Overpass Rd. in Wesley Chapel to S.R. 52 in San Antonio, and west from I-75 to Curley Rd.
Metro Development owns roughly 35 percent of the land, and has already begun, well…connecting. Metro’s Epperson development has its first residents (as we reported last issue) and the first-ever Crystal Lagoon is already filled (see page 8).
Still to come — another Crystal Lagoon in the nearby Mirada development, more homes, schools and business, alternative transportation along integrated roadways and, potentially, jobs as developers and planners have touted the connected city as a futuristic economic engine.
While Wesley Chapel is jumping into the high-tech community pool headfirst, it also is looking to take a piece of the $15-billion a year pie that is youth sports.
A large sports complex with adjoining hotel was also approved by the BCC in the spring by a 5-0 vote, which later agreed to double the county’s Tourist Development Tax (TDT), or bed tax, in order to help finance it.
The $44-million project will be built on part of a 224-acre parcel located northeast of the Shops of Wiregrass in the Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI). The parcel is owned by the county and has had a history of failed efforts to build something sports-related on it.
While the project is currently only in the planning stages, RADD Sports, which will develop it, says it is shooting for a spring 2019 opening.
In conjunction with Mainsail Development, the sports complex will have one of the first full-service Marriott-branded Residence Inns, a 120-room hotel that will be L-shaped to create a courtyard at the entrance to the sports complex — which also will have an amphitheater for concerts, a trail system, seven soccer fields and a 98,000-sq.ft. indoor facility expected to attract the top youth sports tournaments and athletes from around the country, with thousands of visitors expected to make an economic impact on the area.
And, residents who live near Quail Hollow Country Club lost a long fight with the course’s owners and developers, who received approval in June to replace the golf course with homes.
Andres Carollo and his Pasco Office Park LLC received a zoning change, by a 3-2 vote, which allows him to build 400 single-family homes, 30,000-sq.-ft. of office and retail space and a 10,000-sq.-ft. daycare center on the former golf course property.
Hundreds of Quail Hollow residents attended a handful of BCC and other meetings to make their voices heard, and successfully delayed approval of the project for months.
All around Wesley Chapel, new businesses started construction. A slew of restaurants — including a much-awaited Bahama Breeze on S.R. 56 — and boutique or green grocery stores are planned to begin building on or near S.R.s 54 and 56 in 2018.
Will 2018 be as busy? Wiregrass Ranch’s J.D. Porter recently hinted at some more major developments coming this year, so our guess would be:
Casa Ramos Closes
The Dimmitt Automotive Group and its new Audi Wesley Chapel dealership on S.R. 56 in the Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI) on S.R. 56 (at 2500 Lajuana Blvd.).
