What’s New And Still Coming To Wesley Chapel? A Whole Lot!

WCMapCypressCreekCenterJust when you thought the Wesley Chapel area couldn’t handle any more growth, here we come with two shiny new maps showing as close to everything that’s currently either in or rumored to be in development in and around zip codes 33543, 33544 and 33545.

On this page is a map of the area (mainly) between I-75 and Old Cypress Creek Rd., which shows the ongoing development of the Cypress Creek Town Center Development of Regional Impact (DRI), as well as a possible new development directly to the west of the Walgreens and Shell gas station off S.R. 54, just west of where it meets S.R. 56 and Old Cypress Creek Rd.

And, heck yeah, it’s a lot of exciting “stuff”, especially if you’re looking for new places to eat (and who isn’t?).

In addition to the eateries we’ve previously told you about — including the recently opened Culver’s of Wesley Chapel and the nearly-completed Cheddar’s — the long-awaited Chick-fil-A has gone vertical between Culver’s and Cheddars. Further west of Culver’s, a Panda Express Fast Casual Chinese is getting ready to build just  west of the corner of Grand Preserve Dr. and S.R. 56 (in front of the Tampa Premium Outlets mall, or TPO).

Three more restaurants are being added (and all are somewhere in the development process) east of the intersection of the new Grand Cypress Dr. and S.R. 56 — BJ’s Brew-house, McDonald’s and Longhorn Steakhouse. And, directly across S.R. 56 from Longhorn are a planned Pollo Tropical and a possible Ford’s Garage.

Further west on that north side of S.R. 56 (in the “Regency Shopping Center,” although the entire center still has to be called “rumored” here because no agreements were finalized at our press time) is a possible Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers.

Speaking of these “rumored” projects, Lisa McCaffrey — the managing director of retail services for Colliers International (which is managing much of the property located north of S.R. 56 between Wesley Chapel Blvd. and I-75) — told me a week after this map appeared on our website (on Apr. 7) and in our Wesley Chapel issue (which hit on Apr. 8) that there may be some inaccuracies in what we’re showing as “rumored” here, although she said she “couldn’t confirm or deny any of them.”

She added, however, that, “We should be able to make some official announcements soon.” The information about the parcels marked as “rumored” were put together by our editorial department through our contacts with local officials and business people who were shown (some even had copies of) the site plans for these parcels.

As for non-restaurants in this area, Costco Wholesale is a go behind Culver’s and east of the outlet mall, although rumor has it that the 100,000-sq.-ft. Cabela’s  World’s Foremost Outfitters may no longer be coming to the area, but again, we were not able to confirm that rumor at our press time.

As I also mentioned above, we can not yet confirm whether or not the entire 240,000-sq.-ft. Regency Shopping Center — which also could be home to a 50,000-sq.-ft. Kohl’s department store and a (likely “green”) 28,000-sq.-ft grocery store, as well as a couple of other possible free-standing or connected outparcels along S.R. 56. — is actually happening.

And, although even those with the broadest definitions of what is “in” Wesley Chapel would call anything west of the Walgreens and Shell on the map “Lutz,” there is another fairly large project located just west of those businesses, although (for now), the 32-acre “Brightwork Crossing” project is rumored to include another 115,000 sq. ft. of commercial space, 100 hotel rooms and 350 multi-family units if and when it officially comes online.   

FHCI Coming Soon!

And of course, we’ll also keep you updated on the sprawling Florida Hospital Center Ice complex, located just east of I-75 on the north side of S.R. 56, which will be completed later this year, as well as the adjacent Holiday Inn Express Hotel.

Located just west of I-75 in this area are two more rumored projects — a multi-family development of 230 units and a Hyatt Place hotel, although we were unable to get confirmation and at least one source said they weren’t sure “that the Hyatt was still in play.”

Of course, we’ll keep you posted in these pages and at NTNeighborhoodNews.com about any further developments on any of these projects.

Big Growth Coming To Wiregrass And S.R. 54 too

 

WCMapWiregrassRanchWeb3The other area where things are really clicking is the Wiregrass Ranch DRI, the 5,000+-acre tract located east of BBD, south of S.R. 54 and straddling both sides of S.R. 56. Wiregrass Ranch today has the being-expanded Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (see story on pg. 4), the Shops at Wiregrass mall, Pasco-Hernando State College, Wiregrass Ranch High, John Long Middle School (and the set-to-open-next-year Wiregrass Elementary), the already-being-expanded North Tampa Behavioral Health and upscale homes in communities like Estancia and The Ridge.

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

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

‱More than 27,000 Residents

‱6,947 New Single Family Homes

‱3,526 New Multi Family Homes

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

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

‱600,000 sq. ft. of New Medical Space

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

‱600 New Hotel Rooms

‱New 18 hole golf course

‱3 New Elementary Schools

‱New County Park

‱New Sheriff’s Office

‱New Pasco County Fire Station

‱Possible Rail or Rapid Transit Line

   With Stops from Tampa

‱Park & Ride Stop

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

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

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

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

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

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

SR 54, East & West Of I-75

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

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

Please let us know what you think!

FHWC’s $78-Million Expansion Moving Forward & Ahead Of Schedule

FHWC_0426On any given afternoon, the emergency department at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC) can get pretty busy. With all of the people living in and near Wesley Chapel and choosing FHWC for their care, sometimes every emergency room (ER) bed is full and the staff has to get creative to accommodate all of the patients who need to be seen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Work In Progress

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

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

Renovations, Too

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

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

A Healing Place

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

HomeTeam Lawn Care Provides Affordable Care For Your Lawn & Landscaping

HomeTeamWEB
HomeTeam Lawn Care owner AJ Negron

Personalized care is something you always expect from a physician, hairdresser or insurance agent. But, when it comes to lawn and landscape maintenance, personalized care is something that is much more rare. Monolithic lawn and landscape companies send out legions of trimmers and mowers who may or may not care about a customer’s needs. At HomeTeam Lawn Care, however, personalized care is the hallmark of the company’s success.

“We guarantee that there will always be an owner or manager on your crew,” HomeTeam Lawn Care owner AJ Negron says. “We don’t have big crews running around when you’re not sure about what was done on the property.”

Negron, along with family friend and manager Chris French, aren’t just the owners/operators of HomeTeam Lawn Care, they also are the crew. Negron and French have some shared history that not only brought them together, but also brought them into business together.

Negron and wife his Judy moved to Florida from Long Island, NY in the summer of 2008. They liked it so much, they decided to stay.

“We left everything and came down here,” Negron said. “We really fell in love with the area.”

Negron was considering a job with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office or in his field of study, psychology. Yet, when neither avenue showed potential, he dwelled on some of the words of wisdom his paternal grandfather gave him before he passed away.

“He would say, ‘Look at all these people making a living,’ indicating the landscaping trucks in their suburban neighborhood,” Negron says. “I thought that I had enough experience in it, so I thought I’d give it a try.”

HomeTeamLawnNegron was used to mowing and caring for lawns in upstate New York and on Long Island. So, he began with a department store push mower. He upgraded to a self-propelled mower and then in November of 2013, fate would enter into the equation.

“It was a God thing,” Negron says. “It was just one of those things where the timing was absolutely perfect.”

Negron’s maternal grandmother wanted to give him some money to start a business. It happened to be just the amount one of Negron’s friends wanted as a down payment for his lawn company. Negron picked up a trailer, two mowers, some other equipment and all of the business accounts.

Soon, conversations Negron had with French, while working at Benedetto’s Restaurant in Land O’ Lakes, began to get serious. Negron was working and adding accounts, while French was still managing the bar at Benedetto’s, and was considering switching fields to work with Negron. Then, it happened.

“In May of 2015, (Chris and I) did 33 yards in one day,” Negron recalls. “It was a feat, and then I knew we could fly with the business together.”

It was French’s first day working as a team with Negron. At the time, AJ was handling a combination of 75 weekly and bi-monthly residential accounts requiring “creative summer scheduling.” But, he knew if he wanted to expand further, he’d need help — full-time help.

French came on board full time and now HomeTeam Lawn Care has more than 130 residential accounts, mostly in the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area. HomeTeam Lawn Care tends properties in Heritage Isles, Pebble Creek, Estancia, Seven Oaks, Lexington Oaks, Northwood, Live Oak Preserve, Brookside and even as far south as Tampa Palms.

And, when they needed new equipment, family friend Danielle Mattingly helped them purchase it.

“We couldn’t have done it without her,’’ Negron said.

Quick Quotes AND Quality Care!

Negron brings some New York hustle to his business that he says will always specialize in personalized care.

“We take pride in our extreme attention to detail,” Negron said. “We’re not your average landscaper, we do above-average work and try not to ask for much more than average prices.”

Communication is a driving aspect of HomeTeam Lawn Care. When a customer calls, they get Negron’s cell phone, not a secretary. AJ says he takes pride in not just returning and answering calls but in the time it takes to visit a potential customer and draw up a quote.

“We hammer out quotes fast,” Negron says. “When someone (else) responds to your query and says they’ll be there next week, we say that, in 48 hours at the most, we’ll be out there with feet on the ground at the house, ready to give you a quote.”

HomeTeam Lawn Care offers a “full service” that runs from $90 monthly and up. The full-service package includes: hedges and low trees, sidewalks and driveways, as well as mulch bed maintenance. Full service is where Negron says HomeTeam separates itself from its competitors.

“(When a house has full-service care with us), that house has our name on it,” Negron says. “I would rather pull my truck up to a house with full service from us than just take care of the grass at a property that also has landscaping that needs attention.”

Take it from one of HomeTeam Lawn Care’s customers.

“Outstanding work! Resodded our yard, redid our landscaping and trimmed two trees. Will be doing our mowing work for us. I highly recommend AJ,” customer Mike Harshman said. “He responded right away to our call and had all of the jobs done in less than two weeks!”

Negron and French have an affinity for the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area and hope to bring even more of their attention to detail to lawns and landscapes in the area.

“It’s nice to work with the homeowners in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel because they see the quality of the work that we do,’’ French says. “They don’t need to worry about things getting taken care of. They realize it’s a set-it-and-forget-it type of operation we’re running.”

HomeTeam Lawn Care LLC does not operate out of an office, but can be found on the web at HomeTeamLawnCare.com, by phone at 817-9554.

 

Olympus Pools Wants To Help You Build The Pool Of Your Dreams

Olympus2There are so many things to consider when installing a new swimming pool.

From the size to the shape and from the color to the texture, it’s important to have someone who will both listen to and embrace your ideas about the pool of your dreams, as well as have the knowledge and experience to deliver it.

Owners James and Alexis Staten have installed pools in neighborhoods all around the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area, including Estancia, Grand Hampton, K-Bar Ranch, Live Oak Preserve, Meadow Pointe and Seven Oaks to name just a few. And, while the company takes on projects all over the Tampa Bay area, the Statens says that more than half of their business is done right here in the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area.

James and Alexis, as well as Olympus Pools’ construction manager, scheduler, general manager and field representatives have more than 200 combined years of experience.

“All of our heads together mean a lot of experience and knowledge on your side when you build a pool with us,” James says. That experience makes for first-rate customer service and an attention to detail that sets Olympus Pools apart from its competitors.

“I called at least a half dozen companies to bid on our pool project and James was the first to respond and the first to personally meet with me,” customer Dave Hoversten says. “Not only did he know every aspect of pool building, he also was extremely professional and very open to my ideas and also was very helpful in making crucial recommendations that ultimately added to the success of the project.”

Transferring the customer’s vision into a living, breathing swimming pool can be like a dream come true, James says. Every pool owner wants to have that, “Ahhh” feeling when they step out onto their patio and Olympus Pools specializes in delivering just that. The company’s designs are both practical and visionary.

The process begins with an introductory appointment where typically James will come to the customer’s house to discuss their options. It gives James the opportunity to see the available space and how best to fill it within the customer’s budget.
Olympus“We have a very small and unique space in our backyard to say the least,” customer Eric Wingard says. “We had several pool builders draw a design and price a pool for us, but nothing seemed to fit. But, Olympus was able to take our space constraints and create a fantastic pool design that is now the envy of my neighborhood.”

The next step is for the customer to begin selecting from the plethora of design options. James notes that many Olympus customers will end up coming into the company’s design center showroom off MLK Jr. Blvd., a few blocks west of Raymond James Stadium, where customers get to look at their pool design on a 60-inch LED screen. From there, all of the little details are filled in. Following the original design proposal, customers select all of the finishing touches for their pool.

“The customer gets to see and touch every product before they buy it,” James says.

Whether it’s something as broad as the color of the tile around the pool or as intricate as what type of faucet to use in the outdoor kitchen, Olympus Pools brings each customer’s vision into reality before construction begins.

“They had put our ideas together in a 3D presentation that visually showed us how the pool, spa and deck would look in our backyard,” customer Antonio Chavez says. “We appreciated how James collaborated with us as a true professional to finalize the details, materials and total cost of the project.”

There’s an aspect of pride when a company takes a customized approach to pool installation in a community where they are deeply invested. The Statens, who live in New Tampa and send their children to Turner Elementary and the Bartels K-8 School in Live Oak Preserve, enjoy the variety of projects they get to undertake.

“With Olympus Pools, there’s no menu of pools to choose from,” James says. “We’ve done over a thousand pools and you won’t find two of them that are the same. It’s exciting for us that every project is at least a little bit different.”

He adds, “If it’s not something we’d accept at our house, it’s not something we’d accept putting in at a customer’s house.”

Staying On Time…And On Budget

Timely completion of the project is a vital and sometimes overlooked aspect of pool construction. Olympus Pools won’t sacrifice quality for speed, but everyone at the company works hard to make sure each project stays on schedule.

Olympus3“We do our best to make sure projects get done quicker,” Staten said. “We’ll notice a pool down the street that’s half way finished (when we’re just starting) and we’ll often finish before that one gets done.”

Olympus accomplishes this with aggressive scheduling and by owning a lot of its own equipment, equipment many pool companies have to subcontract out, which will drive up the cost for the customer. “We’re able to offset some of our costs because we own our own dump truck, our own Bobcat,” James says. “We’re able to do a lot of those things in-house.”

Another way Olympus Pools keeps costs down for its customers is that the company mainly relies on the most tried, tested and inexpensive form of marketing — word of mouth. Indeed, James says that referrals are usually the most effective and cost-efficient way to get the word out.

“If we didn’t have referrals, we wouldn’t do a third of the work we do,” Staten said. “Our bread and butter still lies in referrals.”

Olympus Pools, located at 4422 N. Lauber Way in Tampa, is running a promotion through March 1, where anyone building a new pool with Olympus can receive a pool heater for half-price. For more information, visit OlympusPoolsFl.com or call 983-7854.