Quail Hollow Kid Cooks Ready To Take Their Talents To The ‘Gridiron Challenge’

(L.-r.) Lindsey Overland, Madison Gulley, Gracie Evans and Katelyn O’Neil show off their Alfredo Smothered Roasted Red Pepper & Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Swirls.

Quail Hollow Elementary (QHE) students Gracie Evans, Madison Gulley, Katelyn O’Neil and Lindsey Overland will be competing in a “Gridiron Challenge” on Saturday, May 19, at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ training facility at One Buc Place.

But, don’t expect the 10- and 11-year-old fifth-graders to be knocking anyone down with ferocious hits.

Instead, they will be trying to knock some people out with their Alfredo Smothered Roasted Red Pepper & Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Swirls.

The Wesley Chapel girls will take part in a culinary competition against students from three other schools in the annual Gridiron Cooking Challenge, part of the “Fuel Up to Play 60” initiative, an in-school nutrition and physical activity program run by the National Dairy Council and the NFL.

The event is free and open to the public to attend. And, while it’s still a few weeks away at our press time, the girls say they are already getting nervous.

“I think about it a lot. I’m very excited,” Katelyn says, with her teammates nodding in agreement.

At the competition, the Quail Hollow quartet will have an hour to prepare their signature dish for a panel of judges, including a Florida dairy farmer, the Bucs’ executive chef, a representative from Publix and teenage culinary whiz Zac Kara, a former MasterChef Junior competitor on FOX-TV.

The QHE team has its own culinary whiz and former television competitor in Gracie. In 2016, when she was just 9-years-old, she battled against nine other kid cooks from across the country on Food Network’s “Star Kids” cooking show.

On that show, Gracie had to present a live audition to judges, prepare dishes on the fly and incorporate social media — such as a Snapchat cooking tip — into her cooking presentation. She still maintains a popular Instagram page, where she posts her most current dishes.

It’s a skill set she picked up from her mother, Juliana, a well-known dessert maker who has appeared on NBC-TV’s “The Today Show,” as well as the Food Network and local TV. She describes herself as a “freelance food stylist,” and her daughter is following in her footsteps.

It was while both were giving demonstrations at the Southern Women’s Fair last October that Gracie was introduced to the Florida Dairy Council, which suggested she take part in the council’s upcoming competition.

The idea of a team competition appealed to Gracie, as opposed to the kid-to-kid cooking combat she went through at Food Network. She decided to team up with Madison, Katelyn and Lindsey, with fifth-grade teacher Alysha Moscarelli and Juliana helping to guide the girls.

“It will definitely be better than my first time,” Gracie says. “You will be able to rely on other people. It helps you relax more. You won’t be as nervous.”

The Power Of Teamwork

In fact, each girl has her own role to play on the team, forming a finely-tuned unit.

Gracie started brainstorming immediately after finding out about the competition. She pitched the Council with one of the recipes she served on the Food Network, modifying it by replacing the recipe’s marinara sauce with Alfredo sauce, as the competition calls for dairy-based recipes.

“I changed it a little bit,” Gracie says. “It was really easy to make and it is an interesting dish because it has a lot of components that, all together, taste really good.”

One of those components, which provides a secondary dash of dairy, could be called the “secret sauce” — yogurt.

“It made it a little creamier, and yogurt has that tart kind of a bite,” Juliana says. “It plays very nicely.”

Katelyn also helps with the Alfredo sauce. “We put a lot of work into it and practice and tasting, making sure it’s real smooth,’’ she says. “And, we have a lot of back-up plans, in case it’s not perfect.”

Lindsey’s job is the lemon ricotta filling, which she says she makes with ricotta cheese (still more dairy), zested lemon, salt and black pepper.

“We mix it all up and put it (on the noodles) and roll it all up,” she says.

Madison is responsible for the roasted pepper sun-dried tomato, which is blended with pesto, baby spinach, parsley and olive oil before being incorporated into the lasagna noodles.

“It’s very delicious,” says Madison, who is dubbed the “Pesto Queen” by her teacher.

Lindsey and Madison both say that since joining the Gridiron Challenge team, they have taken a greater interest in cooking and now make more dishes around their homes.

“I really enjoy doing the cooking,” Lindsey says. “But, I think it all started with this competition.”

The team has been practicing for three months now, sometimes at home, other times at school, where they push three desks together and set up their stations.

Moscarelli, a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) teacher who has all four girls in two separate math and science classes at Quail Hollow, says she has enjoyed watching them work together in preparation for the upcoming competition, not to mention all the taste-testing she has been able to indulge in.

“It’s nice to see them use their critical thinking skills, communication skills and teamwork in everyday life,” she says. “And, the recipe is delicious.”

The girls are all friends and have each brought their own special talents to the cooking table — with a mix of brainstorming and experimentation.

“They started to talk about it at lunch,” Moscarelli says, “and they would say, ‘Ooh, what if we added this to the recipe?,’ and then would go home and try different things and alter the ingredients. They all jumped right in.”

The recipe is finalized, and the team is now working on the little things, like plating and timing. They will have to plate and present four dishes for the judges, and also are responsible for producing 50 samples for the audience.

The girls are confident they will do well and deliver a hit at the Gridiron Challenge. The delicious kind.

“We have been working hard,” Madison said. “It will be good.”

Wesley Chapel Woman Gives Birth In Her Car…For The 2nd Time!

(Left to right) Micah, Mason and Maurice welcome baby sister Nylah Grace to the family. Mason and Nylah have something unusual in common — both were born in a car!

Michelle Knox seems to be able to take things in stride.

When she woke up around 6 a.m. on Tuesday, April 17, it was one day before her due date with her fourth child, her first girl.

She was feeling strong contractions that were only three minutes apart, but she didn’t panic.

She just followed the plan.

Nate, her husband, called the kids’ grandparents to take their three boys to school.

As her contractions got stronger, she felt the urge to push. Nate told her to put on pants. In case she needed to deliver her baby in the car, the pants would help catch.

Nate jumped in the front seat, Michelle got in the back. They headed to Florida Hospital Tampa near E. Fletcher Ave. on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd.

Michelle knew from experience that she didn’t want to be in the front seat while she delivered her baby.

That’s where her last child was born.

Yes, you read that correctly. This is Michelle’s second time delivering her own child in a car.

This time, she was in the back seat when her water broke, near their home in Wesley Chapel.

Michelle was still in the back seat when she knew it was time. She told her husband, “Next contraction, I’m pushing.”

Michelle says they were on S.R. 54, near Wal-Mart and the Nissan dealership, in crowded morning traffic, when their baby girl was born.

“I couldn’t catch her,” Michelle says, so she kind of just fell into those useful pants.

“She cried automatically,” says Michelle. “I just wanted to make sure she was okay. As soon as I heard her cry, I was good.”

She pulled a blanket out of the bag she had packed for the hospital and swaddled her baby. “I wanted to feed her,” Michelle says, “but the umbilical cord was too short.”

When they arrived at Florida Hospital Tampa (FHT) — the hospital where her obstetrician has admitting privileges — the staff was ready for them.

“We have an emergency alert called Code Noelle, which not all hospitals have,” explains Richelle Hoenes-Ahearn, FHT’s director of corporate communications. “It means there is an obstetrical emergency and part of the plan for response includes a medical cart that is fully supplied with everything needed to help a mom in labor and deliver a baby. When Michelle’s husband came in and we called a Code Noelle, that cart was brought outside and had everything needed! It allows for complete care wherever the patient is, rather than waiting to bring Mom to a room.”

Michelle says she was grateful there was a team waiting for her outside the hospital. They cut the umbilical cord right there in the car.

“It was a relief knowing all he had to do was get me to the front door,” says Michelle. “They were prepared.”

She was then admitted to the hospital, where the baby weighed in at six pounds, 15 ounces. The baby and her mom were found to be doing just fine.

Maybe the harder task was agreeing on the name for their precious new baby.

Michelle says Nate didn’t like any of the suggestions she offered — he was still pushing for the girl name they agreed on when they first started dating, which was in high school in Fort Walton Beach in the Florida panhandle.

When hospital staff asked the baby’s name, Nate suggested Nylah Grace, and Michelle agreed.

Nylah joins her brothers Maurice, 14, Micah, 11, and Mason, 5.

If you’re worried about the state of the back seat of the family’s car after this experience, don’t be. It just so happens that Nate owns Everyday Car Wash, a mobile auto detailing business.

“He couldn’t focus until the car was clean,” Michelle says. “Now it’s like new. He does a great job.”

Chuy’s Tex-Mex Is The Latest Chain Restaurant To Open On S.R. 56

While I agree that Chuy’s Tex-Mex, which opened on April 24 on the north side of S.R. 56 (across from the Tampa Premium Outlets) is a cool-looking, fun place, following my first two visits to the Tex-Mex favorite of many of our readers (who previously had to go as far as Orlando to enjoy it), I’m still searching for my favorite dish at Chuy’s.

The bar area is a little smallish, but bright and cheery and some of the space is taken up by a very cool-looking 1950s-era chips & salsa-loaded car that Elvis himself might have driven and, speaking of Elvis, he is big at Chuy’s, where his birthday in January is celebrated every year with an Elvis impersonator (see page 3 for the local impersonator who should probably get the gig at our Chuy’s location).

Although I thought the loaded nachos and chicken flautas that came as part of the appetizer combo platter were excellent, I wasn’t thrilled with my chicken and steak combo fajitas (photo below left), as both were overcooked, although several people I spoke with after the VIP pre-opening event on April 23 said I should give the fajitas another try because theirs were excellent.

Chuy’s Tex-Mex is located at 25750 Sierra Center Blvd. For more info, call (813) 948-2211 or visit Chuys.com.

Going Green

Green Grocers Are All The Rage & Just One In Wesley Chapel/New Tampa May Not Be Enough.

North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC) CEO Hope Allen gets asked about a lot of things about our area.

People want to know what is being built and where, what new businesses are coming and what roads are getting fixed.

But, the question she gets asked the most?

When is Whole Foods or Trader Joes or Sprouts coming?

“Every day,” she says, laughing. “Every. Single. Day.”

It started the first day she took over at the NTBC (formerly the Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce), and the questions about Wesley Chapel landing a green, or specialty, grocer continues to come, even more frequently than before.

“It is the No. 1 question,” Allen says.

The answer, for the time being, is Earth Fare, one of the newer entries into the local green scene. The 24,000-sq.-ft. green grocery store recently broke ground at the corner of Wesley Chapel Blvd. and S.R. 56, across the street from Tampa Premium Outlets.

Earth Fare may not have the name recognition of a Whole Foods, but it has the kind of green credentials that people seem to be craving more and more these days. It was founded in 1975 in Asheville, NC, and now has 46 locations in 10 mostly southeastern states. The Wesley Chapel location will be the third in the Tampa Bay area, joining stores in Seminole and Oldsmar.

Earth Fare sells mostly natural and organic foods, and the store says it does not carry any items that contain high fructose corn syrup or any artificial fats, colors, preservatives or sweeteners.

Nutrition Smart, located on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. (across from the Shoppes at New Tampa plaza, just south of S.R. 56) can lay claim to being the first green grocer in Wesley Chapel, but it is a much smaller location without the variety of groceries and prepared foods offered by the more popular chains, like Whole Foods, Sprouts and Trader Joe’s.

But, Whole Foods, Sprouts and Fresh Market are located in Carrollwood, while the closest Trader Joe’s and Greenwise — Publix’s own spinoff green grocery store — are in South Tampa.

“I think the green grocers are a big deal to Wesley Chapel because of our age,” Allen says. “The general age of a Wesley Chapel resident is 37.5, with children and an above-average income. Those demographics tend to find the healthy lifestyle and more healthy eating options appealing.”

While Earth Fare will be the first major green entry into the Wesley Chapel market, it won’t be the last. Another specialty grocer remains in the plans as an anchor store for the Shops at Wiregrass mall expansion, or connector site, which will include a movie theater as well.

“There is a certainly an interest in a Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s or Fresh Market in our area,’’ says Greg Lenners, the general manager of the Shops at Wiregrass. “It’s a topic that does come up quite a bit, and you can see the interest just by looking at social media.”

Lenners is likely referring to the Wesley Chapel Community and Wesley Chapel Network Facebook pages, where posts asking what new business local residents would like to see are often their most popular. Those posts are dominated by locals asking for a green grocer.

“Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are the ones people most ask for,” Allen says, “but Sprouts and Earth Fare are new concepts that folks aren’t as familiar with, but they should be. I think those will be the first ones to get here.”

A Sprouts, in fact, was announced last week for the Trinity area of Pasco County.

As Wesley Chapel’s population continues to grow, the area is likely to become more attractive to specialty grocers, who are a choosy lot. “The reason they are not here already is they are very selective,” Lenners says. “They look at the density of the demographic. We’re not there yet to meet their criteria, but we are getting there.”

Lenners has no doubt the area can support multiple green grocers. He points to the success of the Shops at Wiregrass’ twice-monthly, outdoor Fresh Market, which features local artisans, organic produce and plenty of specialty items.

Fresh Markets are held on the first and third Saturday of every month on Paseo Dr., the main street running down the center of the Shops at Wiregrass. Lenners says it is second, only to the mall’s popular Symphony of Lights show every winter, as the most popular attraction at the Shops.

“The success of Fresh Market is what really sparked the interest in putting a green grocer in the connector site,” Lenners says.

It is likely, however, that the next green grocer in our area after Earth Fare will be a few miles south on BBD, in New Tampa.

Plans for The Village at Hunter’s Lake project, to be located across BBD from the Hunter’s Green community (less than two miles south of the Pasco County line), include plans for New Tampa’s first green grocer. While neither the Wiregrass connector nor the Village at Hunter’s Lake have broken ground, the New Tampa project is further ahead.

According to Mike Kinsella, the senior vice president and senior market officer for Regency Centers, won’t say whether or not he has already signed a contract with a green grocer, but he says one is definitely coming.

“Obviously, there is a big need in the community,” says Kinsella.

The Villages at Hunter’s Lake will include a 30,000-sq.ft. New Tampa Cultural Center, a 214-unit multi-family project called The Haven at Hunter’s Lake and a community park with a dog park and a retail strip center, in addition to the green grocer.

When Hillsborough County approved the $2.02-million sale of the 17.6 acres of land for the Hunter’s Lake project in 2014, it was done with an eye towards finally building a cultural center for the area. But, Hillsborough County District 2 Commissioner Victor Crist says he also envisioned the kind of boutique shops that would make the area stand out from others, including a unique grocery store in an area dominated by multiple Publix supermarkets.

“It’s something we’ve been working on for five years and it’s great to see it coming to fruition,” Crist says. “We want to fill it with unique and specialty beauty, health and entertainment venues that are different from the usual that you find everywhere else.”

That store in Wesley Chapel will help scratch an itch residents there have had for years, and the Hunter’s Lake store may do the same for New Tampa residents. According to the Organic Trade Association (OTA), organic sales topped $47 billion in sales in 2016, up $3.7 billion from the previous year. Organic food now accounts for 5.3 percent of total food sales in the U.S.

“I think overall, I could speak for the State of Florida and say the competitive nature of the green grocer concept is more significant today than it has ever been,” Kinsella says. “There are a lot of candidates out there.”

The reason is simple — people are more aware of their health than ever before, creating a more determined quest for better, cleaner, more natural foods.

“I think people are trying to eat more healthy,” Kinsella says. “They are looking for something different.”

Asked if he has a preference for which green grocer lands at Hunter’s Lake, Crist says “Any one of the big three would be fine.”

Here’s a brief description of some of the potential options for future green grocers in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa.

EARTH FARE (currently under construction on S.R. 56) — We checked out the Seminole location, and can conclude it will be a welcome addition to the Wesley Chapel area. Earth Fare has a small-town, country market feel, and a seating area to enjoy a great selection of hot foods with a sign that says “Have A Seat, Stay Awhile.” The store offers organic and non-organic produce, fresh seafood and meats, and you can make your own nut butters or fill up from their giant liquid canister offerings of Apple Cider Vinegar, Grade A Dark Color Maple Syrup and more as part of Earth Fare’s many bulk offerings. The store has an extensive Wellness & Beauty section, too, even self-serve scoop-your-own tubs of bath salts and body scrubs. There is a nice craft beer and wine section (you can even get organic wine in cans, if you’re into that), and a salad bar, juice bar, organic breads and fresh gluten-free pizza. We ended up with some chicken ginseng soup, Asian beef balls in a Thai chili sauce, and plenty of free samples while contemplating a return for $5 Sushi Wednesdays.

WHOLE FOODS (closest current locations are at 3802 Northdale Blvd. and 1548 N. Florida Ave.) — Whole Foods might be the biggest name on the green grocer landscape, dubbing itself America’s Healthiest Grocery Store, and the fact that Amazon paid $14-billion for the company last year backs up its popularity. (You can actually order your food on Amazon.com and pick up at a station at the Whole Foods in Carrollwood)

You are greeted at the Carrollwood store by a display of healthy cleaning products, which you walk by on your way to a wall of bulk organic products that you may have to Google — Spelt berries hulled, buckwheat groats and paleo coconola, to name a few. And naturally, there are multiple types of quinoa.

The store offers a huge variety of mixed salads to take home, and the most impressive selection of mushrooms and bagged salads and spinach you will find. You won’t find things like Ragu spaghetti sauce, but will pay more for fresher, cleaner sauces like Rao’s homemade marinara. In fact, you won’t find many, if any, of the name brands you are used to purchasing.

All the eggs at Whole Foods (and most of the other green grocers) are from cage-free hens. The store also offers wines from nearly a dozen countries, and the selection of meats and cheeses is wide-ranging.

Almost every green grocer we visited has an olive bar, but one of the things that really sets Whole Foods apart is its salad, soup and hot, prepared food bars. The Carrollwood location’s featured country of the day was Indonesia the day we stopped by, which included curried jackfruit and rendang beef, or one could grab some Indian fare like Chicken Biryani or Cashew Chicken Curry, along with Latin, European and homestyle food offerings as well.

There also is a section for all natural vitamins and medicines. You might need to buy some to help cure your sticker shock.

SPROUTS Farmer’s Market (15110 N. Dale Mabry Ave. in the Carrollwood Commons shopping plaza; a new location also opened in February in Valrico) — Phoenix-based Sprouts lacks the polish of Whole Foods, but its open floor plan helps it succeed in providing more of a farmer’s market feel than other green grocers. In fact, the first thing you will notice when you walk in is a wide expanse of fruits and vegetables, most reasonably priced and much cheaper than at other green outlets. A sign told us that the day we visited, the store had more than 186 items of organic produce available that day.

Sprouts also offers more than 300 varieties of bulk items, including wooden barrels of nuts and large containers of things like dried Turkish apricots, as well as a nice selection of fresh meats and fish and breads.

TRADER JOES (3808 W. Swann Ave.) — Because of all the hype surrounding Trader Joe’s, we expected higher prices. But, not so. In fact, we hadn’t planned on buying anything but some things, like the broccoli, green peppers, mangoes, some cereals and crackers and breads were priced right and were too much to resist (and someone may have snuck a pack of bratwurst made with Trader Joe’s brand bock beer into the cart).

The Tampa store has a number of unique organic items, inexpensive wines and a wide selection of craft beers. And surprisingly, the Tampa Trader Joe’s offers a pretty popular selection of frozen items, including macaroni and cheese and even fish. Maybe it’s the fresh-cut flowers at the entrance that put everyone in such a good mood, but Trader Joe’s seemed like a pretty happy place. We can see why so many people fill out online petitions in an effort to bring one to their area. 

The store on Swann Ave. is small, and the parking is terrible. But, it remains a popular locale there…and would likely be a hit here, too.

FRESH MARKET (13147 N. Dale Mabry Hwy.) — Fresh Market definitely seemed to have the highest prices of any of the green grocers we visited, including Whole Foods, which is saying something.

The Carrollwood location offers hot, ready-made food in the back, and it all looked delicious, but the prices really weren’t right. Is $12.99 for a pound of roasted carrots a bit much? Best to scout for weekly deals.

The store was dimly lit, certainly the least festive of the others, but the cuts of meat were visually appealing and tempting, and the selection of coffees and huge jars of candies nearly made for an impulse buy.

But again, it felt like better deals could be had elsewhere, and the selection of organic and natural foods really didn’t stack up to the others.  Oh, and we did find a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch on the shelves, which just seemed weird.

JD Porter: Wesley Chapel’s Favorite Developer Captivates Another Huge Crowd At The April 26 North Tampa Bay Chamber Economic Development Briefing   

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT briefings, which are hosted by the North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC) monthly and designed to introduce local business leaders to incoming developers, new business owners or regional leaders, range from being buzzworthy affairs to merely informational.

Unless JD Porter is speaking.

Then, the Chamber briefings become more like a local version of an Apple Event where, in this case, a standing room-only crowd at Hunter’s Green Country Club gathered to hear what great coming attraction — New restaurant? New corporation? New housing development? — the Wiregrass Ranch developer would be announcing.

Porter didn’t deliver anything major, however, like an Apple “one last thing” flourish.

There was, however, notable news he shared on April 26 about the coming developments in the 5,100-acre Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI), which is being developed by the Porter family’s Locust Branch, LLC, and extends from S.R. 56 north to S.R. 54, and west to east from Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. to Meadow Pointe Blvd.

The best news — things are good in Wiregrass Ranch. Really good. According to Porter, developers are lined up trying to get in, and home prices are rising. The average sales price of a home located in the Wiregrass Ranch DRI is a staggering $485,000, which he says is 2.3 times the average home price in Pasco County.

According to Metrostudy, which specializes in housing and construction data, Wiregrass Ranch is the No. 1 community in the Tampa Bay area for home closings in the first quarter of 2018, and is No. 3 for starts.

And much more is on the way…

*JOBS: Porter was proud to proclaim that Wiregrass Ranch has created 2,500 new jobs over the last two years.

“We have created more jobs than homes,” Porter said. “I know there’s not another community in Pasco, and you would be hard pressed to find one in Hillsborough, that can say that.”

And, he added, those job numbers don’t even include the 5,000 or so that Raymond James Financial is said to be bringing to the area when it finally opens, or current construction jobs. Porter’s job news earned him the loudest ovation of his presentation.

*RAYMOND JAMES: Speaking of Raymond James, which was announced in 2011 and has become a long, painstaking effort for Porter, ground will be broken sometime this year. Porter couldn’t say exactly when dirt will begin moving on the 65-acre property at S.R. 56 and Mansfield Blvd., but the huge Raymond James campus is finally close to taking off.

That area east of the Shops at Wiregrass also already includes the new Altis at Wiregrass Ranch apartments, which are already leasing and will be built out by the end of the year, a Morningstar Storage facility (finishing this fall) and a Fairfield Inn hotel, set to open later this summer. A daycare center is currently in permitting.

Also coming and already under contract is a major new restaurant, which Porter did not name, although he did admit that it was likely a major chain that he said would be breaking ground this summer.

“We’re expecting to close here real quick,’’ he said.

Also in the Wiregrass Ranch DRI and expected to finally break ground this summer is the long-awaited indoor sports facility and park, and a Marriott hotel on the same property, which was donated by the Porter family. The project is a public-private partnership venture between developers and the county, which Porter says Pasco County will see more of down the road “because they work.”

BIGGER THAN RAY-JAY?: If you think Raymond James is big, Porter says Wiregrass Ranch is “in the running” for something even bigger.

Declining to name names, Porter said Wiregrass Ranch is on the shortlist of places two Fortune 200 companies are considering as a new location.

One would occupy a 600,000-sq.-ft. space; the other would take more than 1.2-million sq. ft. of space.

Both businesses, he added, are higher on the Fortune 500 list than Raymond James. Porter says he is hopeful.

“It would be nice to have another big one like that,’’ he says, adding that he also is hoping find the right balance between big and small, and is encouraging smaller, localized businesses to make their homes in Wiregrass Ranch.

While grabbing some of the bigger corporations to put on large campuses, he also plans to build office space vertically, in buildings 4-7 stories high, in the hopes of creating Pasco County’s only skyline.

Porter said Class A office space — which generally is located in good and easy-to-access buildings that are professionally managed with high-end tenants — is in the works, as well as a 150,000-sq.-ft. medical office, which would be three times the size of the Farina Orthodontic Specialists “cube” building on BBD in Wiregrass, just south of FHWC.

*TOWN CENTER?: One of the most exciting subjects discussed by Porter was the potential for a town center area in Wiregrass Ranch, which he foresees as being something of Wesley Chapel’s downtown and much-needed in the area.

It will be located on Meadow Pointe Blvd. — which is being expanded all the way to S.R. 54 ahead of schedule — and about a 10-minute walk from the Shops at Wiregrass, which is the primary gathering place in Wesley Chapel right now.

“I think the town center will become that place,” he says.

He foresees a lot more retail in the area, as well as homes and apartments. However, in order for local businesses to succeed, he said that there must be people in the area, and that the plan the past two years with all the home development has been to build that density.

More than 100 people packed the room at Hunter’s Green Country Club to hear Porter’s latest update about the continuing development of his family’s 5,100-acre cattle ranch.

*MORE MULTI-FAMILY: Porter also said that he has 18-20 letters of intent sitting on his desk from multi-family developers who want to come in and build Class A apartments or condominiums/townhomes, but he is proceeding slowly and cautiously. with them.

“We are definitely in the right area at the right time,” Porter said. “I want to make sure that the businesses that are here will stay here and live here, when they see what (the potential downtown area) is all about.”

When Porter was asked by local Realtor (and NTBC Board member) Karen Tillman-Gosselin (who introduced Porter on behalf of the Chamber at the event) about creating a town center like the one in the Westchase area, which is responsible for nearby homes getting multiple contract offers on them, Porter pointed out that Westchase’s town center is on only about 16 acres of land.

The Wiregrass Ranch town center is envisioned to be built on 120 acres.

“I think we’ll start seeing come growth, some development, in the next 24 months,” Porter said. “If we get some ground broken and land a couple of users, it will accelerate that quickly and things will happen real fast.”

*IT’S ALL ABOUT CONNECTIVITY: Porter said that unlike the surrounding areas, Wiregrass Ranch will have the kind of transportation network of which residents can be proud.

S.R. 56 west of Bruce B. Downs Blvd. is already four lanes in each direction, and the expansion east to U.S. Hwy. 301 in Zephyrhills will be a game-changer, Porter said, making the area even more attractive to home builders and businesses.

He noted that the development of Wiregrass Ranch has always carefully considered the roads, and built them for the future, not the present. “If you don’t,” he says, “you’ll never catch up.”

Porter also said that there are 3-4 miles of rapid bus transit or light rail planned in Wiregrass, although he thinks rapid bus transit will happen first and that light rail “may never happen here.”

And, because a new Park & Ride bus station near Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel has been successful since opening, the potential is there to build a vertical parking garage to accommodate more bus riders.

“We are definitely setting things up the right way from the start,” he said. “What we’re doing right now is how everybody should have been doing it.”

During his question & answer session following his briefing, Porter said that he is not in favor of the BBD bypass, which would connect BBD to Meadow Pointe Blvd. a half-mile or more south of where businesses like Sun Trust Bank and Sonny’s BBQ are located, because it will hurt those existing businesses on BBD located north of the bypass. He called it a “waste of money” and “one of the dumbest ideas” he has heard.

He did not weigh in on the much-discussed Kinnan-Mansfield connection in Meadow Pointe (see story on page 10), but said he was in favor of connectivity in general. “I think the more connected we are, the better for everyone.”

*SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE?: Porter also said a 55-plus adult community planned near Estancia will have 850-900 units, as Wiregrass Ranch becomes a player in the quickly growing adult community market.

“We have a younger demographic, people making more money and they want their parents to be close by,” Porter said. “So, we’re going to fill that gap, we’re going to knock it out of the park. I think its going to benefit everybody.”

Although people get the most excited about big box stores and brand name chain restaurants, Porter said he hopes Wiregrass Ranch finds a balance with local businesses and mom-and-pop restaurants.

When it comes to more and better schools, Porter seemed to throw up his hands at the way Pasco County has gone about funding new school construction.

“I think you’ll see a lot more charter schools, I think you will see good charter schools,” Porter says. “You’ll see some private schools opening up, too.”

Two charter schools are scheduled to open in Wesley Chapel over the next two years, including Union Park Charter Academy in August.

And, at the end of the day, Porter hopes Wiregrass Ranch becomes the model for future developers. From making sure the roads were in place to handle future traffic, to bringing in big and community-based businesses first such as the Shops at Wiregrass and Florida Hospital, as well as Pasco-Hernando State College, to carefully easing into the housing developments, he thinks Wiregrass Ranch has been done right.

Judging by the response of his latest presentation in front of local business leaders, many agree.