By Matt Wiley
The City of Tampa could once again be growing in the New Tampa area, as a housing group has applied to develop an unincorporated parcel of land behind Paul R. Wharton High.
Through a contract with landowner Busch Junction Enterprises (BJE), Scottsdale, AZ-based homebuilder/developer Taylor Morrison approached the City of Tampa in May about voluntarily having its 148-acre parcel of land annexed into the city limits. The Z-shaped piece of land that could be annexed, if approved by the Tampa City Council, lies between West Meadows and Grand Hampton, stretching from south of Royal Hampton Blvd. east to Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., north of Wharton High.
“This annexation is proposed because a portion of the Taylor Morrison Property is already located within the City’s jurisdictional limits, and the Property is surrounded by other property already located within the City’s jurisdictional limits,” Taylor Morrison states in its petition for voluntary annexation to the City. “Additionally, the Property is located within the City’s water and sewer service areas, and the main access/entrance to the Property is from existing City right-of-way.”
Taylor Morrison also informed the City that it will utilize 20 acres of adjacent BJE land already inside the city limits forits proposed 370 single-family home development. It will feature homes ranging between $225,000-$320,000, targeted toward households whose kids have grown and have moved out, or “empty nesters.” The development, touted as the first of its kind in New Tampa, also will include a large recreational facility, although details were not given about what amenities the facility might include.
Over time, Taylor Morrison estimates that the community will add up to $110 million per year to the City’s tax base, although the timeframe for development is still not clear. In addition, while the property is adjacent to BBD, the residents there will not be able to access the proposed development from the New Tampa area’s main roadway. Instead, access to the development will be only from County Line Rd.
“If you look at a map of this piece (of land), it would strike you as odd that this was not included in the original annexation,” says District 7 Tampa City Councilwoman Lisa Montelione. “I can’t imagine why this wasn’t included years ago.”
The annexation petition describes a community with 1.75-2.0 units per acre, modeled after Taylor Morrison’s Esplanade Golf & Country Club in Lakewood Ranch, an “active lifestyle village.”
Montelione says that she thinks that the development is a market that hasn’t been tapped in the New Tampa area.
“A lot of people want to downsize from the big house they had when their children were home,” she explains. “This will offer that kind of living. This will give our residents another housing choice.”
Calls to Taylor Morrison had not been returned at our press time.
Arbor Woods
Located on the south side of S.R. 56 at Arrowgrass Dr., between BBD and I-75, Taylor Morrison also is in the process of developing Arbor Woods, a 222 single-family home community in the already-developed Northwood Master Planned Unit Development (MPUD). The national home builder has developed communities in five states and is no stranger to the area, having already developed Tuscany at Tampa Palms, as well as several other communities in nearby Lutz and Land O’Lakes.
Arbor Woods, which has not yet begun home sales, or released any home sizes or floor plans on its website, will be a gated community on 423 acres of land south of S.R. 56, 338 acres of which will be conservation land that will include parks and walking trails for future residents to enjoy.
For more information, please visit TaylorMorrison.com and search “Arbor Woods.”
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