The I-75/Overpass Rd. interchange (Photo: Florida Department of Transportation)
Overpass Rd. reopened to traffic Monday morning at 9 a.m. as the former bridge over I-75 was removed to make room for a new bridge as part of the $64-million diamond interchange project, which will include a flyover ramp for westbound traffic on Overpass Rd. to enter southbound I-75.
The bridge for westbound Overpass Rd. has been completed, and is being used for both directions of traffic as construction continues. The section of Overpass Rd. between Old Pasco Rd. and Boyette Rd. had been closed since Feb. 8, 2021.
The new diamond interchange is located almost directly between the S.R. 54 and 52 exits (roughly 3.5 miles south of S.R. 52.)
Only one lane is open in each direction, although additional lanes are expected to open sometime later this year or in early 2023. As a result of the new interchange, Overpass Rd. is being widened from two lanes to four lanes between I-75 and Old Pasco Rd, and six lanes between I-75 and Boyette Road.
Only vehicular traffic is allowed as construction continues to build sidewalks for future pedestrian use.
The diamond interchange including the flyover is expected to be completed sometime in summer 2023.
Sara (left) an instructor at the Wesley Chapel Samantha Taylor Fitness studio located just north of S.R. 56, demonstrates an exercise during a recent small group class.
When the Covid-19 pandemic forced gyms to close in March of 2020, it took Samantha Taylor Fitness studios just 48 hours to completely pivot their method of delivery so that clients of the private and small-group training studios could continue their workouts virtually.
“We were doing 13 virtual workouts a week within two days,” says Samantha, the CEO who began her career in the fitness industry nearly 30 years ago and launched her own business more than 20 years ago. Today, there are four Bay-area Samantha Taylor Fitness studios — including Wesley Chapel, Land O’Lakes, Carrollwood and Palm Harbor — that have helped more than 7,700 local women lose 54 tons of lbs.
“I can’t go anywhere in public without people stopping me to say, ‘I know who you are,’” says Samantha, who has made numerous appearances on ABC-TV’s Tampa Bay’s Morning Blend” TV show and hosted her own radio show.
The studios have reopened and clients are given many options to work out safely, both in-person or online. “During this difficult time, one thing you don’t want to do is put your health and fitness on the back burner,” says Samantha. “That’s not going to help you reduce your risk.”
She says that the CDC website lists obesity as one of the highest risk factors for not only contracting Covid-19, but also for having increased complications.
“Everyone’s body responds differently, but you have a better chance of it not affecting you as much if you’re healthier and have balanced blood sugar,” Samantha explains. “Statistically, if you’re healthy, even if you do get Covid-19, you’re more likely to get over it easier.”
Samantha says she understands that some people still may be fearful of going to a gym in person and if so, Samantha Taylor Fitness continues to offer virtual options, including recorded workouts that can be followed at home or virtual workouts with a private trainer via Zoom.
But, she’s quick to point out that a study of 2,873 gyms by the IHRSA (International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association) analyzed millions of gym check-ins to determine that only 0.002% of the active gym members studied had contracted Covid-19.
“Some people might think gyms are where Covid-19 is spreading, but it’s not true,” says Samantha, in part because people coming to the gym are often not as high-risk (because high-risk people are choosing to stay home) and have stronger immune systems as a result of being generally healthy.
She encourages anyone concerned about coronavirus transmission to visit her website at SamanthaTaylorFitness.com to see a comprehensive list of how the studios have responded to Covid-19 (including the new Omicron variant) — with protocols such as limited class size, social distancing within classes, and sanitizing equipment between each class.
“Samantha Taylor Fitness centers are private studios,” she explains, “not overcrowded gyms. We have plenty of space to spread out in all four of our studios.”
The Wesley Chapel location has its own standalone building off of S.R. 56, near I-75, in the Cypress Ridge Professional Center. Samantha moved the studio there in 2018 from its former location on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. The new studio is bigger, with a larger personal training room, specialty rubber floors, and a private, first-floor entrance.
For Women Only!
All of the Samantha Taylor Fitness studios offer a women-only environment where clients can choose personal training in the form of 1-on-1 private training, group training, semi-private personal training or “fitness boot camp” classes. All workouts last just 30 minutes.
Before choosing between the programs at Samantha Taylor Fitness, a potential client is invited to participate in a body transformation analysis, where you meet with a membership specialist in person, on the phone or via Zoom, to go over the many options available at the fitness studio. But, it’s not just about working out.
“The only way to make lifelong, lasting changes is to learn how to eat,” explains Samantha. “It’s not about being on a diet or starving yourself, but figuring out how to eat in a way that you really enjoy that is simple and maintainable (for you).”
She says people can diet temporarily, but if they don’t learn to eat in a way that’s realistic and sustainable for them, they won’t stick to it.
She adds that the pandemic has led to many people complaining about weight gain, and it hasn’t slowed.
“The ‘Quarantine 15’ has now turned into the ‘Quarantine 20 or 25,’” says Samantha. “If you don’t start making changes in the new year, that could possibly continue to increase, and you’ve increased your risk factors for Covid-19 even more.”
Samantha Taylor Fitness also has licensed dietitian Shannon Barker on staff, who is available to consult with clients.
A Supportive Community
At Samantha Taylor Fitness, women also find a supportive community, which Samantha says makes it fun and helps women stay on track.
Samantha and Lynn Smith
At 81 years old, Lynn Smith is a Realtor who doesn’t yet have an eye towards retirement. She has been working out with Samantha for more than a dozen years. When she first started, she had never exercised in her entire life. “I want to live to be 100,” Lynn says, “so I figured I’d better do something about my health.”
Lynn adds that those early days were extremely hard. “I had no muscle strength,” she admits. And, while she wasn’t obese and didn’t have a lot of weight she needed to lose, she says she lost about 10-12 pounds and has kept the weight off. “Samantha taught me the importance of muscle strength.”
She says now it’s easy, and even fun.
“I go three times a week, and the trainers challenge us every day,” Lynn says. “I look forward to it. The sessions are nonstop for 30 minutes, which is doable for just about anybody.”
Lynn likes that she works out in a very small group and that it’s for women only. “The trainers are very experienced and compassionate,” she says. “They want everyone to be successful.”
She adds, “I’m very proud to be where I am at my age. It’s never too late to start. I encourage anyone reading this to get started at whatever age they are.”
Among the tools to help make women successful at Samantha Taylor Fitness are an integrated accountability program, which gives them direct accountability to their coach through the Samantha Taylor Fitness custom app.
“Accountability is huge for getting results” Samantha says. “Our clients have to be more accountable to their workouts, how they’re eating, how much water they’re drinking and how their weight loss is going on a more detailed, ongoing basis with their trainer.”
She adds, “We’ve also added some very effective supplements for those who want to use them, to help expediate their results from a supplement line created by a Ph.D. in biochemistry who previously only provided these supplements for Olympic athletes before making them available to the public.”
STF also offers a 3D body scan machine that takes your measurements digitally once each month and provides more accurate readings of your measurements, body fat and muscle tone.
“It’s not just about weight loss here,” Samantha says. “We focus on how their body shape is changing, not just weight loss,” Samantha says. “So those measurements really help with that.
The studios also offer a variety of payment plans, including new weekly payments and month-to-month options.
The Wesley Chapel Samantha Taylor Fitness Studio is located is at 26908 Ridgebrook Dr. For Samantha’s free New Year’s goal-setting master class, go to SamanthaTaylorFitness.com/new2022. For more information, visit SamanthaTaylorFitness.com, call (813) 377-3739.
Owner Danielle Henry (left) and her manager Peyton.
Danielle Henry is a busy young woman — she’s married with two young kids, she just completed her MBA degree online (from King University in her native Knoxville, TN), she owns and operates a food truck and oh yeah, she recently opened The Bean Bar Co., her first-ever storefront business, located in The Shoppes at The Pointe plaza in Tampa Palms (next to Koizi restaurant), just south of the Bruce B. Downs Blvd. Exit (270) off I-75.
Danielle says she started working for her friend Gina Malone-Evans’ mom Georgina Malone’s business — which sold coffee out of a tent at the Florida State Fair, Strawberry Festival and other large-scale events — when she was just 14 years old.
In December of 2017, she purchased the equipment from Georgina and continued to operate out of a tent for two years before building and opening the first Bean Bar food truck in September of 2020. Danielle’s brother Kyle Trina opened the family’s second Bean Bar food truck in March of 2021.
Only a month or so later, I met Danielle when she brought the original Bean Bar truck to Palms Pharmacy’s fifth anniversary celebration (so Palms Pharmacy’s Shahida Choudhry, Pharm.D., could provide free coffee beverages for everyone who attended the event, in April of 2021), Shahida told me at that time that Danielle was going to bring The Bean Bar to the plaza and I knew (after so enjoying my free caramel macchiato) I was going to become a regular customer.
“I would never have found New Tampa and this plaza if not for Shahida,” says Danielle, who lives with her husband Mark and their 4-year-old son Peyton (named for Peyton Manning) and 18-month-old daughter Layne in Wesley Chapel. “But, after I was told that the KRATE container park in The Grove at Wesley Chapel already had a deal with a coffee place (Provisions Coffee & Kitchen; see pg. 38), I was looking for another location.”
Sipping Something Delicious
So, only six months or so after I met her, Danielle opened The Bean Bar Co.’s first-ever storefront, serving her delicious coffee beverages made (no pun intended) with Made Coffee, which is headquartered in Clearwater. I’ve yet to have a bad cup of coffee at The Bean Bar, and I’ve sampled everything from the freshly brewed hot regular coffee, the hot latte, cappuccino and cafe con leche to the homemade hot chocolate and what may be the most delicious caramel macchiato I’ve ever tasted.
I’ve yet to sample the hot Irish nutcase (which comes only in a large size and includes six shots of espresso), any of the flavored specialty lattes (including cookie butter and s’mores) or any iced beverages, but Jannah definitely loves both the hot and iced chai tea.
Speaking of tea, Danielle says that the storefront has allowed her to stock a variety of delicious teas for the first time, and they also are served hot or iced, and The Bean Bar also offers fruit smoothies and refreshers.
And of course, you can add a variety of flavored syrups (many also available sugar free), from basics like vanilla, caramel and hazelnut, to more exotic options, like lavender, pumpkin spice, rose and white chocolate. You also can substitute almond, coconut, soy or oat milk for the regular or non-fat milk (or cream). But, unless you have an allergy or lactose intolerance, why would you?
Delicious Munchies, Too!
Because man (or, at least, this man) can not live on delicious beverages alone, The Bean Bar also has some tasty food options, starting with the perfect waffle chicken sandwich shown above right). It includes crispy fried chicken, egg and cheese served between two fluffy waffles. Order it “Gary’s Way” (no, my way is not on the menu) with crispy real bacon (there’s also turkey bacon and turkey sausage available). The waffles are so tasty it doesn’t even need the syrup served on the side.
We also are partial to the bacon, egg and cheese “sami,” which is available served on an English muffin, but I definitely prefer it on a fresh croissant. The croissants are delivered fresh from Douce France Bakery in Winter Garden.
But, definitely save room for dessert, too. The Bean Bar stocks delicious cookies from St. Petersburg-based Kathie’s Fine Cookies. And, Danielle also is supplied with fresh-baked muffins, brownies, pastries and other delicious and different-each-day treats from Petite Bouchees, which is owned by an Epperson resident.
I’ll be honest that I haven’t sampled all of these treats (I’d weight 1,000 lbs. if I did), but the chocolate chunk cookies are chewy and decadent and both the peppermint and regular fudge brownies are super-tasty, too…and fudgy!
“Considering that both my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees were in health care administration and management,” Danielle says, “I definitely changed course by opening this store. But, I’m glad I did. I love what I do and I have a great staff, which I know is hard to find these days.”
So, whether you see Danielle when you visit The Bean Bar, her manager Peyton (no relation to Danielle’s son) or any of her other friendly employees, go and enjoy a sip and a nosh in a relaxing atmosphere.
The Bean Bar Co. (17018 Palm Pointe Dr.) is open Monday-Friday, 6 a.m.-5 p.m., and 7 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
For more information, call (813) 442-7699, visit BeanBarCo.com or visit them on Instagram (beanbar_co) or Facebook (The Bean Bar Co.).
When you think of people who might own your neighborhood liquor store, you probably weren’t thinking about an accountant and a clinical pharmacist, but that’s exactly the story of Dev Swaly and his wife Shejal Parmar, the owners of the new The Liquor Shoppe, which opened a few months ago in the former location of Café Olé in the Cross Creek Center plaza on Cross Creek Blvd. at Kinnan St.
Dev (the accountant who owns Ameriken Consulting) and Shejal (the head of the pharmacy residency program at AdventHealth Tampa) are long-time New Tampa residents who saw a need for a new liquor store in the area and have made it clear that they are not only happy to have opened the store, but also promise to provide whatever members of the community want their neighborhood liquor store to provide.
“We already have lots of unique bottles here you won’t find anywhere else,” says Dev, pointing to the shelves behind the cash register, where everything from Lamborghini champagne to 14- and 15-year old bottles of Red Perfection bourbon are proudly displayed. “If there’s a special bottle you haven’t been able to find at other area liquor stores, I’m happy to find and order it for you.”
They also promise to offer unique gift ideas for many occasions, such as the bouquet of miniature Tequila Rose bottle roses to amazing Dalmore Cigar Malt Scotch gift baskets (right) and more. Dev says Shejal creates the gift baskets herself and trust us, they’re pretty awesome.
And yes, there are also plenty of unique red, white and sparkling wine and imported, domestic and micro-brewed beers available, plus hand-rolled cigars and, perhaps best of all, free tastings of different beers, wines and spirits every other weekend.
“As New Tampa residents, we’re big believers in the power of the Neighborhood News,” says Shejal. “We’ve already had quite a few customers tell us they’ve seen our ads, so keep looking for more announcements in the future.”
The Liquor Shoppe (10020 Cross Creek Blvd.) is open every day, 11 a.m.-10 p.m, and until midnight on Fri. & Sat.. For more info, call (813) 388-2164 or visit LiquorShoppe.us. — GN
Wesley Chapel and New Tampa have been on a great run of fun and interesting projects, and 2022 should be no different. Here are the five we’re most looking forward to this year.
1. KRATE Container Park
The long-awaited KRATE container park at The Grove at Wesley Chapel is expected to be fully open by summer 2022 — which is great news for local residents in the quickly expanding S.R 54 corridor looking for more shopping and dining options.
Photos by Charmaine George
There are so many cool things coming to Wesley Chapel this year, but KRATE ranks as No. 1, thanks to the unique nature of the project and the anticipation that has built up because it has taken much longer than many expected, due in no small part to a variety of Covid-related issues.
KRATE was the jewel of developer Mark Gold’s plans when his company, Mishorim Gold Properties, bought The Grove — then a moribund 250-acre parcel anchored by a shopping center — for $64 million in September 2019. Gold has invested an additional $20 million in the KRATE, which he claims will be the largest container park in the U.S. and something that will draw visitors from around the state to Wesley Chapel.
The seven-acre KRATE project will feature 55 businesses in converted shipping containers, each with their own product-centric mural painted on the side by artist Whitney Holbourn of Colorado.
At our press time, only two stores — Provisions Coffee & Kitchen and Shake-A-Salad — were already open. Once the others are ready, the KRATE is expected to cash in on what is likely to be a welcome experience in these Covid-ridden times — walking an open-air market featuring restaurants, retail shops and even a stage that will host concerts and other performances.
Its proximity to The Grove’s big box stores, and its popular restaurants like Treble Makers and the Falabella Family Bistro (see pg. 36), the Double Branch Artisanal Ales craft brewery, The Grove movie theater (and home of Side Splitters comedy club) and a new mini-golf course (see below) will make The Grove arguably the top entertainment destination hub in Pasco County, if not all of Tampa Bay.
2. New Tampa PAC
If we didn’t like shopping and desserts so much, this would be our No. 1.
Regardless, the New Tampa Performing Arts Center (NTPAC; photo, left) will provide a cultural boost to the area with its promise of music, dance and theatrical performances. The area already has an acting troupe, the New Tampa Players (NTP), that will call the PAC home and be one of what we hope are hundreds of groups to bring productions to the 350-seat theater.
When was the last time you had to get dressed up to attend anything in New Tampa proper?
Our only gripe — it would have been nice to see the NTPAC fronting Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in all its glory, lit up at night as drivers-by gawked, as opposed to being tucked out of view between an apartment complex and a grocery store.
But, after a nearly 20-year battle to get the place built, who’s complaining?
3. Lotte Market
This, very quietly, might be the coolest thing to open anywhere in 2022, because if you know, you know.
While we haven’t had any updates in a while on the plans for the new market, and no official announcement at all, we’re guessing Lotte Market will fill the 55,000-sq.ft. former Sweetbay Market with hard-to-find Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese food items, as well what is likely to be the largest selection of fresh — and, dare we say, unique — seafood, fruits and vegetables in the area.
The only other Lotte Market in Florida is located in Orlando, and that store, like most of its others located in Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia, have a handful of Asian restaurants or a food court. Lotte has already been approved by the city to put restaurants in the market, and we can’t wait to see which ones they will be.
4. Mini-Golf
The groundbreaking of PopStroke Entertainment was held on Feb. 2
Remember a few years ago, when the major complaint about the area was that there was nothing to do? Well, since 2016, we’ve added an Urban Air Adventure Park in Tampa Palms, and in Wesley Chapel we now have the Advent Health Center Ice facility, the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County, an indoor recreation center and outdoor roller hockey rink at the Wesley Chapel District Park and the Main Event bowling alley and game center on S.R. 56.
As if that’s not enough, in 2022, Tiger Woods PopStroke Entertainment, a mini-golf and restaurant concept the golf superstar owns with entrepreneur Greg Bartoli, is coming to Wesley Chapel’s Cypress Creek Town Center on the north side of S.R. 56.
The project officially broke ground on Feb. 2 and should be ready by the beginning of summer, if not sooner.
Builders describe the place as an “experiential golf and casual dining concept merging a dynamic, technologically advanced competitive golf environment with food and beverages.”
Sign us up!
And while we’re at it, please also reserve us a spot at the new Grove Mini-Golf, which is expected to open in March. While PopStroke skips all the bells and whistles associated with a traditional mini-golf course, Grove Mini-Golf is leaning into them with plenty of holes requiring tricky shots — one hole you shoot over a river, another into a river (you’ll see), and there’s even a figure-8 hole and lots of hills and rocks to accentuate a rich, tropical oasis experience.
And, nighttime neon lighting and fire will give it a fun, festive feel. All of the holes will be illuminated with neon lights and glow-in-the-dark flags and balls. Very cool!
5. Diverging Diamond Interchange
If navigating castles, rocks and water on a mini-golf course doesn’t get you excited, how about navigating the soon-to-be-completed (no, we’re not kidding) Diverging Diamond Interchange at the S.R. 56 and I-75 intersection?
We’re not sure if it will be easier figuring out the DDI or, say, shooting par, but the folks building it promise the new intersection is less confusing than it looks.
That would be great for those who want to venture out to that area but don’t because, well, ugh…that traffic. But, the DDI is supposed to eliminate all those conflict points and make for a safer interchange, using free flowing lanes — sometimes taking you to the other side of the road (relax, it’ll be fun!).
Just to be safe, though, we’d suggest hitting up YouTube to watch a few videos.
And…While these are our top 5, they aren’t the only cool things happening in our area in 2022, like the completion of the S.R. 54 widening project, Wesley Chapel’s second lagoon at Mirada —which, at 15 acres, is twice as large as the one in Epperson — new restaurants like The Living Room, and we might even see a few surprises. (We’re looking at you, empty Best Buy building on BBD).
