Downtown Wesley Chapel?

Rendering of the downtown Avalon Park West area.

Downtown Wesley Chapel.

It may not currently, or officially, exist, but is interesting enough of a concept that three area developers — JD Porter, Beat Kahli and Mark Gold — have all suggested that their current projects will, in fact, be downtown Wesley Chapel.

So, who will it be? 

Whose project will possess most of the qualities that typically define a small town’s downtown — pedestrian friendly, open public spaces with generous amounts of greenery, a cluster of retail and restaurants with attractive storefronts and most important (according to North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC) CEO Hope Kennedy), people? It depends upon who you ask.

“I think, ultimately, downtown Wesley Chapel will be wherever the people say it is,” Kennedy says.

Currently, Kennedy thinks the closest thing to downtown Wesley Chapel is the area around the Shops at Wiregrass outdoor mall, which also boasts the AdventHealth Wesley Chapel hospital (and the many jobs that come with it), the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County, high-end car dealerships, hotels and a plethora of retail and restaurants.

But, Wiregrass Ranch is still developing. Its town center — the community’s downtown, when it is completed — hasn’t even broken ground. And, Avalon Park Wesley Chapel and The Grove also promise that big things are on the way, and a newer, bigger and different downtown Wesley Chapel could emerge.

Here’s how the three developments shape up as downtown cadidates:

WIREGRASS RANCH

JD Porter, whose family owns most of the land in Wiregrass Ranch, is not terribly concerned about which community will be home to Wesley Chapel’s official downtown. 

“I don’t think you can force a downtown,” he says. “I think if it’s thought through and done with purpose, I think there will definitely be a downtown in Wesley  Chapel. I just don’t think you can count on a downtown popping up in the next six months, the next year or anything like that.”

Porter says a community’s downtown must come about organically, and he thinks that is what’s happening in Wiregrass Ranch. While he has plans for a town center a little northeast of the Sports Campus on the yet-to-be-finished Wiregrass Ranch Blvd., construction is a ways off. Instead, he says, the area around his town center is filling in nicely, with Raymond James Financial (and the 700+ jobs it promises) beginning construction recently and joining the number of housing subdivisions, the Sports Campus, the mall, Pasco-Hernando State College and AHWC as walkable and bikable destinations.

 There have even been talks of light rail or another form of public transportation within the Wiregrass Ranch community.

Porter thinks a 5-10 year timeframe is reasonable for his vision of downtown to emerge. That vision includes walkability, 150,000-200,000 square feet of retail, 200,000-300,000 square feet of office space and 800 to 2,000 residential units.

He has compared it to Georgia’s Buckhead development near Atlanta in the past.

JD Porter

“It will come naturally,” he says. “We’re getting the density, getting all the different uses coming together that will create the downtown area.”

Porter says it has been a thoughtful process putting together Wiregrass Ranch, and the town center will be its jewel. 

“Almost everyone in Pasco has a ‘town center,’” he says, “basically comprised of a Publix and couple of dry cleaners and maybe a smoothie shop. That’s not a town center.”

Porter has bigger goals. Downtown Wesley Chapel may not be enough.

“I look at our town center as being Downtown Pasco County, Downtown Wesley Chapel, Downtown North Tampa,” Porter says. “But it’s got to mature naturally, it can’t be forced. We have some stuff going on. We’ve upped our timeline. We have some exciting things coming down the pike.”

AVALON PARK WEST

When developer Beat Kahli announced upcoming plans for a downtown core in Avalon Park Wesley Chapel (APWC) in February 2020, it was heralded by many in the media as Wesley Chapel’s future downtown.

And that’s exactly what Kahli thinks it will be.

Kahli is investing more than $700 million in the project — with a $33-million commitment from Pasco County -— which he says could break ground in the next few months.

The APWC (formerly Avalon Park West) downtown will be located on the north side of S.R. 54, less than a mile west of Eiland Blvd. (just west of Zephyrhills), but despite its distance from most of Wesley Chapel, will look the most like a small-town downtown, based on its renderings. 

The downtown area will be a mixed-use development on 215 acres. The entire APWC project is being built on 1,800 acres, the same size as its successful Avalon Park Orlando. It will eventually have 4,800 residential units (it currently has 1,000) and 15,000 residents. Many resident won’t have to leave — they can live, work and play in APWC.

“We don’t build subdivisions,” Kahli says, “we build towns.”

And, while many people might assume that the downtown core is just for residents of APWC, it will be open to everyone.

Kahli says the area will have two of the most important qualities in a downtown —walkability and mixed-use buildings.

After a 10-year buildout, the APWC downtown development will have roughly 2,700 residential units, 165,000 square feet of Class “A” office space and 190,400 square feet of commercial development.

The “neo-tradional” project will include four-story buildings, with neighborhood commercial on the bottom floor and the other three floors reserved for residential. 

There will be multiple parking decks and sidewalks, and four freestanding Class A office buildings, which are typically larger, and will feature top-of-the-line amenities and high-income tenants. 

“Compared to other large projects in the (Wesley Chapel) area, which are generally single-use projects with several hundred or several thousand single family homes, and then somewhere else maybe some apartments, and then somewhere else maybe a mall or strip mall, somewhere else maybe a school,” Kahli says, “we are integrating it all. We’re building full towns. That’s our approach in Wesley Chapel, and wherever we go.”

The “town center” of The Grove development.

THE GROVE

The Porters have been in Wiregrass Ranch since forever, and developer Beat Kahli has patiently held onto the land that will be Avalon Park Wesley Chapel for almost 25 years. That makes The Grove’s developer Mark Gold the new kid on the block.

But, Gold is no rookie when it comes to buying up older projects and making them relevant again. Even when he purchased The Grove for $64 million in 2018, he was not shy about calling it Wesley Chapel’s future downtown.

Despite arriving late to the party, with The Grove project already well under way, he will get the first crack at cementing his 254-acre property as the area’s downtown.

He is pouring more than $100 million into that dream, taking Wesley Chapel’s major shopping center (it was built in 2007, a year before the Shops at Wiregrass) and transforming into something the area hasn’t seen before.

The old Cobb movie theater has been renovated and is open, the long-ignored area Gold calls “The Village” has been revitalized and KRATE, an innovative retail and restaurant park made up of converted hip, reimagined shipping containers, is rounding into form.

While others see The Grove as more of an entertainment and retail district, Gold takes offense. He says the project is much more, with more than 600 homes approved for construction just north of The Grove, as well as apartment complexes in the surrounding area. Other businesses will come in, bringing more jobs. He sees The Grove as a destination for residents as far away as Tampa and Orlando. 

“It will be the No. 1 destination for families, and they will be able to shop, eat, walk, play mini-golf and many other things,” Gold says. “There will be no need to go anyplace else.”

Mahana Fresh To Offer Free Bowls On June 12 — Don’t Miss It!

The fact that restaurants serving a variety of bowls have taken over the collective consciousness (and appetites) of the local community hasn’t been lost on Ryan Mortti, now the co-owner of Mahana Fresh, located just north of I-75 off Doña Michelle Dr. and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in New Tampa.

Ryan, who also owns his own construction company, recognized the need to do more to capture more customers, especially with multiple new bowl-oriented restaurants either having opened recently or getting ready to open within a couple of miles of his Mahana Fresh location — which is one of three in the Bradenton-based mini-chain.

To that end, Ryan has brought in an experienced partner, Chris Courtney-James, who was responsible the last several years for making sure that Dunkin’ Donuts locations that hadn’t been meeting company expectations were brought up to speed. More important, however, is that Chris also spent years in the kitchens of restaurants across the Tampa Bay area and, in his words, “isn’t afraid to spend a lot of time cooking at a hot grill.”

In addition, Ryan and Chris have a special offer that they hope will bring in plenty of locals — two hours of free Mahana-sized bowls on Saturday, June 12, from noon-1 p.m. and from 6 p.m.-7 p.m. You can pick a bowl, any bowl — one per person, for dine-in only.

Photographer Charmaine George and I spent some time recently at the local Mahana Fresh and even though both of us already loved the food, we were impressed with the incredible precision with which the bowl-oriented eatery prepared for a large catering order — as well as with the delicious aromas that emanated from those grills while tender steaks and marinated chicken breasts and thighs were cooked over the open flame.

An Amazing Selection! 

For those who have never tried Mahana Fresh, you shouldn’t wait until June 12 to check it out. Here’s how it works. You choose from three sizes — Kids (with 1 base, 1 veggie, 1 protein & your choice of sauce), Mahana (1 base, 2 veggies, 1 protein & sauce) and the Big Mahana (2 bases, 2 veggies, 2 proteins & sauce).

The bases include coconut or cauliflower rice, a basmati rice blend, sesame noodles, spinach or my favorite, the kale crunch salad.

Your proteins include marinated ahi tuna, plus Key West, BBQ or (Jannah’s favorite) teriyaki chicken, plus spicy grilled tofu and tender, grilled-to-order steak (my favorite). 

The incredible veggies (above photo) include roasted mushrooms, roasted sweet potatoes, Buffalo cauliflower, garlicky cilantro green beans and my two favorites, the sesame ginger broccoli and the honey sriracha Brussels sprouts. 

Available sauces include coconut sweet potato, creamy wasabi and mine and Jannah’s two favorites, the cilantro vinaigrette and the citrus ginger.

For a small extra charge, add roasted almonds, avocado smash, parmesan cheese, Jannah’s favorite feta cheese and my fave, the Mediterranean tomatoes. 

Honestly, you really can’t go wrong with any of them, but if you have any trouble deciding, Mahana Fresh has now introduced “Signature Bowls,” including everything from a “Keto Surfer Bowl” (cauliflower rice, sesame ginger broccoli, roasted mush-rooms, grilled steak & cilantro vinaigrette) to a “Veggie Vacay Bowl” (coconut rice, sesame ginger broccoli, roasted mushrooms, sesame garlic tofu and coconut sweet potato sauce) and The Big Kahuna Bowl (basmati rice blend, spinach, Buffalo cauliflower, garlicky cilantro green beans, BBQ chicken, grilled steak and cilantro lime vinaigrette). 

And, all of Mahana Fresh’s house-made desserts are pretty tasty, especially for gluten-free — and include chocolate chip cookies, zucchini brownies and snickerdoodle cookies. 

As for beverages, Mahana Fresh has done away with its unique beer taps, but still has  fountain sodas, Pure Leaf sweet and unsweet tea, regular and strawberry lemonade, a variety of Bubly flavored sparkling waters and Bai flavored antioxidant infusion drinks.

Mahana Fresh is located at 17512 Doña Michelle Dr. and is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. every day. For more information, call (727) 238-9967 or visit MahanaFresh.com.

Bringing Mini-Golf To The Grove!

As mentioned earlier, Ryan also owns his own construction company and has been busy working on not only completing many of the repurposed shipping containers at the KRATE container park at The Grove, but also on bringing a cool mini-golf course to the area near The Grove theater, with his brother Matt Mortti and his sister Melissa Schachtner and her husband Andrew Schachtner. 

“It won’t have windmills but it will have a mountain with waterfalls and fire, plus cool trick shots,” Ryan says, adding that the tropical-themed course also will have a tiki hut restaurant that serves beer and wine.

Budget Blinds Expanding To The KRATE Park At The Grove

There’s something about staring longingly out your window while tucked safely away inside during a pandemic that makes you notice that your drapes are looking a little dingy, or your shutters feel a little outdated, or the light coming in is really harsher than you originally thought.

That might explain why the phones at the Budget Blinds office of Wesley Chapel’s Mike and Adriane Wonderlin rarely stopped ringing this past year.

“To be honest, business has never been better,” says Adriane. “People are in their homes, looking out their windows and getting sick of looking at the same thing all the time.”

But, that’s not the only reason, Adriane adds. New homes are flying off the shelves, too, and many new owners are eager to put their own touch on their new residences.

“There’s a lot of new construction going on, and they don’t want the builder’s blinds,” Adriane says. “They want something they had a choice in (to make) their homes more beautiful.”

Wesley Chapel residents Adriane and Mike Wonderlin own one of the top Budget Blinds franchises in the country.

The growth has led Adriane and Mike to expand. After working for Budget Blinds for nearly 10 years, the Lexington Oaks residents are now the owners of the Budget Blinds franchises in Greater Tampa, Brandon and Lakeland. Adriane says their territory, which stretches all the way north to San Antonio and south to Palmetto and includes showrooms on W. Fletcher Ave. (near I-275, two exits south of Wesley Chapel’s S.R. 56 exit) and in Riverview, covers nearly 90 zip codes.

The brisk business has not only led to having to hire more employees (they now have 30), but Budget Blinds has outgrown its Riverview showroom, which is being expanded. The showrooms are still closed to walk-in traffic, as Budget Blinds continues to take Covid precautions and a no-contact approach, with design consultants still wearing gloves, masks and booties when visiting their customers’ homes.

And, this summer, the Wonderlins will expand to Wesley Chapel.

Budget Blinds was one of the first businesses to sign a lease for a spot in the upcoming KRATE container park at The Grove. After a number of delays, they hope to be open sometime in June or July.

The container set-up will feature living spaces that show off the offerings at Budget Blinds (something similar to IKEA’s set-ups).  There will be samples on hand and design consultants to assist in making your choices.

“It will be like a mini-showroom,” Adriane says.

The new showroom also will utilize television monitors and iPads to help bring your ideas into focus. It’s part of a move to a more digital approach, the Wonderlins say.

And, speaking of digital approaches, their Budget Blinds franchise also is beefing up its social media standing with a renewed focus on Instagram — @budgetblindsgreatertampa — where it is polling customers to determine what they like and teaming up with online influencers to bring the possibilities offered by Budget Blinds to life.

There is a variety of styles to choose from no matter what you are looking for — from best-selling brands like Signature Series, Enlightened Styles and Norman Shutters.

Blinds come in vinyl, wood, fabric, faux wood and aluminum. Shutter options range from real wood (in painted or stained) and also composite shutters that will not fade or warp.

If you prefer shades, you can choose from roller, pleated, Roman, cellular, woven wood, bamboo, sheer, solar and graphic, not to mention a variety of panels, valances and drapes.

Adriane says the most popular choices are plantation shutters, which is a huge part of Budget Blinds’ business, and treatments like Roman and roller shades remain a top seller. Adriane says after years of more simple and hard-lined window treatments, soft treatments also are growing again in popularity.

Features that continue to grow in popularity are motorization and automation.

Budget Blinds has a private label called Smart Home Collection by Budget Blinds, and it can be used with a variety of vendors.

“If you found a certain fabric with one vendor, but for another room you want a different vendor, that system will work with both,” Mike says. “It’s a single platform that goes across multiple brands.”

Motorization is more pushing a button on a remote control or keypad, while automation is typically using an app on a phone to set times for the drapes or blinds to open and close. Scheduled correctly, you can be awakened in the morning by natural sunlight as your blackout shades gradually rise, or change the ambiance of your whole home after the sun has set, all with the press of a button or a voice command.

Both eliminate the need for unsightly (and sometimes dangerous) cords.

“It’s great for windows behind couches, especially if you have a conservation view,” Mike says. “People love not having to go (manually) raise the blinds on eight windows every morning. I even had a customer a few months ago (whose) teenage sons wouldn’t wake up, so they set the timers on their blinds for 7 a.m.”

The technology gets better every year, Mike says, and sales of motorization/automation products are up 25 percent over the past three years.

About The Company

Budget Blinds was founded in 1992 in Orange County, CA, and has more than 1,000 franchises in the U.S. and Canada. The Wonderlins’ franchise,  which they purchased in 2018, was recently awarded Budget Blinds’ national Franchise of the Year for 2020, the franchise’s third such honor since 2016.

The Wonderlins have a staff of 30 consultants, including installation manager Bill Tumelty, a U.S. Army veteran, and administrative manager Kristi Cicollelo. 

Tumelty is one of a few military veterans working for the Wonderlins, who partner with Homes For Our Troops by providing and installing the window treatments in the homes of wounded veterans for free.

Whether you’re looking for improved aesthetics or smarter energy consumption — or, like many customers, a little bit of both — Budget Blinds can steer you in the right direction. And this summer, your journey to more elegant and convenient window treatments can start right in the new local mini-showroom at KRATE.

“We’re excited about it,” Adriane says. “Anything you put in Wesley Chapel right now takes off. And, we’re local — it’s literally right in our backyard.”

The main Budget Blinds of Greater Tampa showroom is located at 1208 W. Fletcher Ave. The showroom hours are Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. To schedule a complimentary in-home consultation, call (813) 968-5050. For more info, visit BudgetBlinds.com/NorthTampa or see the ad on page 24.

Are You Looking To Have Your Dream Wedding…On A Budget?

In case you hadn’t heard, one of the more unexpected effects of the 2020 pandemic was the cancellation of many weddings — as people weren’t allowed or were afraid to travel, or even go out to eat, much less spend hours in a room full of people. Many were even skittish about staying in hotels.

To that end, our friends at the Hilton Garden Inn Tampa-Wesley Chapel on S.R. 56 have come up with a unique idea to help those who lost deposits or otherwise had to cancel or postpone their nuptials, as well as those who were hoping to still make their wedding a beautiful occasion on a budget they can afford.

The concept is called “My Dream Micro Wedding” and it offers the opportunity for a wedding event that will be intimate, as well as budget-friendly.

You’ll be able to invite a small guest list of your family and dearest friends, all for one cost that will include everything you need to have the glamorous feel of a large wedding, with all of the “trimmings,” at a fraction of what it would normally cost.

Your Dream Micro Wedding reduces your time frame to only two hours, but includes all of the following for one budget-friendly price: a beautiful venue, a wedding planner, white linens, white chair covers with gold bows, a wedding officiant, photography (and event photo book), a live DJ, hors d’oeuvres, two-hour bar, bride’s makeup done (day of wedding), custom bridal and maid of honor bouquets, custom boutonnieres for groom and groomsman, table floral décor, sweetheart table, cake cutting, plus a local engagement photo shoot prior to the event and a one-night stay at the Hilton Garden Inn on the event date.

The only “catch” is that My Dream Micro Wedding currently is only being offered on Saturday, June 19, and while your two-hour timeframe will be exclusively yours, there will be other couples getting married at the hotel the same day. 

Even so, Hilton Garden Inn director of market sales Lisa Moore promises that, “We have brought together the most awesome vendors in Florida, in order to make your special day perfect. All of the details have been taken care of for you — all you have to do is give us a call ASAP to reserve your time and discuss all of those details with us.”

Moore also says that if this first-time “My Dream Micro Wedding” event proves to be a success (as she fully expects), “we will begin offering to do the same thing on other dates in the future.”

To reserve your two-hour timeframe now, call Moore as soon as possible at (813) 591-6907. The Hilton Garden Inn Tampa-Wesley Chapel is located at 26640 Silver Maple Pkwy. For more information, visit TampaWesleyChapel.HGI.com or email Moore at Lisa.Moore2@hilton.com.