Nestled in the heart of Downtown Avalon Park Wesley Chapel (WC), a new pedestrian-friendly road runs through the growing community, connecting it from nearby residential areas to where apartments, townhomes and new businesses are now under construction.
Avalon Park Blvd. (see aerial photo below and map, above), located off S.R. 54 near Friendly Way, recently opened to drivers and pedestrians.
The roughly 1-mile road cost about $7 million to build, according to president and CEO Beat Kähli of Avalon Park Group, the real estate development company behind the project.
Kähli says that helping residents easily navigate to the businesses and schools in Avalon Park WC was a primary purpose of the Avalon Park Blvd. road project.
“It is critical because it connects all of the residential homes,” Kähli says. “If you build a town…connectivity is very important.”
The extension road runs alongside the developing downtown district, where the first phase of restaurants and retail spaces is already located beneath The Flats apartments. There also is an amphitheater beginning construction at one end of the Downtown Avalon Park WC’s Town Park, where live music performances and other events will eventually be held. Avalon Park Blvd. extends from S.R. 54 through the community, all the way to River Glen Blvd. in Hawthorne Village.
But, the road is just the latest piece of a larger effort to develop Phase 2 of Downtown Avalon Park WC.
Although Kähli did not provide additional specific details about the businesses coming to Phase 2, he says a grocery store, a hotel and more than 150 townhomes are expected in the downtown area. Phase 2 also will include two mixed-use buildings (similar to The Flats), with 50,000 square feet of commercial, office and retail space. “We have a waiting list of possible tenants,” Kähli says.
Also currently under construction near (but not in) the downtown district are Hamlet Cottage Homes, a Dunkin’ restaurant and Pinecrest High School (there currently are high school students being taught at the original Pinecrest Academy K-8 school).
As for the broader, 1,600-acre Avalon Park WC area, Kähli says that nearly two dozen phases are planned over the next several years. He adds that the additional phases will include more schools, a day care center, an age 55- plus community and at least 10 new restaurants.
The community is designed around a “Live, Learn, Work & Play” model, with interconnected neighborhoods and tree-lined streets that give Avalon Park WC a small-town, yet modern, feel.
The design encourages residents to stay within the community for their daily needs, from errands to entertainment.
The downtown area already is serving as s a central hub for events — including “Absolutely Avalon,” “Avalon Aglow” and the Wesley Chapel area’s longest running open-to-the-public 4th of July fireworks display. As reported in the Neighborhood News, The Flats apartment complex and the first businesses in the downtown district opened nearly two years ago (in Sept. 2024).
A Tiny Bit Of History
Avalon Park Group has a history of launching multiple communities, including its flagship development in Orlando.
“We bought 1,800 acres in 1988,” Kähli says, “but we waited until the 2000s to start construction, We branded that community (which will have around 20,000 total residents at build-out) as [the first] Avalon Park.”
“We continue to believe that people should live where they can eat, be entertained, work and play,” Kähli says.
For more info about Avalon Park Wesley Chapel or visit AvalonParkWesleyChapel.com.
