It has been almost a decade since Raymond James Financial announced plans to bring a massive satellite campus to Wiregrass Ranch.
Finally, last month, the preliminary plans for that complex, which will be located at S.R. 56 and Mansfield Blvd., east of the Shops at Wiregrass, were submitted to Pasco County, as well as a request to meet with county planners.
While the original plans showed six four-story buildings totalling 1-million sq. ft. on the 65-acres of property in the Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI), the actual site plans filed with the county reveal five office buildings and two parking garages (with additional parking in lots around the office buildings).
“I assume you’ll start seeing dirt move in the next couple of weeks,” says District 2 Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore. “We’re very excited. It’s nice to see it finally come to fruition.”
The St. Petersburg-based financial services company announced its original intentions, and promise of 750 employees, in 2011. Pasco County’s Board of County Commissioners approved a $14-million incentive package, but Raymond James Financial postponed its expansion in 2014 and did not close on the property until 2016.
Wiregrass Ranch developer JD Porter has long touted the impact the Raymond James campus will have, and Moore agrees: “These kind of things tend to be a trigger for other companies to come,” he says.
