Celebrating The Opening Of The First Building In Avalon Park’s Downtown! 

Developer Cuts The Ribbon As The First Mixed-Use Rental Apartment & Retail Building In Wesley Chapel Opens! 
Avalon Park Wesley Chapel developer Beat Kahli (with scissors) was joined by his entire development team, all of the tenants who have signed commercial leases at the new “downtown Avalon Park” mixed-use building, Dist. 2 Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman (to Kahli’s left) and North Tampa Bay Chamber president & CEO Hope Kennedy (to Weightman’s left) on Sept. 19 for the ribbon-cutting and unveiling of the first-ever “neotraditional” retail and residential building in Wesley Chapel. (Photos by Charmaine George)

 So, whether or not it’s actually Wesley Chapel’s “downtown,” there’s no doubt that the Grand Opening and unveiling on Sept. 19 of the new nearly 17,000-sq.-ft., three-story building in Avalon Park Wesley Chapel is the start of at least that community’s downtown — and the first true mixed-use (residential and commercial), urban-style (some would call it “neotraditional”) building in all of Wesley Chapel. 

Avalon Park Wesley Chapel developer Beat Kahli doesn’t hide his excitement about the new 17,000-sq.-ft. first building (below right) in Avalon Park’s downtown district. 

“This is long in the making,” said developer Beat Kahli, the founder, president and CEO of the Avalon Park Group, the developer of both Avalon Park Wesley Chapel and Orlando. “We were lucky, in 1988, to find 1,800 acres in Pasco County, owned by the Brown family — it was called the Brown Ranch —and when Mom Brown died, the IRS came in and said, ‘You have to pay a lot of taxes because you have 1,800 acres and here is your tax bill.’ And they said, ‘We’re just farming here and we don’t have that money at all.’ We bought the land for fair market value (at that time) and told them, ‘You still need to farm here for a long time.’” 

And, although the original New River Township portion of Avalon Park Wesley Chapel has been around for more than a decade and there are now around 2,000 single-family homes built or under construction (with a population of about 5,000 people) in the entire development, Kahli said Bill Brown and his family were able to continue farming the vast majority of their land for “more than a quarter of a century. We would have surveyors and engineers come out and they’d call me to say, ‘Hey, there’s a guy with a shotgun here saying it’s his property. And, we’d have to tell Bill, who was a great guy, ‘Please don’t shoot our surveyors and engineers.’” 

Kahli said that unlike in Orlando, “where we basically had to build the town from scratch, there was already a two-lane (now 4-lane), paved S.R. 54 here.” He also recounted the first homeowners association meeting in Orlando, when there were only about 30 homes, with the people asking him, “What’s the philosophy of the development here?,” to which he replied, “The goal is to build a town where people can live, learn, work and play. If you don’t want to leave, you don’t have to leave — and that’s the same philosophy here (in Wesley Chapel). We’re taking a big step forward with this almost-17,000-sq.-ft., $21-million building , which we have completed now, so we are having the ribbon cutting today.” 

The native of Switzerland also pointed to the “A”-rated Pinecrest Academy charter K-8 school and the adjacent church and likened it to life in Europe, “Where towns are basically built around a church and a school.” 

He also said that by having a place where people live, learn, work and play, “Some of you will become triple or even quadruple stakeholders — someone who lives, works or has a business, has kids in school and entertains, all here in Avalon Park, where we have events that already have 5,000 people attending, sometimes 25,000 in Orlando now [like the annual 4th of July celebrations]. So, the goal is to create a sense of place, a place where people feel at home and feel safe.” 

And, although Kahli said he didn’t miss the mountains or especially the snow where he grew up in Zurich, the largest city in his native country, “I missed having what we are opening here — a lifestyle where you can live somewhere, get in the elevator, sit in a coffee shop or restaurant where you don’t have to get into your car for whatever you do. And, you can have your kids walk to school, which is how I grew up.” 

He then thanked his entire Avalon Park Group (APG) team, as well as Dist. 2 (which includes Avalon Park) Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman and North Tampa Bay Chamber President & CEO Hope Kennedy for their support. 

Weightman said, “I’m just incredibly honored to be standing here with all of you to represent the commissioners. This is a testament of the partnership between Avalon Park Group and Pasco County to build something great.” 

APG senior VP of marketing & community relations Stephanie Lerrett also thanked the county, Kennedy and the NTBC, the Pasco Economic Development Council and all of the commercial tenants whose businesses will be located below The Flats at Avalon Park apartments. 

After the ribbon-cutting, attendees were treated to samples of Rudraksh Indian Cuisine’s kabobs, Tallo Restaurant & Bar’s Caribbean-style sandwiches and Rita’s Italian Ices (plus food provided by Vesh Catering) and were able to meet the tenants who are all opening businesses on the ground floor of the building — ISI Elite Training, Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming, Prime Barbershop, Vet Check and dentist Dr. Hetvi Patel of Dream Dental Studio. 

There also were tours of the beautiful 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments (there are 40 total) in The Flats, which are competitively priced with other luxury apartments in the area. 

For more information about Avalon Park Wesley Chapel, The Flats apartments and the new downtown building (at 4424 Friendly Way), visit AvalonParkWesleyChapel.com, call (813) 783- 1515 or (813) 851-4228. 

AdventHealth Expanding With Resident Program, ER & Additional Floors 

When AdventHealth cut the ribbon at the new 13,000-sq.-ft. Medical Group office in the AdventHealth Wesley Chapel Wellness Plaza on July 16, the event was much more than just a ribbon cutting, as the hospital announced that the eight Family Medicine residents who cut the ribbon would be the first to participate in the hospital’s new Family Practice residency program that will train eight new residents a year for three years at the new Medical Group location. 
Check out all of the news about AdventHealth on pages 4-5! (Photos by Charmaine George) 

 If anyone thought that Advent Health Wesley Chapel (AHWC), the first hospital to open in our area more than 12 years ago, was going to sit back and rest on its laurels and let newcomers BayCare Wesley Chapel and Orlando Health Hospital at Wiregrass take the lead in local health care, they were sadly mistaken. 

Not only did AdventHealth cut the ribbon on a new 13,000-sq.-ft. space for its AdventHealth Medical Group in the hospital’s adjacent Wellness Plaza on July 16, AHWC president Erik Wangsness also announced the start of a new Family Medicine residency program in the new space. 

As if that impressive new office, with its eight new Family Medicine residents and state-of-the-art technology wasn’t enough, the hospital also broke ground on July 9 on a new freestanding emergency room in Meadow Pointe and also is getting ready to break ground on the expansion of the hospital itself. 

In other words, when it comes to AdventHealth in Wesley Chapel, to quote Bachman-Turner Overdrive, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” 

More than 100 people attended the ribbon cutting for the new AdventHealth Medical Group office on July 16, including District 54 State Representative Randy Maggard and Pasco County Commissioners Seth Weightman, Jack Mariano and Lisa Yeager. 

(l.-r) County Commissioner Lisa Yeager, State Rep. Randy Maggard, AHWC president Erik Wangsness & County Commissioners Jack Mariano and Seth Weightman. 

“I understand we have a County Commission quorum here,” Wangsness quipped. “We genuinely appreciate the support.” 

Also on hand were several of Wangsness’ colleagues, including several of the hospital’s Board members, AHWC Foundation Board members, President & CEO of Administration David Ottati, chief clinical officer Dr. Rajan Wadhawan, Family Medicine founding program director Dr. Omari Hodge, Dr. Robert Rosequist, and AHWC CFO Jonathan Fisher, as well as the eight new residents themselves. 

The new facility includes an in-house laboratory, procedure room, classrooms and eleven exam rooms, 4D ultrasound, preventive care, minor procedures and chronic disease management, as well as the residents and their supervising physicians. 


Dr. Rajan Wadhawan 

Dr. Omari Hodge 

“Each year, we will bring in eight new residents into the program, so in three years, we will have 24 new doctors who will be serving the community in the clinic and in the hospital in outpatient settings and it’s going to be a powerful way to serve the needs of not only this growing community but throughout Florida.” 

He added, “Across Florida, there’s a dearth of physicians. This new residency program is a way that we can bless this community through health care. And, we hope and believe that many of them will choose to stay here when they complete their three-year residencies and continue to serve this growing community.” 

Dr. Wadhawan mentioned that the new family medicine program, “is one of three GME (graduate medical education) programs we launched this year in our West Florida division. On July 1, 2024, we had 40 new doctors join these programs as trainees.” 

Dr. Hodge, who will be in charge of the resident program, said he was hired by AHWC two years ago. “I took a drive out to one of the beautiful Pinellas beaches and told my wife, ‘I think I can do this.’” He also said he was excited to be starting this program with an outstanding crop of young residents. 

Commissioners Talk Affordable Housing After Vote Opting Out Of ‘Live Local’ 

What the vote means for two Wesley Chapel properties & what Pasco County’s affordable housing plans are moving forward 

The Tapestry at Cypress Creek apartments, located at the intersection of Wesley Chapel Blvd. and S.R.s 54 & 56, is one of two existing apartment communities that have applied to greatly reduce their property taxes under Florida’s “Live Local” law. (Source: TapestryCypressCreekApartments.com) 

When the Pasco County Board of Commissioners (BOC) voted unanimously on May 21 to opt out of a portion of the state’s recently revised “Live Local” law that was originally passed last year, it didn’t stop the BOC from continuing to look to find other ways to bring affordable or “workforce” housing to the county. 

“We all agreed that although those in the workforce need more affordable housing,” says District 2 Commissioner Seth Weightman, “Live Local just did not seem to accomplish that goal.” 

To that end, Pasco’s senior assistant county attorney David Goldstein made a presentation to the commissioners at their May 21 BOC meeting which summarized the reasons why the county was choosing to opt out of the provision of the Live Local law (pushed by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo during the 2023 State Legislative session) that was modified towards the end of the 2024 session to allow local jurisdictions the opportunity to “opt out.” 

Pasco, led by Comm. Weightman, was at the forefront of the fight to get the law changed during this year’s session, as one of the two properties that applied for the Live Local tax break — the Tapestry at Cypress Creek apartments (where Jannah and I have lived the past five years, since the complex first opened), where Wesley Chapel Blvd., S.R. 54 and S.R. 56 meet — is located in his district. I can personally vouch for what Comm. Weightman said at the May 21 meeting: 

“That complex has been around for a number of years and was never intended to be an affordable housing project. It’s Class A multifamily living with amenities, right next to Wesley Chapel and the Outlet Mall.” 

Goldstein outlined the conditions that will allow the county to opt out of the 80%-120% of Average Monthly Income (AMI) provision of Live Local for 2025, although both Tapestry and a complex in the Trinity area both already have applied — but neither one had yet been granted that exemption by county property appraiser Mike Wells at our press time — for 2024. 

The 80%-120% provision allows rental communities to receive the Live Local tax exemption if their units rent for 80-120% of the AMI for an individual in Pasco County, which Goldstein said worked out to rents averaging about $2,000 per month. “These $2,000-per-month rents are not what our school teachers, county employees, firefighters and law enforcement officers can afford,” Goldstein told the commissioners. “It doesn’t make sense to give large tax exemptions essentially to complexes that are charging market rate rents with no charitable purpose.” 

He added that Pasco also has a large surplus of apartments in that 80-120% range. 

“Our deficit is only in rental units charging less than 80% of AMI, which is truly affordable or workforce housing,” he said. “But, we don’t have any communities offering rents under that 80% AMI range coming before you for approval.” 

Goldstein also noted that even with the changes to the Live Local law, Pasco is still grouped with Hillsborough, Pinellas and Hernando counties in the Tampa Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which is what is being used to determine if a community already has a surplus or a deficit in the number of rental units in the 80-120% AMI range, “So although our MSA has a surplus of 3,994 units at present, even if Pasco has a surplus in the future, but Hillsborough or Pinellas has a large enough deficit to more than offset our surplus, we might not be allowed to opt-out of Live Local in the future. I’m hoping the law will be refined again in the next legislative session.” 

He also said he hoped that other counties in MSAs with surpluses of the 80-120% AMI units will follow Pasco’s lead and opt out of the law. 

Pasco County’s senior assistant county attorney David Goldstein provides information about the changes to the state’s Live Local law to the county’s Board of Commissioners prior to the BOC’s vote to opt out of a portion of the state law regarding affordable housing. (Photo: Screenshot from Pasco BOC meeting) 

Goldstein also told the commissioners that counties that still qualify under the provisions of the law will have to opt out every year, and that the apartment complexes trying to receive the tax breaks also will have to apply for those breaks every year. 

“Fortunately, we only have the two complexes who may be able to receive the tax break this year,” he said, “but even just for this year, the county would lose 75% of the $1.7 million the two complexes paid in taxes last year (or more than $1.275 million combined)” if Wells does allow them to receive the Live Local tax break for 2024. “But, we can only opt out of Live Local for county taxes,” he added. “I have drafted a letter to the Pasco School Board, Mosquito Control District and the cities in the county instructing them to also opt out of the 80-120% AMI provision of Live Local for 2025.” 

Goldstein also mentioned that there are flaws in the way the data that would allow Pasco and other jurisdictions to opt out of Live Local is being used. 

“We can only opt out if the latest University of Florida Shimberg (Center for Housing Studies) Report, which uses American Community Survey data (based on the Census) shows that our Tampa Bay MSA has a surplus of rental units in the 80-120% AMI range,” he said. “But, that does not include recent construction — it’s always two years behind. If we have a recent apartment complex — and we have a lot of recent apartment complexes being built — it’s not counting those in the surplus inventory. We did raise that as a concern and we’re hoping it’s something else that can be refined during the next Legislative Session. The problem is that the Shimberg Report could show we have a deficit when we actually have a surplus on the ground.” 

He also noted that of all of the large counties in the state, only Broward and Miami-Dade counties have large deficits of units in the 80- 120% AMI range, “So it seems like this state law was enacted only to help southeast Florida. The law really should only be applied to those areas.” 

Goldstein also noted that the change in the law for 2025 only applies to tax breaks for existing communities, “So we’re hoping to get the land use part of the law changed during next year’s session. If we don’t have a deficit of those units, why should we have to give up job-creating commercial and industrial properties in the future to have more of them?” 

Pasco’s five commissioners — including new Dist. 4 Comm. Lisa Yeager in her first BOC meeting since being appointed to fill the seat of the late Comm. Gary Bradford by Gov. Ron DeSantis — voted unanimously to approve opting out of the tax portion of Live Local. 

Even so, at the insistence of Dist. 5 Comm. Jack Mariano — despite the fact Goldstein said it wasn’t necessary to do so — the BOC also voted 5-0 to draft a letter to the property appraiser asking him to not grant the exemption to the two rental communities that applied for it for 2024. “I’ve been in constant contact with Mr. Wells’ attorney’s office,” Goldstein said. “They’re well aware of how we feel about this.” 

Talking Affordable Housing 

Following their regular BOC meeting, the commissioners held a workshop on what Pasco can do to provide more affordable housing options for those in the workforce — county employees and others — especially after Goldstein noted during the regular BOC meeting that Pasco does indeed have a shortage of affordable units for those whose monthly incomes are below the 80% of the county’s AMI. 

The workshop was led by Cathy Pearson, Pasco’s assistant county administrator for public services, who said she was discussing affordable housing with David Lambert, the chairman of the Pasco Housing Authority and the Executive VP and general manager of the Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative, “And we both said we have never had an affordable housing plan for Pasco County. David took me to his Pasco Housing Authority Board and convinced the Board to pay for this study for us,” Pearson said. “How wonderful.” 

She also said that for the year-long study, “affordable housing was defined as housing that costs less than 30% of a household’s income.” For someone earning Pasco’s average median income of $63,187 per year, an affordable rent would be $1,579 per month, although starting teachers and many other workers only earn about 80% of that median income, so those workers could only afford rents of $1,263 per month or less. 

Among the options put forth by the study to help increase affordable housing options in Pasco include legalizing “accessory dwelling units,” sometimes called backyard homes or “granny flats,” adding duplexes or even quadraplex units in existing single-family communities, the possibility of requiring developers to include or pay for affordable housing in their unit totals to receive approval for those developments, as well as expanding some kinds of public rental or home-buying assistance. Goldstein also noted that the county already has reduced mobility and impact fees for developments that include affordable housing. 

Pasco Planning & Economic Growth director David Engel says the county is expected to add more than 101,000 workers to fill the jobs in the projects that are already under design or that the Board has already approved. 

“So we’re going to have a tremendous need for housing in the future for that workforce.”

Pasco Breaks Ground On Wesley Chapel Library at Seven Oaks

(Photos by Charmaine George)

“The mission of a library is one of connection,” said Pasco County Library System director Sean McGarvey at the groundbreaking event for the Wesley Chapel Library at Seven Oaks — to about 50 people in the audience — on Apr. 12. “We connect people to what is important…in four fundamental ways. We connect people to knowledge, to the culture of the community, to economic opportunity and, most importantly, we connect people to each other.”

McGarvey served as the Master of Ceremonies for the groundbreaking event to showcase the architectural renderings for the new library, which will begin construction within the next month or so on a vacant lot adjacent to Seven Oaks Elementary. The 14,000-sq.-ft., $11 million library, designed by Fleischman Garcia Architects, is being built by Bandes Construction and will have a number of unique features that will make it a “hub of the world,” according to McGarvey, who also introduced the groundbreaking event’s other speakers.

Pasco County Library System director Sean McGarvey

The first was Pasco County Board of Commissioners (BOC) chair Ron Oakley, whose District 1 includes part of Wesley Chapel.

Oakley said that when he first became a county commissioner eight years ago, he was told, “We need to save money in the county, so we need to cut out libraries. They’re not needed…everybody’s got a computer. But, I said, ‘I personally think everybody doesn’t have a computer and all of our citizens love libraries. It’s just amazing what is provided by our library system. The use of this library here in this community is going to be amazing.”

Before then introducing Commissioner Seth Weightman, whose District 2 includes all of Seven Oaks, McGarvey said, “I can not wait to see what the stories of the connections that this building will build for everybody else who will use it…from the kids at the school next door, to the citizens of Pasco County to the members of this community, to the business community at large. I can not wait to see what this building will create for the community.”

District 1 Commissioner Ron Oakley

Weightman then thanked retired Pasco Commissioner Mike Moore (Weightman’s Dist. 2 predecessor), “for allowing me to be here today and celebrating the work that you did over the course of your time to (make this library happen). What a fantastic community ‘add’ here to Seven Oaks. And, to the citizens of Seven Oaks, because of your community and your drive and your watchful eye, we’re proud to bring this to all the folks here in Wesley Chapel.

Weightman then introduced former Comm. Moore, “because this was his baby.”

Moore said, “This (library) was a long time in the making. Part of the Seven Oaks development agreement back then (in 2004) was this site, which was always supposed to be a library. The county commission was very, very supportive of this project when I was on the Board and what I’m most grateful for is that once I left, the next Board came

in and continued with the project. Sometimes, what we see in government, is that when people leave, sometimes projects don’t move forward and they stall, but they (the new BOC) saw the benefit of having this library.”

The former commissioner added, “This library is going to be a meeting place, a place where adults and kids alike will learn, a place where you’ll have gatherings…there will be social events, civic events…and classes for seniors, adults and children.”

Moore also thanked the team from Bandes Construction, “that is actually going to build this facility. Hopefully, it won’t take a year and a half, since materials are easier to get now….but thank you so much for all the support. And, we really are excited as a community that this is going to service not just Seven Oaks, but all of Wesley Chapel and Pasco County.”

Moore also thanked his former aide Andy Taylor, for his part in making the library happen.

District 2 Commissioner Seth Weightman

McGarvey then called up all of the speakers, plus county administrator Mike Carballa, Taylor, the representatives on hand from not only Bandes Construction, but also from U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee and State Sen. Danny Burgess’ offices, as well as other Pasco Library System employees for the ceremonial tossing of the dirt.

After the ceremony, McGarvey told the Neighborhood News that actual construction of the Wesley Chapel Library at Seven Oaks would begin later this month and that the expected completion date for it was the end of 2025.

Paula Wahl, the business compliance & contracts manager for the Pasco Library System, said that among the new library’s unique features will be a separate construction project of a trail that will be artistically designed to look like you’re walking through the pages of a book. There also will be, “an outdoor ‘reading porch’ overlooking the walkway. We also will have a flexible space that will be able to host ‘maker activities.’ Where many of our other libraries have very specific makerspaces — woodshop, video production studio, cooking programs and so on — this library actually will have a special parking space for our mobile makerspace, similar to the van we have here today, specially outfitted to bring activities from each of those out into the community. All of those other library makerspaces have mobile activities that we can bring out into the community here.”

For more information, visit PascoLibraries.org.

Mobile Library
Former District 2 Commissioner Mike Moore

Chamber Luncheon Reveals Wiregrass Ranch Plans & Calls Out Pasco For Non-Compliance Of Its Agreement Regarding The Sports Campus

“Pasco County is in default of our agreement regarding the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus,” said Wiregrass Ranch developer JD Porter at the North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC)’s new office in the Signature Workspace at the Shops at Wiregrass on Mar. 12. ““They are out of time; they are well past the deadline we gave them to get into compliance.”

Although Porter and his development manager Scott Sheridan talked about all aspects of what is already in place and what is still to come to the Porter family’s 5,100-acre cattle ranch (which stretches from S.R. 54 to south of S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel) at the Chamber luncheon, the blockbuster news coming out of that meeting, attended by about 70 people, was Porter’s promise to “take back the (160-acre Sports Campus) property and sue the county for its non-compliance of the terms of our agreement,” referring to the “Flycatcher” agreement between Wiregrass Ranch and Pasco County, which was created when the land was donated to the county to build the Sports Campus. “The county was never supposed to manage that property,” despite the fact that Pasco voted to self-manage the Sports Campus beginning on June 1, 2023, after also voting unanimously to find RADDSports — the previous management company of the Sports Campus — in default of its agreement in Oct. 2022. The Board of County Commissioners (BOC) also voted unanimously to spend $6 million of taxpayer funds to buy out RADDSports from that agreement as of June 1 – without ever proving that RADD was in default of its managerial contract.

One of the problems, according to Porter, was that Pasco was already supposed to provide five additional outdoor fields, a trail system, concession stands and additional parking on the property (in addition to the two outdoor soccer fields and 98,000-sq.-ft. arena originally constructed when Phase 1 of the Sports Campus opened in 2020). Not only were those additional fields never built, the county never even put them out to bid until late 2023, when Pasco said it would cost $15.2 million to build them. “But,” Porter asked, “how much less would it have cost if the fields had gone to bid five years earlier, before Covid, as the county had promised?” 

Sheridan also noted that, “We want to make sure that this continues to be an asset to the community…a tourist-development-focused asset — that is its first and primary mission. That is what our agreement with the county says it should be, and not necessarily a county park. The purpose is for it to be a tourist development asset to get people dining in our restaurants, shopping at our retail (stores) and staying in our hotel rooms…adding tax base to our local economy.”

“Scott has a much more upbeat outlook on that asset than I do,” Porter said. “They should already have that (Phase 2) done and they are failing in their agreement with us. The county is four or five years behind on delivering the fields and it’s required that they use an outside operator to manage that asset. We have put them on notice that they have crossed the line on this one and they’ve crossed it badly. Government has no business trying to bring in and run stuff like that. Hopefully, they get it back to where it needs to be because if not, we’re going to solve this ourselves and how doesn’t matter to me.  They made a promise and we’re not going to play games, which is what they’ve been doing. So, we can do it nicely or, if they want, we can go to war.”

When asked about the lack of enough parking at the Sports Campus by Becky Hayes, the general manager of the Residence Inn hotel adjacent to the Sports Campus, Porter said, “I’m not a math genius, but I know that they could have built a helluva lot of parking spots for the money they used to buy out a group (RADD) that they signed an agreement with. They spent more than $5 million on that, instead of using the money to fix a problem.” 

Following the Mar. 12 luncheon, District 2 (which includes the Sports Campus and much of Wesley Chapel) Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman spoke with the Neighborhood News and said that Porter was “absolutely correct in his assessment of the situation with the Sports Campus and he has every right to take back the property because Pasco is not in compliance with that Flycatcher agreement.”

Commissioner Weightman also told the Neighborhood News that he would provide numbers to compare how the county’s Parks & Recreation Dept. has done managing the facility since taking over from RADD, but Porter said that the BOC should never have voted to take over the management of the Sports Campus — regardless of its reasons — and is only now getting ready to send out a Request for Quotes/Proposals from new operators to take over its management.

“So, write the county commissioners because it’s not necessarily them, it’s the staff in that (County Commission) office that keeps making excuses every damn day,” Porter said. “Let’s make it uncomfortable for them until they do something.”

“Downtown Wesley Chapel — Legacy Wiregrass Ranch”

Porter and Sheridan also gave updates on the previously announced (and getting ready to go vertical) 300-bed Orlando Health hospital, the 50-bed PAM Health Rehabilitation Hospital (north of the Amberlin Apartments), the other planned medical buildings across Bruce B. Downs Blvd. from the BayCare hospital, the 100,00-sq.-ft. Florida Cancer Specialists medical building (on the south side of S.R. 56, next to North Tampa Behavioral Health) and the highly anticipated “downtown Wesley Chapel that we call Legacy Wiregrass Ranch,” Porter said. “This group is the first to see the update on this, although we’ve been working on it for years.”

He added, “It’s not a  Town Center. I am so tired of it being referred to as a Town Center. There are 28 Town Centers (in Wesley Chapel), and I don’t know what those are but this is an actual downtown. Everybody uses that key word (Town Center) and it’s absolutely incredible because it’s usually a Publix and maybe a Rita’s Italian Ice or something like that and it does nothing. That’s what we call ‘commercial.’ But, this is something that’s legit and it has taken a long time, but this is going to happen. Day One, we will have 150,000 sq. ft. (of office), 100,000 sq. ft. of retail and that’s by design. And we’re investing in it ourselves — we’re building 100,000 sq. ft. across the street. Nobody begins with 350,000 sq. ft. in the county and we have that before it even starts building. We don’t want to pull the trigger too early because if you do, we set somebody up for failure.” 

Sheridan also noted, “Ours will be a true downtown urban development, with a 1,500-space elevated parking structure and five-story rental apartments with truly local businesses, including a food hall, on the bottom floor., plus a large green space area for outdoor entertaining. So, this is definitely urban in nature — four- or five-story apartments, a four- or five-story hotel, all just north of Orlando Health. This will be Phase One, about 25 acres, of a true downtown Wesley Chapel – Legacy Wiregrass Ranch.” 

Porter added, “There has to be residential. These are mid-rise apartment buildings, about 900 units. I don’t understand why the county is against rental units. Lifestyles have changed, so we need rental units, which may be five or six years out, not only here but throughout the ranch. But, if I can get them to do five or six stories here, I can get them to do seven or eight stories someplace else (in Wiregrass Ranch).”

Sheridan added that although the downtown area is likely at least two years away from beginning construction, “We are beginning to seek proposals now and there is some infrastructure already happening. But, by the time Orlando Health opens in late 2025, early 2026, the first phase of this will be on the heels of that.”

Porter also noted that although all of Wiregrass Ranch has a development plan, there will still be plenty of green space throughout the community. 

“Nobody cares more about this land and the wildlife on it than I do. That’s why we’ve taken such a careful approach to this development. People call me a control freak, and maybe I am, but we’ve turned down a lot of different things and we’re building a lot of this ourselves because I want this to be successful.”

“We’ve probably turned down ten gas stations in Wiregrass Ranch,” Sheridan added. “We finally allowed one to open (the 7-11 on Mansfield Blvd.) about a year ago and just agreed to a second one. “We have lost deals  — to great users — because we don’t want to give up control to somebody else.”

Porter noted, “One of my concerns is that everybody loves Wawa, but what happens if Wawa leaves? In our case, whoever takes that over would have to go through me again to make it a Kangaroo or something else.”

And finally, Sheridan says that Wiregrass Ranch currently provides, “about $1.4 billion in tax base to Pasco County. At build-out, conservatively, we’ll probably be about $6.5 billion in tax base. That generates huge revenue for the county.”