Down On The (Wiregrass) Ranch

JD Porter and his family don’t look at themselves merely as developers trying to make a buck. They look at themselves as curators of a 5,000-acre family heirloom that has been in the family since 1937, when James “Wiregrass” Porter bought the sprawling ranch land and moved to Wesley Chapel.

That land now has an elementary, middle, high school, a state college and multiple residential subdivisions. 

There is a mall and a hospital, a hotel and a high-end car dealership, and so much more already standing, with a state road that was built with six lanes long before it actually needed that many lanes slicing through it.

“We’ve done some great things,” says JD, the developer and driving force behind Wiregrass Ranch’s residential and commercial expansion.

And there’s more on the way. Even as developed as his family’s ranch is, if you take a peek at what is still to come, it doesn’t even feel half done.

So, as the Wesley Chapel area surrounding Wiregrass Ranch explodes with lagoons and trendy shipping container crates, restaurants and town centers, Porter continues to bide his time and slowly build something different.

The State of The Ranch

“It’s good. It’s busy,” Porter says.

While nothing new has been announced recently for Wiregrass Ranch, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing new planned, or any negotiations ongoing.

In fact, there’s plenty new planned, and talks almost daily.

In poker parlance, Porter always plays his cards close to the vest, and will only reveal those cards well after the hand has been finished.

“I’m not trying to be coy,” he says matter-of-factly. “It’s just how we’ve always done business.”

While there won’t be any details announced until later this year, Wiregrass Ranch chief operating officer (COO) Scott Sheridan says it will be a busy time on the ranch.

“We’re pretty excited about 2020,” he says. “We don’t see any slowdown on the near-term horizon.”

Porter says he is content playing the long game. No flashy restaurants or activity centers or trendy grocery stores are coming anytime soon. 

While others may be filling immediate needs and desires, “We are working on infrastructure” that in the end, will make Wiregrass Ranch vibrant and sustainable for years, like it did building S.R. 56 as a six-lane highway long before the area was bustling. 

In The Plans

Porter says a 200,000-sq.-ft. office project will come out of the ground later this year. 

“We have a unique blend of users,” he says. “It’s going to be nice.”

Porter also has submitted plans to build another retail strip on S.R. 54 at the northernmost edge of Wiregrass Ranch, next to the recently completed first retail project, which is anchored by a new Glory Days Grill, on the S.R. 54 side of Wiregrass Ranch, which runs all the way from 54 to south of S.R. 56. Another restaurant is planned for the latest budding retail project, but Porter says no leases have yet been signed.

But, later this year — Porter won’t exactly say when — you might have to buckle up for an announcement or two.

“There’s some exciting things coming down the pipeline,” Porter says. “Some of the things will be game-changers for the area that I don’t think anyone has expected.”

Who doesn’t love a little suspense?

Building The Donut

Porter has had plans for a town center — which he has claimed will serve not only as Wesley Chapel’s downtown but a downtown for the entire North Tampa Bay area — for a while now. But, before that project sprouts to life, he says it is important to build an apparatus — revolving around residential — that will support it, which they are doing.

“I know there has been a ton of stories about town centers recently,” he says (see story on page 6). “We’ve talked about that for, what, 15 years? But we’re working in a direction that surrounds that donut hole.”

Which would make that donut the residential support, Sheridan says. “We’re getting that donut, for lack of a better word, closed in.”

The town center would be located in the heart of Wiregrass Ranch. It will be connected to all of the development by a series of trails and sidewalks — a vast spiderweb, if you will, with the north-south spine running through the middle of it being the under-construction Wiregrass Ranch Blvd., which should be completed from 54 to 56 by 2023.

That road will have traffic-calming roundabouts throughout, another way that Porter and Sheridan are trying to stay ahead of the game.

Meanwhile, Wiregrass Ranch’s future town center area is slowly becoming surrounded by homes. 

Estancia, The Ridge and the Arbors at Wiregrass Ranch, the Altis apartments and a Fairfield Inn hotel are already in place, and Persimmon Park and the 800+ home Esplanade 55-and-older community are under construction. And, now, S.R. 56 has been extended to U.S. 301, which will bring with it more homes and even more residents who will be flocking to the area.

Porter says he is thrilled to have Esplanade starting with Taylor Morrison Homes on board as the builder. The 55-plus community, the residents of which will likely consist of many retirees, will provide much of the daytime business when the town center is built.

“It was an underserved market, and a great fit for us,” Porter says.

More people means more businesses, which leads to a need for more entertainment and neighborhood retail, leaving developers with a greater responsibility to find the right combination to make the “live here, work here, play here” model work.

In the past, Porter has talked about a performing arts center in Wiregrass Ranch, but that is no longer necessary due to the one the county is building next to Cypress Creek middle and high schools to the north. But, something with a similar impact will take its place as an anchor.

“We are actively working on, and looking at, some unique catalysts in our town center,” Sheridan says. 

“The end of the earth used to be Meadow Pointe Blvd., but that’s not the case anymore,” Porter says. “The town center is 10 times more viable than it was 10 years ago, and it was viable then. We’ve just been extremely patient to get the right blend.”

As for the town center, well, just you wait, says Porter says. It won’t be anchored by a Publix and a laundromat, he jokes. It will be something special.

“It will be a true, mixed-use, walkable, pedestrian-focused town center,” Sheridan says.

Still Waiting… 

Raymond James Financial filed plans last year to build its massive 1-million-sq.-ft. satellite campus on 65 acres at the corner of S.R. 56 and Mansfield Blvd.

When that actually will happen, though, no one knows.

“They own the property. They have the permits. Everything is ready to go,” Porter says. “They are a big company and when they decide they are ready, they are going to do it. It’s been put on a silver platter.”

Since Raymond James, which will create thousands of new jobs when it finally builds its campus, closed on the property last year, Porter says other projects in Wiregrass Ranch have already created 2,000 jobs.

Another long-anticipated project is the move of the Publix grocery store from the corner of S.R. 54 and Bruce B. Downs Blvd. to a space across Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. from Walmart.

It’s still happening, says Porter, who adds that Publix may be looking to build two other stores within Wiregrass Ranch.

Wrapping It Up

Just consider the things that are open, underway or wrapping up this year:

•Esplanade and Persimmon Park: Persimmon Park, which is geared towards families and will have 340 townhome units by David Weekley Homes and ICI Homes, should have models ready to view and future homes ready to sell by April.

•The Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County will open in July, and will host its first event in September. The massive campus will feature a 98,000-sq.-ft. indoor sports facility, plus outdoor fields on the 80-acre parcel, and eventually a 128-room Marriott Residence Inn. The public-private partnership facility will provide an economic boon to the Ranch.

•And…AdventHealth Wesley Chapel: Built on the land where Porter was raised, is expanding, in partnership with Moffitt Cancer Center. A three-story, 100,000-square-foot medical office complex, with 28,000 square feet dedicated to a cancer outpatient center, is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

• Plus…Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch of Pasco Hernando State College (which started as a community college and has room for expansion) and Beach House at Wiregrass Ranch Adult Living & Memory Care. All of these are Wiregrass Ranch projects that have been patiently developed for years, and have come to fruition. 

Flashy? No. 

Pillars for building a strong community that will contribute to residential and commercial growth? Absolutely.

Developing Wiregrass Ranch is a job Porter says he takes personally and that he is in it for the long haul, he says, which makes his approach different, and more careful.

While he enjoys the competition from other developers and seeing what they will be building — and rooting for them, by the way, because he says he wants to see Wesley Chapel flourish — he feels he has a greater responsibility to make the right decisions.

“This land has provided a huge opportunity, not only for my family but the whole area,” he says. “We’ve been here 80 years, why wouldn’t we want to make it better for the next 80 years? That business model doesn’t work for publicly traded companies that have to make 25 percent for investors every year. That allows us to work on filling the gaps and being sustainable.” 

Raymond James Submits Plans To County

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.

Taylor Morrison Breaks Ground On 55+ Community In Wiregrass Ranch

The Esplanade at Wiregrass Ranch, which broke ground last month, will be an over-55 community with more than 800 total homes, as homebuilder Taylor Morrison continues to expand in Wesley Chapel.

Homebuilder Taylor Morrison’s Esplanade series — which provides “resort lifestyle experiences” for its residents — has already proven to be popular in a number of Tampa Bay locations.

A new development planned for Wiregrass Ranch could take that popularity to another level.

Last month, Taylor Morrison broke ground on Esplanade at Wiregrass Ranch, which will feature more than 850 single-family and detached villa homes and will be Wesley Chapel’s first 55-and-over community since Williamsburg was originally built as an age-restricted community in the 1970s.

The new community will be located in the heart of the Wiregrass Ranch DRI, between State Roads 54 and 56 and east of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. Esplanade at Wiregrass Ranch will be adjacent to the under-construction Wiregrass Ranch Blvd., which will run north and south from S.R. 56 to S.R. 54.

Originally, the project was called Valencia under a different builder, but when that fell through last year, Taylor Morrison was approached and jumped at the chance to take over the development.

“The location and the size of it were two of the things attractive about this opportunity,” said Doug Miller, Division President of Taylor Morrison’s operations in Tampa. “To have this lifestyle community in Wesley Chapel is really attractive for us. There are a lot of things to do there, there’s a hospital, shopping and entertainment. It really made this location key for us.”

Phase One, which was approved for construction in May, will have 169 single-family, attached homes.

Scott Himelhoch, vice president of land acquisition for Taylor Morrison, unveiled many of the plans and amenities for Esplanade at Wiregrass Ranch at a North Tampa Bay Chamber Economic Development Briefing at Hunter’s Green Country Club on Aug. 29.

With construction under way, the 55-over community hopes to hold a grand opening of its amenity center sometime late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter of 2020. That was good news for some of the Realtors in attendance at Hunter’s Green, who said they are in need of more product to sell to eager buyers. 

Taylor Morrison’s Esplanade offerings generally offer features like tile roofs and lush landscaping as standard features. Because it will be building in an area that has ample greenspace, walking paths and nature will be incorporated into the layout.

Although the community will be mostly restricted to residents 55-and-over (80 percent must fall in that category, with the other 20 percent required to be 45-and-over), Taylor Morrison will be building homes ranging in size from 1,700-3,500 square feet, recognizing that not every older family wants to downsize and that many still want to be the central hub for holiday and family gatherings.

Taylor Morrison has Esplanade communities either built or in the process of building out in New Tampa (350 homes just south of the Hillsborough-Pasco county line and west of Grand Hampton) and Starkey Ranch (500 homes) in Odessa.

The Wiregrass Ranch community, however, is expected to be the crown jewel of the Esplanades in the Tampa market.

Himelhoch touted many of the offerings that will make Esplanade at Wiregrass Ranch a popular pick for homebuyers.

Because Esplanades seek to give residents a boutique resort living experience, a full-time lifestyle manager is on staff in every community, operating as part-cruise director, part-concierge.

The lifestyle manager helps create wellness programs and social events. A loaded calendar offers things like dinner dances, concerts, clubs, groups and football watch parties.

The concierge service is an added plus. The resort-style pool will offer towels, food and beverage service, as well the ability to make dinner reservations without ever having to leave your poolside seat.

Taylor Morrison has been very active in Wesley Chapel. In the last few months, the homebuilder has completed two new communities in Wesley Chapel — Woodside Trace, a 52-townhome community located on County Line Rd. approximately two miles west of Bruce B. Downs, and Chapel Trace, an 87-unit single-family-home community north of S.R. 54 on Boyette Rd. The builder also is preparing to build three additional new subdivisions within WaterGrass on Curley Rd.

With the new S.R. 56 extension to U.S. Hwy. 301 in Zephyrhills complete, Taylor Morrison already is planning on new developments in that corridor – it is the contract purchaser for land at the former Zephyr Egg site west of Morris Bridge Rd., and could begin construction next year.

“We expect to continue to be active,” Miller says. “Wesley Chapel is one of our key submarkets in our approach to Tampa. We have a nice mix of offerings in that area, and we see a lot of runway ahead of us in Wesley Chapel.”

For more information about Taylor Morrison’s new 55+ community, visit EsplanadeAtWiregrassRanch.com, where you can join the VIP Interest List, or  call (866) 495-6006.

The Latest On The Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus Of Pasco County!


Above is a 3D rendering of the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County, which shows eight basketball courts that can be divided into 16 volleyball courts. Source: RADD Sports. 

After years of staring at renderings and blue prints and imagining what the new sports complex in Wiregrass Ranch will actually look like, general manager and RADD Sports CEO Richard Blalock’s vision is now coming into focus.

The Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County is no longer just a large patch of cleared land, it has gone vertical, and the current schedule is looking towards a July 10, 2020, completion.

After three failed efforts since 2001 to build an athletic complex on the property located northeast of the Shops at Wiregrass and two miles east of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., off S.R. 56, the 98,000-sq.-ft. indoor gymnasium is on its way.

Blalock, however, is not letting his excitement get the best of him. While the $45-million facility — which will share a campus with a full-service, Marriott-branded, 120-room Residence Inn hotel featuring a rooftop bar — is a big part of transforming the Wesley Chapel area — and Pasco County — into even more of a sports tourism hotbed, he intends to proceed slowly out of the gate.

“We’ve got people lined up that want to sign a contract now,” says Blalock. 


A drone photo of the progress on the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus. Photo by Charmaine George.

He is proceeding, though, like a quarterback with plenty of time on the clock. It’s not that he doubts the projection. But, he’s leery of Florida’s cranky wet weather that often slows down construction, most recently during Hurricane Dorian’s trip through the Atlantic.

“We had to take all of the cranes down,” says Jannah Nager, who was recently hired as RADD Sports’ director of marketing after working for more than four years as the marketing and events coordinator at the Pasco Education Foundation. She is the wife of Neighborhood News publisher Gary Nager.

With more bad weather lurking, it may not be the last time the cranes and other equipment have to be removed from the site for safety reasons.

“Everybody is beating us up, ‘When are you going to start booking events?,’” Blalock says. “But, I will not start booking events until after this hurricane season. Once the roof is on, or the side panels, I’ll be more comfortable.”

Blalock says a new facility in North Carolina jumped the gun on its opening and, thanks to Hurricane Dorian, had to postpone that opening.

“That’s the last thing we can afford to have happen here,” he says.

By October of 2020, Blalock says, he hopes to have events ready to go at the new facility, which broke ground in June of 2018. He hopes to book at least 25 events in the first 12 months the sports facility is running. Nager’s job is to help spread the word in the community while marketing the facility to sponsors.

“Jannah knows the community, she knows the people, she knows the ins and out, and she knows the politicians,” said Blalock. “We need somebody that knows community and is popular in the community. That makes our job so much easier.”

The primary sports at the new complex will be basketball and volleyball, and cheerleading is expected to be the third core sport at the facility, which can run eight basketball courts or 16 volleyball courts at any one time.

There also is room for multiple mats for wrestling and judo tournaments, with gymnastics also a possibility. Blalock said he even has been contacted by a youth soccer team in the United Kingdom that is interested in training for a few weeks at the new facility, which will have two outdoor soccer fields and plenty of room to train inside if the weather turns bad.

Local Use During The Week!

Weekend sports tournaments, however, will be just part of the big picture at the new facility.

Blalock says there will be plenty of sports programming for local athletes to participate in, too. He says there will be a three-tier system for each of its three core sports — Academy, Competitive and Development — which will allow opportunities for all level of athletes starting at the age of 9 and going all the way through high school 

Jannah Nager and Richard Blalock are just beginning to market the complex to local sponsors. 

The Academy will be for training elite athletes for travel teams, but will also include an educational component and require participants to maintain a certain grade-point-average. He says the sports will be programmed to not interfere with the local high school seasons.

“The ultimate goal is to change the culture of how these kids are trained,” Blalock says, adding that it is well-documented that youth sports are susceptible to being overrun by overzealous coaches and parents, as well as entitled athletes.

The Competitive program also will be in-house, with three days a week of practices and games — and the chance for advancement to the Academy level, Blalock says.

The Developmental program will be “quasi-recreational,” according to Blalock. Volunteer coaches will run the teams, although those coaches will have plenty of access to paid coaches on the complex’s paid sports staff to help develop more drills and gameplans.

The programming also will be competitively priced with the local market, according to Blalock.

For those who like sports but don’t play for whatever reason, the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus will offer a Sports Administration & Hospitality program, where kids can gather data, travel with the teams and serve as managers.

And, now that ground has broken on a nearby 55-over community in Wiregrass Ranch (see story on pg. 8), more programming for older residents also may be in the offing, like pickleball and Rock Steady Boxing for those with Parkinson’s disease. There may even be room for some golf cart parking spots, Blalock says.

In addition to its youth and adult sports programs, the facility is able to provide space for conventions, banquets and other non-sports events.

Blalock and Nager are putting together sponsorship packages now, and also are accepting resumes for positions, although Blalock stresses that the actual hiring process is likely several months away. 

For more information about sponsorships and more, visit RADDSports.com or email Jannah@raddsports.com. 

Wesley Chapel Area Spring Football Recap

CYPRESS CREEK

Biggest Question

Tim Ford-Brown was the team’s leading rusher and second-leading receiver last year and, along with others in the first graduating class at Cypress Creek (CCH), will leave a big hole. Can anyone fill it?

The Answer

It’s unlikely, as the Coyotes are graduating about 85-90 percent of all of their offensive production from a year ago. Rising sophomore Andrew Burgess got the lion’s share of the carries and pass receptions in a disappointing 35-14 spring game loss to Pasco, but showed some durability and versatility. The Coyotes will still rely on rising senior twins Jehlani (the quarterback) and Jalen Warren (wide receiver and running back), but will need more help.

Spring Game Standouts

Fullback Brycen Hernandez scored both of Cypress Creek’s touchdowns in the spring loss on 2- and 4-yard runs. Dontrell Clerkley caught a 24-yard pass in the game. Defensive lineman Ameen Saed had a forced fumble on the first play of the game, but separated his shoulder doing so and sat out the rest of the contest.

Audible

“(Burgess) is someone we’re going to move around a lot on offense,” head coach Michael Johnson said. “He was all-in for the spring game but there were some eye-opening moments for him, especially in the second half, playing at the varsity level.”

WIREGRASS RANCH

Biggest Question

The Bulls only graduated seven seniors, but most were critical pieces to the starting lineup, like two-year starter at quarterback Grant Sessums. How would the replacements, especially 6-foot-2 rising senior QB Hunter Helton, look in live game action?

The Answer

Well, the new quarterback helped produce 55 points, so he looked pretty good.

Helton connected with rising senior running back Keith Walker on three touchdowns in a barn-burner 55-48 win at East Lake. The defense, on the other hand, gave up a lot of points against a hurry-up offense that limited their substitutions and audibles.

Spring Game Standouts

Walker scored five touchdowns on the night, three through the air and two rushing. A role player last year on offense, Walker could be primed for a huge season after topping 100 yards rushing and receiving against East Lake. Helton threw for 242 yards and spread the ball around well, hitting Noah Biglow for a 69-yard score.

Audible

“I don’t know how many teams we’ll play that play that fast,” Wiregrass head coach Mark Kantor said of East Lake. “That style was faster than arena league and it was hard to get a lot of things going on defense because they (East Lake) snapped the ball so fast — it was tough.”

WESLEY CHAPEL

Biggest Question

The quarterback position has been a quarterback-by-committee affair ever since Jacob Thomas graduated at the end of head coach Tony Egan’s first year.

Egan, new staff members Tom McHugh and Brian Colding from Pasco High, as well as former South Carolina and CFL quarterback Stephen Garcia, have been working hard with possible starters. So, who will it be between rising junior Owen Libby and backup Ethan Harper?

The Answer

To be determined. Both guys played well in the spring game, a 35-7 win over Land O’Lakes. Libby threw for 177 yards and two scores, including gains of 41 and 38 yards. Harper threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass and also ran for a score.

Spring Game Standouts

Isaiah Ramsey, a basketball player who goes 6’-4”, 205 lbs., caught a 48-yard touchdown on a slant, and Jon’Tavius Anderson had a breakout game with more than 100 yards receiving. 

Audible

“This is going to be the first time we have a 20-game starter at QB since Jacob Thomas,” Egan said. “Both (Libby and Harper) need more reps and we’ll be doing a lot of 7-on-7 this summer to help with their progressions and routes.”