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.”
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTbriefings, which are hosted by the North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC) monthly and designed to introduce local business leaders to incoming developers, new business owners or regional leaders, range from being buzzworthy affairs to merely informational.
Unless JD Porter is speaking.
Then, the Chamber briefings become more like a local version of an Apple Event where, in this case, a standing room-only crowd at Hunter’s Green Country Club gathered to hear what great coming attraction — New restaurant? New corporation? New housing development? — the Wiregrass Ranch developer would be announcing.
Porter didn’t deliver anything major, however, like an Apple “one last thing” flourish.
There was, however, notable news he shared on April 26 about the coming developments in the 5,100-acre Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI), which is being developed by the Porter family’s Locust Branch, LLC, and extends from S.R. 56 north to S.R. 54, and west to east from Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. to Meadow Pointe Blvd.
The best news — things are good in Wiregrass Ranch. Really good. According to Porter, developers are lined up trying to get in, and home prices are rising. The average sales price of a home located in the Wiregrass Ranch DRI is a staggering $485,000, which he says is 2.3 times the average home price in Pasco County.
According to Metrostudy, which specializes in housing and construction data, Wiregrass Ranch is the No. 1 community in the Tampa Bay area for home closings in the first quarter of 2018, and is No. 3 for starts.
And much more is on the way…
*JOBS: Porter was proud to proclaim that Wiregrass Ranch has created 2,500 new jobs over the last two years.
“We have created more jobs than homes,” Porter said. “I know there’s not another community in Pasco, and you would be hard pressed to find one in Hillsborough, that can say that.”
And, he added, those job numbers don’t even include the 5,000 or so that Raymond James Financial is said to be bringing to the area when it finally opens, or current construction jobs. Porter’s job news earned him the loudest ovation of his presentation.
*RAYMOND JAMES: Speaking of Raymond James, which was announced in 2011 and has become a long, painstaking effort for Porter, ground will be broken sometime this year. Porter couldn’t say exactly when dirt will begin moving on the 65-acre property at S.R. 56 and Mansfield Blvd., but the huge Raymond James campus is finally close to taking off.
That area east of the Shops at Wiregrass also already includes the new Altis at Wiregrass Ranch apartments, which are already leasing and will be built out by the end of the year, a Morningstar Storage facility (finishing this fall) and a Fairfield Inn hotel, set to open later this summer. A daycare center is currently in permitting.
Also coming and already under contract is a major new restaurant, which Porter did not name, although he did admit that it was likely a major chain that he said would be breaking ground this summer.
“We’re expecting to close here real quick,’’ he said.
Also in the Wiregrass Ranch DRI and expected to finally break ground this summer is the long-awaited indoor sports facility and park, and a Marriott hotel on the same property, which was donated by the Porter family. The project is a public-private partnership venture between developers and the county, which Porter says Pasco County will see more of down the road “because they work.”
BIGGER THAN RAY-JAY?: If you think Raymond James is big, Porter says Wiregrass Ranch is “in the running” for something even bigger.
Declining to name names, Porter said Wiregrass Ranch is on the shortlist of places two Fortune 200 companies are considering as a new location.
One would occupy a 600,000-sq.-ft. space; the other would take more than 1.2-million sq. ft. of space.
Both businesses, he added, are higher on the Fortune 500 list than Raymond James. Porter says he is hopeful.
“It would be nice to have another big one like that,’’ he says, adding that he also is hoping find the right balance between big and small, and is encouraging smaller, localized businesses to make their homes in Wiregrass Ranch.
While grabbing some of the bigger corporations to put on large campuses, he also plans to build office space vertically, in buildings 4-7 stories high, in the hopes of creating Pasco County’s only skyline.
Porter said Class A office space — which generally is located in good and easy-to-access buildings that are professionally managed with high-end tenants — is in the works, as well as a 150,000-sq.-ft. medical office, which would be three times the size of the Farina Orthodontic Specialists “cube” building on BBD in Wiregrass, just south of FHWC.
*TOWN CENTER?: One of the most exciting subjects discussed by Porter was the potential for a town center area in Wiregrass Ranch, which he foresees as being something of Wesley Chapel’s downtown and much-needed in the area.
It will be located on Meadow Pointe Blvd. — which is being expanded all the way to S.R. 54 ahead of schedule — and about a 10-minute walk from the Shops at Wiregrass, which is the primary gathering place in Wesley Chapel right now.
“I think the town center will become that place,” he says.
He foresees a lot more retail in the area, as well as homes and apartments. However, in order for local businesses to succeed, he said that there must be people in the area, and that the plan the past two years with all the home development has been to build that density.
More than 100 people packed the room at Hunter’s Green Country Club to hear Porter’s latest update about the continuing development of his family’s 5,100-acre cattle ranch.
*MORE MULTI-FAMILY: Porter also said that he has 18-20 letters of intent sitting on his desk from multi-family developers who want to come in and build Class A apartments or condominiums/townhomes, but he is proceeding slowly and cautiously. with them.
“We are definitely in the right area at the right time,” Porter said. “I want to make sure that the businesses that are here will stay here and live here, when they see what (the potential downtown area) is all about.”
When Porter was asked by local Realtor (and NTBC Board member) Karen Tillman-Gosselin (who introduced Porter on behalf of the Chamber at the event) about creating a town center like the one in the Westchase area, which is responsible for nearby homes getting multiple contract offers on them, Porter pointed out that Westchase’s town center is on only about 16 acres of land.
The Wiregrass Ranch town center is envisioned to be built on 120 acres.
“I think we’ll start seeing come growth, some development, in the next 24 months,” Porter said. “If we get some ground broken and land a couple of users, it will accelerate that quickly and things will happen real fast.”
*IT’S ALL ABOUT CONNECTIVITY: Porter said that unlike the surrounding areas, Wiregrass Ranch will have the kind of transportation network of which residents can be proud.
S.R. 56 west of Bruce B. Downs Blvd. is already four lanes in each direction, and the expansion east to U.S. Hwy. 301 in Zephyrhills will be a game-changer, Porter said, making the area even more attractive to home builders and businesses.
He noted that the development of Wiregrass Ranch has always carefully considered the roads, and built them for the future, not the present. “If you don’t,” he says, “you’ll never catch up.”
Porter also said that there are 3-4 miles of rapid bus transit or light rail planned in Wiregrass, although he thinks rapid bus transit will happen first and that light rail “may never happen here.”
And, because a new Park & Ride bus station near Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel has been successful since opening, the potential is there to build a vertical parking garage to accommodate more bus riders.
“We are definitely setting things up the right way from the start,” he said. “What we’re doing right now is how everybody should have been doing it.”
During his question & answer session following his briefing, Porter said that he is not in favor of the BBD bypass, which would connect BBD to Meadow Pointe Blvd. a half-mile or more south of where businesses like Sun Trust Bank and Sonny’s BBQ are located, because it will hurt those existing businesses on BBD located north of the bypass. He called it a “waste of money” and “one of the dumbest ideas” he has heard.
He did not weigh in on the much-discussed Kinnan-Mansfield connection in Meadow Pointe (see story on page 10), but said he was in favor of connectivity in general. “I think the more connected we are, the better for everyone.”
*SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE?: Porter also said a 55-plus adult community planned near Estancia will have 850-900 units, as Wiregrass Ranch becomes a player in the quickly growing adult community market.
“We have a younger demographic, people making more money and they want their parents to be close by,” Porter said. “So, we’re going to fill that gap, we’re going to knock it out of the park. I think its going to benefit everybody.”
Although people get the most excited about big box stores and brand name chain restaurants, Porter said he hopes Wiregrass Ranch finds a balance with local businesses and mom-and-pop restaurants.
When it comes to more and better schools, Porter seemed to throw up his hands at the way Pasco County has gone about funding new school construction.
“I think you’ll see a lot more charter schools, I think you will see good charter schools,” Porter says. “You’ll see some private schools opening up, too.”
Two charter schools are scheduled to open in Wesley Chapel over the next two years, including Union Park Charter Academy in August.
And, at the end of the day, Porter hopes Wiregrass Ranch becomes the model for future developers. From making sure the roads were in place to handle future traffic, to bringing in big and community-based businesses first such as the Shops at Wiregrass and Florida Hospital, as well as Pasco-Hernando State College, to carefully easing into the housing developments, he thinks Wiregrass Ranch has been done right.
Judging by the response of his latest presentation in front of local business leaders, many agree.
(L.-r.) Metro Development Group VP Kartik Goyani, Metler Toledo general manager Viggo Nielsen, Wiregrass Ranch’s J.D. Porter and Larry Morgan of ComPark 75. (Photos by Steven John Photography)
The idea behind the 2017 East Pasco Economic Development Summit — the brainchild of Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) CEO Hope Allen and District 2 Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore — was to get some of the county’s heaviest business hitters into one room to update local business leaders on what the future has in store for Wesley Chapel.
The outlook presented was more than just rosy, to say the least.
“I thought it was a big success,’’ said Allen, who was backed up by positive survey results indicating that the audience of roughly 75 would like to see more summits of this nature.
And, Allen said that is the plan — she is trying to organize something for next year on local innovation — after two panels of local business experts, sandwiched around a keynote address from Dr. Jerry Parrish, the chief economist and director of research for the Florida Chamber Foundation, provided three hours of local business news for those in attendance.
The event, held at Pasco Hernando State College (PHSC)’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, was moderated by Moore, who represents much of Wesley Chapel on the Board of County Commissioners (BCC).
The first panel had some of the biggest names in Wesley Chapel development today – J.D. Porter of Wiregrass Ranch, ComPark 75 owner Larry Morgan and Metro Development Group vice president Kartik Goyani. Also on the first panel, although not located in Wesley Chapel, was Viggo Nielsen of Metler Toledo, which manufactures scales and analytical instruments and is relocating from Hillsborough County to a 250,000-sq.-ft. facility to be built near the Suncoast Parkway in Central Pasco (and bringing 500 jobs with it).
Not surprisingly, each business leader agreed that business in Wesley Chapel these days is pretty good, thanks to a combination of land still being available for expansion, a local county commission that is very business-friendly and incentive programs that have attracted companies like Raymond James Financial to the area.
Morgan, whose ComPark 75 is located off Wesley Chapel Blvd. (aka S.R. 54), just south of the S.R. 54 exit off I-75, said that was not always the case. He said much of Wesley Chapel’s development has hinged on patience.
‘When I bought my land in 2007, Pasco was becoming a boom town and then, of course, the recession hit,” Morgan said. “I just had faith and confidence that when the day turned, Pasco County was going to be the spot. I’m not always real good at foresight, but in this case think I got it right.”
Porter echoed Morgan’s sentiments. His family has owned the 5,100-acre Wiregrass Ranch for 75 years, weathering the Great Depression, as well as the local (and national) economic rollercoaster since then.
But now, things couldn’t be more ripe for success. “It’s all about being patient and doing things at the right time,’’ Porter said. “Anybody out there can crush it right now.”
Porter cited infrastructure that is already in place, a higher median household income and lower median age as attractive benchmarks for major businesses interested in setting up in Wesley Chapel. He said the addition of more homes and schools, as well as the continuing business-friendly voting of the county commission and the streamlining of the permitting process, portend a bright future for the area.
“Everyone recognizes Wesley Chapel as a whole right now,’’ Porter said. “Our (old)slogan was, “We’re Open for Business,” but nobody saw Pasco County as being open for business. They saw a bunch of headaches that actually changing (those headaches) has set the stage for moving forward.”
Morgan and Goyani agreed that Wesley Chapel is part of a hot region at the moment when it comes to business and development.
Goyani said that when Metro Development approached Pasco officials four years ago about building its “connected city” project — which is being built from the internet up with giga-fast internet service, the first two Crystal Lagoons in North America (see story on pg. 6) and a high-tech infrastructure that will one day showcase autonomous vehicles — it received a positive response from the county immediately.
“We got a yes quickly,’’ Goyani said. “I don’t think we would have gotten that response from any of our other counties. It really made the choice easy for us. Time will prove it was the right decision.”
Porter agreed.
“Pasco County now has a seat at the ‘big boys’ table,’’ he said. “They have more land and more resources and better infrastructure than what you will find in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Sarasota or Manatee (counties).That’s my opinion.”
(L.-r.) PHSC-Porter Campus Provost Kevin O’Farrell, PHSC provost Stanley Gianett, Pasco County administrator Dan Biles, Pasco EDC president Bill Cronin, Florida Trend publisher Andy Corty, Wesley Chapel Chamber CEO Hope Allen and District 2 Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore.
About the only things the panel did complain about were the state legislature’s battle with Governor Rick Scott over reducing incentives — Porter called it “pretty sad, pretty disgusting” — and the recent decision by the Pasco BCC to raise impact fees to help build more schools, a decision that has been lauded by the Pasco School District and Moore’s fellow commissioners on the BCC.
As for the future, the panel predicted more good things. Porter, continuing his diligent pursuit of “just the right fit” for Wiregrass Ranch, hinted at another big deal just around the corner. He said in the past month, he has talked to two companies with even more name recognition than Raymond James Financial about coming to Wesley Chapel.
Porter didn’t provide any details, other than to say Wiregrass Ranch is in the running for both, but he predicts he will at least land one of the two.
“I think everybody is going to be very excited with what’s coming in the next 12-18 months,’’ Porter said.
After Parrish gave his keynote address about the positive jobs outlook in Florida, a second panel featuring Florida Trend publisher Andy Corty, Pasco County administrator Dan Biles, Pasco Economic Development Council president Bill Cronin and PHSC provost Dr. Stanley Gianett continued the conversation, looking at the government’s role in luring businesses to the county, and the positive effect regionalism could have down the road.
The Neighborhood News recently spoke with Wiregrass Ranch developer and owner JD Porter about his family’s philosophy in developing the land that has been owned by his family for more than seven decades, and some of the things that are coming to Wiregrass Ranch in the future.Here’s our story on Porter, and below is the map with descriptions of how Wiregrass Ranch might look in a few years.
1. TRANSPORTATION
Pasco County Public Transportation
JD Porter takes great pride in his family’s foresight. They paid $25 of $30-million to build out six lanes of S.R. 56 in front of the Shops at Wiregrass. “I give my uncles and dad a lot of credit,” Porter says. “Do it right the first time, it’s usually a lot cheaper and a lot more effective.”
And, while light rail may never become a reality, Wiregrass Ranch is ready for it. Porter says he doesn’t see it happening until the drive to Tampa takes people 2.5 hours. But, with so much traffic heading the opposite way, north from the University of South Florida area into Wiregrass Ranch, Porter has dedicated 3.5 miles of transportation right of way through the DRI, starting at FHWC, winding past the mall and Raymond James and up Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. towards the future town center.
“If not light rail, then rapid bus,’’ Porter says. Another touch: although they cost an extra $300-million or so, Porter says roundabouts are being built on Wiregrass Ranch Blvd.
2. ADULT LIVING
There are no over-55 active adult communities in sight — the nearest one to Wesley Chapel is still Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club on S.R. 52 in San Antonio — but Porter hopes to change that with Valencia, an 850-unit single-family residential development scheduled to begin construction later this year. In fact, he sounds downright excited to do so.
“We have a young demographic, and they are going to want their parents close to them,’’ Porter says. “We want Wiregrass Ranch to be family friendly.”
Porter also notes that having an A-rated adult community (and he says Wiregrass Ranch’s will be A+) has long been an integral part of his development plans.
3. OTHER RESIDENTIAL
Persimmon Park will be a 340-unit single-family development with villas and townhomes, and will be located within walking distance to the development’s town center. It will be located just south of Chancey Rd. and west of Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. and is currently in permitting, but Porter says he has a number of builders already lined up. And, while many developers use many builders, Porter said he likes to rely on a small group, which currently includes Lennar, CalAtlantic and GL Homes.
4. PHASE II OF THE SHOPS AT WIREGRASS MALL
Not much new to report here, as Shops at Wiregrass general manager Greg Lennars says the mall is still looking for those “perfect fits.” He said that a handful of green grocers have expressed interest in being one of the anchors of the new site, and better offers roll in every week, but no decision has been made.
Securing a movie theater for the project — which has yet to break ground and continues to wait on permitting — is ongoing. Altis is being built right behind it. The four-story apartment complex is a $60-million project, and is expected to open sometime in 2018, with 392 units. It is part of the Porters’ effort to begin to grow the residential area around Wiregrass Ranch as new businesses move in.
5. TOWN CENTER
Porter is not fond of the town center concept as it has been developed in most places — a Publix and a few other stores — but his team has huge plans for the center he envisions and for which he has set aside 146 acres right in the middle of Wiregrass Ranch.
“Bigger than downtown Winter Park, bigger than downtown Tampa, really,’’ says Scott Sheridan. “It will truly redefine what a downtown is.”
Porter doesn’t see the town center as Wesley Chapel’s downtown, or even Pasco County’s downtown. What he envisions is “Northern Tampa Bay’s downtown.” He says he is content to let the area around it develop as Raymond James, Persimmon Park, Estancia and The Arbors mature.
“If we did it now, it would be great, but it wouldn’t meet our standards,’’ he says. Porter adds that a performing arts center might be a good anchor, but also has seen 2-3 other proposals he likes even better. “I look at it as being what Buckhead is to Atlanta,’’ he says.
6. ATHLETIC COMPLEX
The Porters donated 138 acres to Pasco County for a park, and then watched as the county failed to close any deals to do something with the land. “It sat there for eight years,’’ Porter says, and he has expressed frustration with the progress of that land in the past, calling it a nightmare. But RADDsports out of Sarasota has won the bid to build an indoor athletic complex with some outdoor fields, and while not exactly what Porter had in mind, he seems more hopeful. “I think we all feel things are moving in the right direction,” he says.
7. MEDICAL
When Sheridan and Porter look down the road, they definitely see more medical industry coming to Wiregrass Ranch.
Florida Medical Clinic just north of S.R. 56 on Bruce B. Downs opened recently, and next to that construction is ongoing on the $3-million, three-story 16,000-sq.-ft. Lismark Medical Office (photo), which will be located between the Florida Medical Clinic and FHWC. And, NTBH is expanding, too.
The Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) approved regular business item R5 that green-lit the RADDsportsWiregrass Sports Complex, as well as agreeing to double the Tourist Development Tax (TDT), or bed tax, in order to help finance it.
The $44-million project, which will be built on part of a 224-acre parcel located northeast of the Shops of Wiregrass owned by the county (that was previously donated by the Porter family), has taken on many manifestations over the years but RADDsports’ proposal won over county commissioners at nearly every juncture.
“I had to sit here, look (former Major League Baseball star) Gary Sheffield in the face and tell him, no,” BCC chair and District 2 commissioner Mike Moore said, referring to a failed plan for a Wiregrass Ranch baseball complex at the same site in 2015.
“That was a bad project,” Moore said, “but this is a good project.”
The journey to build some sort of sports complex is eight years old, and a 5-0 vote by the commissioners indicated that they think they have finally found the right one.
“I 100-percent support the project and the steps that went into it,” said BCC vice-chair (and Dist. 4 commissioner) Mike Wells.
The project design calls for a multi-purpose sports complex that is anchored by a 98,000-sq.ft. multi-purpose building, which can host volleyball, basketball, cheerleading and other indoor events. The sports complex also will include eight outdoor sports fields, an outdoor amphitheatre and event lawn as well as pavilions, a playground and trails.
“This complex, along with (Florida Hospital) Center Ice, Florida Hospital of Wesley Chapel and Saddlebrook really put us on the map,” said Pasco strategy policy administrator Richard Gehring.
Funding sources for the planned complex include $11 million previously set aside by the BCC ($8.5-million in tourist tax funds and $2.5 million in excess bond proceeds from a prior half-cent sales tax bond), a county-backed loan of $14,253,700, plus $18,750,000 in private equity and debt from the Mainsail Development, which will be building a hotel on the complex site.
The two-percent increase in the TDT is expected to generate $1.2 million annually, which will help by paying down the loan, along with the revenue RADDsports says the complex will generate (the company says that by year six, the gross revenue will be approximately $4.6 million).
A super majority vote (four of the five BCC commissioners) is required to officially pass the TDT increase. A vote will be held at a future meeting, following a public hearing.
Despite doubling the TDT, it would still be lower than the TDTs in both Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.
There also was some discussion about losing hotel revenue to Hillsborough County. Commissioners cited the December lacrosse tournament hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods at Wesley Chapel District Park and how the county lost a lot of hotel revenue with people electing to stay at hotels in Hillsborough County, including several in New Tampa.
Gehring recommended creating a list of nearby, “preferred” hotels within the county and charging a fee for not using one of the preferred hotels.
The RADDsports proposal includes a Mainsail Development project for a $19-million, 120-room Marriot branded Residence Inn to be privately financed. The county says the sports complex will generate 27,000 room nights per year.
Saddlebrook Resort owner Tom Dempsey, as well as Saddlebrook general manager Patrick Ciaccio,were two of a handful of speakers to voice their opinions before the commissioners debated the sports complex project.
Their800-room resort has nearly a quarter of all the available hotel rooms in Pasco County, and as a result, collects most of the bed taxes.
“I’ve been in the sports business for 30 years and I think this project is questionable,’’ Dempsey said. “A tourist tax from Day 1 is a loser. I disagree with the two-percent tax increase.”
Other nearby hotels in Pasco include: a 92-room Fairfield Inn & Suites planned on nearby property in Wiregrass, an 80-room Holiday Inn Express that just opened east of I-75, and a 125-room Hilton Garden Inn that is currently under construction at S.R. 56 and Silver Maple Pkwy.
