Tag: Wiregrass Ranch

MAP: Wiregrass Ranch Present and Future

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

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.

JD Porter map Wiregrass Ranch

Wiregrass Ranch Sports Complex Finally Moving Forward After BCC Vote

The Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) approved regular business item R5 that green-lit the RADDsports Wiregrass 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.

Their 800-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.

sports complex Wiregrass Ranch

Emptying The Town Hall Notebook

More than 1,000 parents and students streamed into Wesley Chapel High’s gymnasium Tuesday night, all hoping to convince Pasco County administrators that the recommended plan for school rezoning of their communities – Option 12 — was a bad one.

Did they succeed after the three-and-a-half hour town hall? We’ll find out Friday, when the Pasco School Boundary Committee (SBC) meets at 10:30 a.m. to discuss the arguments made Tuesday night, and whether any of its members – made up of school principals, parents and county administrators – have changed their minds about recommending Option 12.

The SBC, brought together to zone the new Cypress Creek Middle and High School (opening in 2017-18) and reduce overcrowding at Wesley Chapel’s other schools, unanimously voted to recommend Option 12 to the school board in its last meeting.

Option 12 fills the new school with mostly students living west of I-75, but to relieve overcrowding at Wiregrass Ranch High and John Long Middle, also re-zones students who live in neighborhoods with access to Meadow Pointe Blvd. (north and south of S.R. 56), which affects families in Meadow Pointe III and IV, Country Walk, Union Park and other communities.

The re-zoned students, who currently attend John Long Middle (JLMS) and Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH), would move to Thomas E. Weightman Middle (TWM) and Wesley Chapel High (WCH).

At least 50 parents wore black shirts with the 12 crossed out on it at the meeting. The crowd appeared split between two options, 13 and 20, and clearly opposed to 12.

Option 13 basically keeps communities south of S.R. 56 in their current WRH and JLMS zone, preserving Meadow Pointe III and Union Park. For the most part, Option 20 keeps the current zone as it is, with the exception moving Seven Oaks and Northwood to WMS and WCH.

To sum up the meeting: no one wants to drive up Meadow Pointe Blvd. to S.R. 54 to Curley Road during peak traffic hours to get to and from school.

img_2078-2 — Pasco Director of Planning Chris Williams.

Here’s some notes from the parents town hall at WCH, where more than 50 parents and students lined up behind a microphone and made their cases in front of a panel of county administrators (you’ll have to excuse the lack of names. Only a handful of speakers identified themselves, and chasing them down after they spoke was not possible. I’m basically emptying my notebook here.):

The first mention of Option 20, by Pasco director of planning Chris Williams, drew a raucous ovation. By the same token, the first mention of Option 12 was roundly booed.
The first speaker was in favor of Option 20, and said there was a petition backing her support with 1,120 signatures on it that was emailed to the School Board Tuesday afternoon.
One speaker worried about the “emotional impact” on kids not being to attend their neighborhood schools. She worried that the mental health of many of the re-zoned children would be compromised.
One parent who has two children at WRH and in the band said the re-zoning would be a logistical nightmare. This is a legitimate concern echoed by a number of parents during the night.Students who will be seniors next year don’t have to change schools, but their siblings who are incoming freshman or rising sophomores or juniors will have to. “Friday night is going to be very hard,’’ the mom said, with one student performing in band at WRH while the other is performing at the same time at WCH.It was suggested the county consider grandfathering in siblings of seniors to prevent this.
The biggest loser of the night? S.R. 54.“It’s horrible. It’s horrendous. It’s dangerous,’’ said one speaker.A large majority of the supporters of Option 20 cite traffic as their main reason, since it will keep their students from having to be transported up Meadow Pointe Blvd. and then across S.R. 54 to WCH.No one wants to travel on S.R. 54, especially considering a widening project right in front where it crosses Meadow Pointe Blvd. begins in 2017.
Supporters of options 13 and 20 are emboldened by a Florida Department of Transportation review by Joel Provenzano, but especially supports of Option 20.A permits review manager and traffic engineering specialist for FDOT, Provenzavo concluded “the best traffic pattern for the state roads (by far) is Option 20.”Provenzano’s professional opinion was debated Tuesday night, with some suggesting it was just that – an opinion. No official study has been done by FDOT concerning the school options and traffic patterns, and some Seven Oaks parents said their path to school, north on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. and east of S.R. 54, would also be fraught with danger.Williams said the county typically doesn’t consult with FDOT – or the Fire and Sheriff’s departments – when drawing its school zones. Again, we’ll see how much of an effect Provenzano’s assessment has on the committee come Friday.But the frustration over the possibility of a 10-minute bus ride to school becoming a 30- or 45-minute ride to school was palpable Tuesday night.
One parent was distraught that her daughter had taken all the prerequisites for WRH’s culinary program, and now would have to attend a school that didn’t have one. A Wesley Chapel student was concerned the sign language courses she had been hoping to take would not be offered at the new school.They were told to look into school choice. If your child is sold on one program or another, and the school they are zoned for doesn’t offer it, they can apply to another school. There are no guarantees, however, that choice will be granted.
Kevin Croswell, representing Meadow Pointe III, spoke out against Option 12. Croswell is against any option that breaks up his community, and thinks the SBC was influenced by Seven Oaks Voice — another parent group that submitted their own proposal for re-zoning that protected its community — because three of the SBC members are Seven Oaks residents.According to Williams, that is not true. He says there are two Seven Oaks residents on the SBC, and they were chosen by the school principals from WRH and JLM, who were allowed to pick two parents apiece. Williams added the county had nothing to do with those choices, and that trying to choose a parent from every community that might be affected would create chaos.However, the lack of Meadow Pointe representation on the SBC was a sticking point for a number of parents in the crowd Tuesday night. One parents yelled out “It’s rigged!”
At least two speakers criticized Meadow Pointe residents for not being more aware of what was going on and attending previous SBC meetings.It wasn’t until the final recommendation that Meadow Pointe and the surrounding communities mobilized. Those residents will tell you if they had had any idea their area had any chance of being re-zoned, they would have been more involved.
Some John Long Middle students spoke, leaving some panel members a little cold as they criticized what may be their new schools. One JLM student suggested to the panel it bring Weightman and Wesley Chapel up to par with his school, which is an A-school, and Wiregrass Ranch (a B school), which would prevent fights about rezoning.Another JLM student claimed that the re-zoning would leave him “friendless.” That drew a collective “awwwwwww” from the crowd.
WCH, a C-rated school in 2015 after four straight years as a B school, took a bit of a beating throughout the night, as did TWM, which is a B school. Wesley Chapel principal Carin Hetzler-Nettles did not have to be restrained even one time. Good job, Carin.
A number of band and athletic parents, as well as a few band members themselves, weren’t happy about the possibility of changing schools.Citing scholarship offers and exposure, they argued that leaving a band at WRH that finished 4^th in the state for a new band that may not be as good was detrimental to their college hopes. Same goes for a few parents of athletes, especially football players, some who will have to leave two good teams at WCH and WRH for the inaugural Cypress Creek team.With no seniors, that team will almost certainly take its lumps and go 0-10. On the other hand, being one of the players that help start a program can provide its own level of fulfillment.
Tom McClanahan, who is representing Union Park, spoke briefly, as did Mark McBride, who leads Seven Oaks Voices. The two community leaders have formed an alliance in support of Option 13.The two have already submitted proposals. Williams says he has received a handful of similar proposals from community leaders, and all have been forwarded to the SBC members.McClanahan’s proposal says that Option 13 reduces the overcrowding of every school below their current levels (Option 12 leaves WCH and TWM over capacity) and provides a more equitable distribution of students. The nine-page report was submitted to the SBC and the school board.
And since Option 12 does leave WCH and TWM overcrowded, what are they thinking, asked another speaker, contending that north of S.R. 54 is a much bigger residential growth area than Wiregrass Ranch. Epperson Ranch is building homes, she said, Water Grass is still growing and Avalon Park could see as many as 4,000 new homes built in the coming years.And let’s not forget the Connected City.
Eva Cooper of Meadow Pointe III, who has a sophomore and a senior at Wiregrass Ranch, lobbied for Option 20 because she claims Option 12 only keeps six communities together, while Option 20 doesn’t split up any. She asked why the SBC decided to keep Seven Oaks, where 19 percent of WRH students live, intact, while splitting up Meadow Pointe, which has 46 percent. “Why are we accommodating so few, and affecting so many?,’’ she asked.
Another Option 20 supporter and Country Walk resident, Tina Dosal, submitted a proposal based on maintaining the Double Branch feeder pattern. Maintaining feeder programs is one of the considerations the SBC was tasked with, but Dosal was one of the few to actually make the feeder argument.
The panel Tuesday night was comprised of Chris Williams (Director of Planning), Carin Hetzler-Nettles (Wesley Chapel principal), Dr. Monica Isle Ed.D (Area Superintendent for east county), Kimberly Poe (Strategic Initiatives and Allocations Program Manager), Dr. David Scanga Ed.D (Area Superintendent for central county), Elizabeth Kuhn (Assistant Superintendent for Support Services), Gary Sawyer (Director of Transportation Services) and Matt Wicks (County Athletic Director).

In conclusion, at least 90 percent of the people in attendance Tuesday night think Option 12 is terrible. But did they make their case strongly enough for Option 13, or Option 20?

Proponents of each of those options turned Tuesday night into a battle between 13 and 20. But to use a football analogy, it all reminds me of an NFL review of a questionable reception.

The call is made (Option 12, in this case), but the referees won’t overturn that call without clear evidence they were wrong. A number of different angles of the instant replay were offered Tuesday night, and on Friday when we’ll know what the SBC sees when it comes out from under the hood.

The public cannot speak — your chance was Tuesday night — but they can attend the SBC meeting Friday at 10:30 a.m. in the Wesley Chapel High media center. Williams said despite all the information provided Tuesday, as well as all the emails and proposals he has received and passed on, he expects a decision to be made and an option to pass for recommendation to the school board, which will hold two public readings of the proposal before voting on it in January.

Assistant editor John C. Cotey can be reached at john@neighborhoodnews.com.

Wesley Chapel Wiregrass Ranch

Porter/Raymond James Financial Finally Given Permit To Begin Construction

Following almost five years of discussions and anticipation — mixed in with a nice-sized helping of doubt — the long-talked-about Raymond James Financial campus is one huge step closer to becoming a reality at the corner of S.R. 56 and Mansfield Blvd.

Wiregrass Ranch developer JD Porter finally received the news two weeks ago that he has been waiting more than two years for, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has proffered an environmental permit for the 65 acres of property just east of the Shops at Wiregrass mall.

“We were all thrilled, everyone in the family,’’ said Porter, the owner and operator of Wiregrass Ranch Inc. “We worked very, very closely with the Army engineers, and it is nice to finally reach a resolution.”

Porter joked in April at a Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) Economic Development meeting that he was tired of hearing about the delays involving Raymond James, but insisted (as he has many times in the past) that the facility was still imminent. He predicted then he would have the Army Corps permit in a few weeks, and though it took just a little bit longer he is now ready to proceed.

“Right now, we have all the permits in hand to proceed forward,’’ Porter said.

The St. Petersburg-based financial services company has been working for several years on the process with the Porter family and, in early 2011, agreed to purchase the land at an undisclosed price, provided the permitting could be completed.

The deal was approved by the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) later that year. In exchange for $15-million in incentives and tax breaks, the county would reap the benefits of what would eventually be planned as six four-story buildings totaling roughly 1-million-sq.-ft., and housing 750 employees by 2024, which will inject millions into the county tax rolls.

Although the Raymond James campus was originally scheduled to begin building in 2012, with the first 100 employees arriving by 2014, the project stalled.

In 2014, a few months after another financial firm, T. Rowe Price, jettisoned its plans to build on 72 acres near the Suncoast Pkwy., Raymond James postponed its project. But, the financial services giant did say it still had plans for the property.

Now, there is renewed optimism that Raymond James will make the impact promised years ago.

“I’m glad that’s over and done with,’’ said District 2 commissioner Mike Moore. “The economic impact will be huge for Pasco County as a whole. There will be nothing bigger in the county.”

Moore said Raymond James will become the largest non-governmental employer in Pasco. “And, anytime you bring in a large employer like that, things start to happen around it,’’ he says.

Bill Cronin, the new president and CEO of the Pasco Economic Development Council (EDC), said when he started in January, one of his first meetings was with Raymond James, citing the importance of getting the company here.

“The investment by Raymond James will be one that, when other companies look to grow here, they will see that someone else has blazed that trail for them,’’ Cronin said. “It will make my job a little easier, to show people there are others that have made this positive decision.”

He added, “Success begets success.”

The next step for Porter will be to re-negotiate the development agreement and adjust some of the original timelines with the BOCC, which will likely take place in the next month or so.

“That triggers the closing,’’ Porter said.

Porter thinks the addition of the financial facility is a major piece of what he hopes the Wiregrass Ranch area will become, as it should drive up home sales and makes the area more attractive to other businesses.

“I think whether we’re talking Raymond James, or the mall or Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, the state college, you are looking at the kinds of things that define cities and define regions,’’ Porter says. “We’re lucky to land four of them in a short time, when some communities don’t have this after 30 or 40 years.”

development greater wesley chapel chamber of commerce JD Porter Mike Moore new restaurants New Tampa Wesley Chapel Wiregrass Ranch

Wiregrass Ranch Prepped For Major Projects

Wiregrass Ranch Map — (Map by Blake Beatty)

West Palm Beach-based commercial developer John Dowd played a pivotal role in the development of the Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass Ranch area near S.R. 56 when, with the stalwart help of JCPenney as the lead anchor, he helped spearhead the birth of The Shops at Wiregrass mall.

Dowd admitted that it wasn’t easy. Right before the mall finished, the economy started to slow. Had it been six months later, Dowd doesn’t think the mall would have ever been built. “We had tenants come to us who had literally just signed leases and wanted out,’’ he said. “Everybody was so afraid of what was going to happen to the world.”

But, thankfully, the world did survive. And, so did the mall.

John Dowd shows a map of the Wiregrass Ranch DRI and where some of the planned construction will take place.

Dowd is back in the area, and is again teaming up with local landowner/developer JD Porter to help give the Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI) another economic shot in the arm.
At the Wesley Chapel Economic Development meeting at Mulligans (inside New Tampa’s Pebble Creek Golf Club) on April 28, Dowd and Porter regaled a crowd of more than 100 local business leaders with tales from the past, but mostly of a future they see as bright and bustling.

The Wiregrass mall, which Dowd said didn’t have the start everyone had hoped when it opened in 2008, is now enjoying the kind of success that was expected. That is triggering further development in the area, as the Porter family carefully and judiciously parcels out its land to businesses and developers who fit into their long-range plans.

Dowd said he was attracted to working with the Porter family because of the family’s deliberate style. Unlike many landowners, JD Porter said he is no rush to sell to the highest bidder and turn an instant profit. Instead, the Wiregrass Ranch DRI continues to only greenlight projects the Porter feel add value to the entire area.

Wiregrass Ranch Set To Expand

Here’s some of those plans Porter and Dowd shared at the Economic Development meeting:

1. On S.R. 54, just down the road from Walmart, the first project between Dowd and Porter will be a 12,600-sq.-ft. strip center, with two nicely designed buildings. Two restaurants are already signed up, with two more close to coming aboard as well. The project will feature a typical mix, including a cell phone store, nail and hair salons, restaurants and “good neighborhood use” businesses.

“We already have more interested tenants than we have space for,’’ Dowd said.

2. On S.R. 56, east of the Wiregrass Mall expansion (which will include restaurants, a movie theater and a grocery store), Porter and Dowd are doing is having site work done at another shopping center, to be called Wiregrass Commons at 56, which will include a “green” or specialty grocery store.

Nothing has been signed yet, Dowd said, and “we’re not doing any of the small stuff until we get an anchor signed up. Once that happens, that will be a 50,000-60,000-sq.-ft. project in total and a nice addition to the area.

3. Porter also said a hotel would be finalizing a deal within 30 days, and that is expected to also immediately east of the Wiregrass Commons at 56 project. He did not say which hotel, but we have heard rumors it will be a Marriott Fairfield Inn.

4. Even further east on S.R. 56, the long-awaited Raymond James Financial campus is close to officially announcing its arrival.

No, seriously.

Porter joked that he was sick and tired of talking about the long-rumored project, which some had begun to doubt. But doubt no more.

“We got good news (April 27) and I truly believe within the next 2-3 weeks we’ll have a permit,’’ Porter said. “Having that permit triggers the closing. Having that closing means the other two or three office users, which we are we are talking to right now — anywhere from 600,000 square feet to another 1.2-million-sq.-ft., Fortune 50 companies — they close, and I would suspect we’re going to see movement within the next 4-6 months after that.”

Porter said Raymond James will add between 4,000-6,000 jobs, and that you can double that total to 8,000-12,000 jobs with the other unnamed businesses set to follow.

That will also begin to create some of the day traffic that Dowd says is necessary if the area is going to attract more quality restaurants, as well.

5. Porter said they will be closing on an assisted living facility, “in the next 45-60 days”. Porter didn’t disclose any other information, but the facility will be called Beach House at Wiregrass Ranch Assisted Living & Memory Care, which is owned by the Prevarian Companies.

The facility will be multiple stories when completed next to North Tampa Behavorial Health, which also is expanding and will be adding 48 rooms by the end of the year.

6. As part of trying to force vertical integration into the development plan, Porter said that in 30-45 days construction also should begin on a condo project, called Altis at Wiregrass, which will be located directly north of Wiregrass Commons at 56.

“If I would’ve said condos in Pasco County 3-4 years ago, you probably would have told me to get the hell out of here,’’ Porter said. “Well, it happened.”

Porter hinted at four-story structures, with rooftop pools and verandas. “Something typical of Hyde Park and South Tampa,’’ he said. “But not typical Pasco County.”

The condos, which according to site plans will include 394 multi-family dwellings in 15 separate buildings, are part of Porter’s plan to build new and different projects in the area. “If you wanna play in the sandbox, you have to step it up,’’ he said. “We are very fortunate to be in the right area. If people want to be here, bring something new to the table.”

Just The Beginning Of New Phase For Wiregrass Ranch

Porter promised other major announcements concerning major retailers still to come. But for now, he is pleased with the area’s progress, citing the proximity of an expanding hospital, a state college with room to grow into a full-fledged university and more retail in the area. He also expects an increase in new homes as well, and once the residential areas mature a mixed-use town center can be developed.

DonPorterWEB — Members of the Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce Board, including past President Jeff Novotny (holding plaque) were honored to present the plaque that will adorn the boardroom at the WCCC office in The Grove named for the late Don Porter to Don’s son JD and daughter Quinn (center), during the Chamber’s Economic Development briefing at which JD and commercial developer John Dowd spoke about Wiregrass Ranch.

Porter also said his family is rethinking its commitment of donating 120-acres to the county to build a park in the area. A tennis center fell through more than a decade ago, as did a proposed baseball complex on the site last year. In November the county announced it would be seeking partners in a public-private relationship to build an indoor facility on land that also would include outdoor fields.

But Porter, frustrated with the county’s inability to move forward on donated land, says he may take back some of it back by the end of the year and build the park privately, as part of his long-range plan to provide the area with “synergy”.

“We are looking to create something we can be proud of out here not just tomorrow, but 10-50 years down the road,’’ he said.

Look for more updates on this area at WCNeighborhoodNews.com.

greater wesley chapel chamber of commerce J.D. Porter John dowd New Tampa S.R. 54 S.R. 56 shops at wiregrass mall Wesley Chapel Wiregrass Ranch