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LAKERLUTZNEWS.COM
MARCH 8, 2017
Auto Accident? Slip and Fall?
Sunsets to replace Hot Rod’s BBQ
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A down-home, comfort-style restaurant – named Sunsets – is expected to open in May on the former site of Hot Rod’s Country BBQ. The popular dining spot in Lutz, locally famous for selling what it claimed to be ‘swamp bat,’ closed in 2013. Since then, rumors and speculation have swirled around just what would replace Hot Rod’s. A wrecking crew took down the old restaurant in March, several months after Sunset Livingston LLC bought the property, at 18430 Livingston Ave., in Lutz. Construction is well underway on Sunsets. The restaurant will be the anchor for a small retail and entertainment plaza that will have an escape room, archery shop, consignment store, insurance agency and a barbecue food trailer, according to an email from real estate broker Jerry Shaw. “The concept is simple, good food at an affordable price,” said Shaw in the email. There will be a relaxed “sit down” atmosphere, screened porch, a drive-through window, and a menu with a variety of choices, he added. The other shops, including Lost in Lutz, will occupy existing storefronts located onsite. Exact dates for their openings isn’t known yet. Lost in Lutz will be escape room entertainment, where game participants follow clues and solve puzzles in an interactive adventure. Escape rooms are a growing
KATHY STEELE
Sunsets restaurant, which will open in May, is under construction on Livingston Avenue on the former site of Hot Rod’s BBQ.
entertainment trend nationwide, according to co-owner Julie Woolary. Players “crack the lock” and “beat the clock,” according to the website. The first of three escape rooms to open will have a theme, “Stuck in the ‘70s”. Players will have 60 minutes to solve puzzles, riddles and clues to find their way back to the present. “We are hoping that people will come out and test their skills and brainpower, and most importantly have fun,” said Woolary. Hot Rods had been a dining staple in
Lutz since the late 1990s.Then-owner, Rod Gaudin, started his restaurant with a barbecue pit and a converted wood-frame house next to a country store he operated. In addition to barbecue and cornbread, it had an offbeat menu with specialty items such as ‘lizard tail’ and ‘armadillo eggs’.They were more commonly known as beef steak and cheddar cheese poppers. And, despite the restaurant’s claims, the ‘swamp bat’ delicacy actually was quail, according to a published account by Sherri Ackerman, a reporter for The Tampa Tribune.
Local youth attends Trump’s first speech to Congress
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During his visit to Washington D.C., 13-yearold Colin Cagle received tours of the U.S. Capitol Building, the Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress.
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Like millions of other Americans, Colin Cagle viewed President Donald Trump’s first speech to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 28. Unlike most, the 13-year-old Odessa resident, attended Trump’s speech in Washington D.C. He was the invited guest of U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis. That fact is even more impressive, considering each member of congress was allotted just one extra ticket for Trump’s address. Cagle, a seventh-grader at Martinez Middle School, was thrilled to receive the rare invitation. “I was just extremely thankful, and I was in shock. I was so surprised,” Cagle, said. Bilirakis first became aware of Cagle when his family requested tickets for
President Trump’s Inauguration on Jan. 20. (Though Bilirakis’ office was out of tickets, Rep. Dennis Ross was able to pitch in.) Cagle and Bilirakis have remained in touch, and the congressman became enthralled by the youth’s keen passion for politics. That was furthered once Bilirakis’ office came across a 6 ½-minute NBC News feature on Cagle’s political interests and ideology. Cagle, an unabashed Trump supporter, left the address content with the president’s remarks on strengthening the military and unifying the country. “He put out plans that I know that both Democrats and Republicans can all stand behind,” Cagle said. “Overall, it was very presidential, and it was an amazing experience.” See CONGRESS, page 13A
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B INSIDE, PAGE 1B
By Kathy Steele
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Dreams and visions for the redevelopment of Pasco County began more than two decades ago.Today, homes, shops, hotels, offices and medical campuses are coming out of the ground and redrawing the county’s future. On March 1, developers of four of Pasco’s master-planned communities updated more than 100 people who came to the annual Meet the Developers breakfast.The Pasco Economic Development Council sponsored the event at the Marriott Residence Inn, off State Road 54. In closing remarks, Bill Cronin, president of Pasco EDC said,“this is the right time, the right place for Pasco County…If nothing else, I hope you have that ‘oh, wow’ effect. That’s not the Pasco I knew.” Speakers at the breakfast were Matt Call, project director at Starkey Ranch, which is being developed by Wheelock Communities;Tom Panaseny, vice president and general manager for Bexley by Newland Communities; J.D. Porter, of Wiregrass Ranch Inc.; and, Kartik Goyani, vice president of operations for Metro Development Group Inc. “We’re all selling this dream and vision of where Pasco can go,” Call said. Three years ago, Starkey Ranch, about four miles west of the Suncoast Parkway, off State Road 54, was largely still on the drawing board. Today, Starkey Ranch anticipates having more than 300 new homes under contract
COURTESY OF PASCO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
Bill Cronin, president of the Pasco Economic Development Council, left, introduces developers who spoke at a ‘Meet the Developers’ breakfast. They are: Matt Call, project director of Starkey Ranch/Wheelock Communities; Tom Panaseny, vice president/general manager of Bexley by Newland Communities; J.D. Porter, co-owner of Wiregrass Ranch Inc.; and, Kartik Goyani, vice president of operations for Metro Development Group LLC.
in a year, Call said. So far, there have been more than 150 closings, he added. The average price of homes being sold there is in the low to mid-$400,000s. The most expensive home — at about 4,800 square feet – sold within the past two weeks for about $874,000. “Most are not first-time homebuyers,” Call said.“Most are moving-up buyers.” Upcoming projects included widening Gunn Highway and extending the road into Starkey Ranch. About one-third of a 20-mile trail system is built and will eventually connect with Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Preserve and the Suncoast Trail. A business park, fronting State Road 54, is in the works. A town square is planned for 2018.
While Newland Communities is new to Pasco, its track record in Tampa Bay includes master-planned communities in Hillsborough County, including FishHawk Ranch in Riverview and Westchase in Town ‘n Country. Panaseny described Newland as the largest private developer of planned communities in the country, with projects in 19 states, stretching from coast to coast. The homebuilder’s first Pasco community is Bexley Ranch, in an area encompassing about 1,700 acres. It is located also on State Road 54, east of Suncoast Parkway. The Bexley family is developing another 5,000 adjacent acres still under their control. See DEVELOPMENT, page 13A