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New retail along busy highway corridor
By Kathy Steele Special to The Laker/Lutz News
Total Wine & More kicked off its grand opening at Cypress Creek Town Center in celebratory fashion — with giveaways, a live band and a festive atmosphere. The wine and beer emporium is the newest retail at the expanding town center, off the Interstate 75 interchange at the State Road 54/State 56 corridor. The commercially vibrant corridor is a magnet for economic development in the heart of Wesley Chapel and Land O’Lakes, stretching over through Odessa KATHY STEELE to Trinity. Total Wine & More is now operating out of a space formerly occupied by Earth Fare. The atmosphere was Retail and restaurants are chasfestive during the store’s grand opening. ing the booming rooftop construction — with residential growth in Pasco County breaking records. dine-in restaurants; a Krispy Kreme; and two Troy Rice, chief operating officer for Total As the pandemic recedes, established resi- specialty car washes are among the new and Wine & More, said the former grocery store dents and newcomers alike are eager to be coming attractions. space was a good fit for his company. out and about. Established shopping meccas such as the The plumbing and electrical work had And, they’re finding plenty to do. Tampa Premium Outlets, The Shops at been done, and Total Wine knew it had a gap Plus, more options are on the way. Wiregrass, and Cypress Creek Town Center in its coverage area, Rice said. County permits, signs planted on the road- are expanding their store directories, as new An appreciative crowd of wine and beer side and company websites provide a tenants take up residence. aficionados packed the store’s grand-opening snapshot of what’s under construction and Total Wine & More slipped into a spot at festivities. what’s on the future horizon. Cypress Creek Town Center that was once See RETAIL, page 9A An ale house, a fitness studio; fast-food and occupied by the specialty grocer Earth Fare.
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Fazoli’s Italian Restaurant will open at the Shoppes at Cypress Creek, on State Road 54.
Santander Consumer USA and Rasmussen University are locating in the space previously occupied by the Super Target store, at Suncoast Crossings, off State Road 54.
First Watch and Starbucks have new locations, near the intersection of State Road 54 and Sunlake Boulevard.
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A closer look at Pasco County’s economic growth By Kevin Weiss
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A INSIDE, PAGE 3A
Not many people understand the inner workings of Pasco County’s economy quite like David Engel, director of the county’s Office of Economic Growth. Engel shared some of those insights as the featured guest speaker during The Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce July business breakfast at Golden Corral in Zephyrhills. Engel’s office serves as the fiduciary and administrator of Penny for Pasco. It is tasked with executing the goals and strategies outlined in the county’s adopted Economic Development Plan and the Pasco County Commission's adopted Strategic Plan. In his role, Engel promotes economic development, job creation, and targeted industry recruitment and expansion for the Jobs and Economic Opportunities Trust Fund (Penny for Pasco) program. Engel also provides oversight to the county’s Jobs and Economic Opportunities Committee. He brings wide-ranging experience to the role, including more than 16 years of experience as a municipal planning director and transit-oriented development manager. He also spent 10 years on Wall Street, as a senior research analyst, specializing in public finance, transportation and energy technology systems.
COURTESY OF PASCO COUNTY
This is a rendering of Avalon Park Wesley Chapel, an urbanized mixed-use development off State Road 54, including a mixture of residential, commercial and general office use.
He said through smarter development initiatives, the county is “providing a more inclusive environment so that people that live here can work here, they can send their kids to good schools, (and) there’s options.” The county, he said, is refocusing its intention to create development that’s aesthetically pleasing and provide more than houses. “We’re creating communities, not subdiWORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS visions,” Engel said. Engel’s 30-minute talk — during the July His office also focuses on job skills train1 gathering — was replete with details ing. about Pasco’s evolving labor demographics. He said that the No. 1 question prospecIn 1990, about 23% of the Pasco’s work- tive businesses have is: “Where are my force commuted outside the county, which people going to live, and how am I going to at that time was essentially a rural and agri- get to work?” cultural county, Engel said. Pasco’s unemployment rate is below By 2000, the out-of-county both the state and region’s jobworkforce commuter figure balless rate. looned to 42%, and now, it’s He attributes that to the counroughly 46%. ty’s “very sustainable, good Engel put those facts into pereconomy.” spective: “What that means is Engel also touted the benefits there’s 200,000 people that are offered through programs such working in this county, 46% of as CareerSource and AmSkills. them get in the car and drive The programs help people to atelsewhere, and that’s why, driving tain skills, which improves their over today at 5:50 this morning, I opportunities to land good jobs. hit traffic on (State Road) 54, if And, it helps companies that you can believe it, because the David Engel have a need for trained workers. Suncoast Parkway’s the main Only 4.6% of the jobs in the commuter for the Tampa Bay area.” county are in the manufacturing sector, Despite frustrating traffic pileups, Engel Engel said. emphasized that the Pasco County But, he said, they are high-paying jobs Commission is “committed to a balanced and give young people good opportunities. lifestyle” incorporating a place for residents Engel also highlighted the increasing to live, work, play, learn and celebrate cul- need for private employers to find buildings ture. that are ready to house their operations. Engel is a member of the American When he joined the county three years Institute of Certified Planners and holds a ago, Engel said, inquiries would come in master’s in city and regional planning from from companies looking to relocate to the Rutgers University. area that would require 10,000 square feet
to 15,000 square feet of workable space, within two months. Satisfying the surging demand was a problem at the time. “We had no inventory,” he said.“We really didn’t have the infrastructure to deal with the demand in the county.” To resolve this matter, the county has what’s called Pasco Accelerated Development Sites (PADS) and Pasco Occupant-Ready Structure programs (PORS), funded through Penny for Pasco. The programs provide “loans to support office and industrial-type development to provide the inventory here to absorb the demand that is coming in the door,” Engel said. The county now has several hundred thousands of square feet of Class A office space up along the Suncoast Parkway and Northpointe Parkway (called NorthPointe Village), as well as State Road 54, near Ballantrae (called 54 Crossings). Asturia Corporate Center — a flex-industrial space along Lakepointe Parkway, in Odessa, has gone up, too. There’s also demand for more light-industrial buildings — think spaces with 30-foot ceilings and loading docks — especially throughout East Pasco, the economic development expert said. “We have so much demand for that.The east side needs it bad,” Engel said.
‘TROPHY PROJECTS’ ABOUND The speaker went on to discuss a trio of what he referred to as “trophy projects,” in the county’s pipeline. He first outlined Overpass Business Park, set on a 100-acre property at Old Pasco Road, that was formerly a county spray field. See GROWTH, page 9A