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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 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.
A INSIDE, PAGE 1B
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.
A closer look at Pasco County’s economic growth By Kevin Weiss kweiss@lakerlutznews.com
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 people going to live, and how am county, which at that time was I going to get to work?” essentially a rural and agricultural Pasco’s unemployment rate is county, Engel said. below both the state and region’s By 2000, the out-of-county jobless rate. workforce commuter figure balHe attributes that to the counlooned to 42%, and now, it’s ty’s “very sustainable, good roughly 46%. economy.” Engel put those facts into perEngel also touted the benefits spective: “What that means is offered through programs such there’s 200,000 people that are as CareerSource and AmSkills. working in this county, 46% of The programs help people to atthem get in the car and drive tain skills, which improves their David Engel elsewhere, and that’s why, driving opportunities to land good jobs. over today at 5:50 this morning, I And, it helps companies that hit traffic on (State Road) 54, if you can be- have a need for trained workers. lieve it, because the Suncoast Parkway’s the Only 4.6% of the jobs in the county are main commuter for the Tampa Bay area.” in the manufacturing sector, Engel said. Despite frustrating traffic pileups, Engel But, he said, they are high-paying jobs emphasized that the Pasco County and give young people good opportunities. Commission is “committed to a balanced Engel also highlighted the increasing lifestyle” incorporating a place for residents need for private employers to find buildings to live, work, play, learn and celebrate cul- that are ready to house their operations. ture. When he joined the county three years Engel is a member of the American ago, Engel said, inquiries would come in Institute of Certified Planners and holds a from companies looking to relocate to the master’s in city and regional planning from area that would require 10,000 square feet Rutgers University. 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. The targeted industrial and office development master plan will support about 860,000 square feet, projected to create at least 1,500 new full-time jobs.
Commissioners approved a proposed incentive package to encourage the Rooker Company, based in Atlanta, to create an industrial park on the land. It was initially made possible through a state grant in the waning days of former Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s administration, Engel said.The grant was to rip out old infrastructure and create a development-ready site. Work began in February.A ribbon-cutting for the first industrial building is expected next summer. The project is both ahead of schedule and under budget, Engel happily added. A second notable project is the build out of the Lacoochee Industrial Area, which spans 90 acres near Bower and Coit roads. The project area eventually will accommodate approximately 700,000 square feet of industrial/light industrial development to generate up to 1,000 new full-time jobs. Community Development Block Grant and state appropriations are being combined toward rebuilding and repaving Coit Road, Bower Road and Cummer Road, he said. Plans are in motion, as well, to construct a rail spur in the industrial area. A targeted industry is already in place — The Reinforced Earth Company, which is a concrete product supplier that’s been hiring. “Those are probably the first (new) jobs in Lacoochee in probably three or four decades that have been created,” Engel said. The revitalization seeks to stimulate a community, in northeast Pasco, that’s been struggling since the sawmill company closed in 1959. “It’s one of the most impoverished areas in the state of Florida. It’s sad, actually,” Engel said. “When I first came here, I took a tour of the county. I saw a sign at a church that said, ‘No meals today,’ that’s how poor it is. The churches, because of the demand, had to turn people away for nourishment. “They’re isolated and stranded, don’t have broadband service, the roads are in bad shape, people are living in actual shacks with metal roofs and vegetation (is) growing on them.” Meanwhile, the picture is quite different in the Avalon Park Wesley Chapel development, which is located along State Road 54. The urbanized mixed-use development situated on 215 acres will feature multi-story buildings with residential, commercial and general office uses. The project calls for 2,695 residential units, 165,000 square feet of Class A office space and 190,400 square feet of commercial development. It is expected to generate 1,065 new full-time jobs, situated in a walkable neighborhood. The owner-operator of the project is integrating public infrastructure, such as parking See GROWTH, page 9A