Business Briefs — The Latest On Sam’s Club Gas & More!

By GARY NAGER Research by Joel Provenzano

One of the most common complaints we hear about the Sam’s Club on S.R. 56 is how hard it is to get in and around the superstore’s gas pumps — which usually have among the lowest prices in town.

Well, Sam’s is planning to expand its gas station pumps to deal with those frustrating backups. It appears, based on the diagram near right that will be reviewed at an upcoming preapplication meeting with Pasco County, that Sam’s will expand from its current twelve fueling positions to 16.

It also seems as though the existing kiosk, car wash and underground fuel tanks will remain, but that there also may be an additional inbound lane to those pumps, and some other changes. In other words, vehicles should be able to get in and gased up a lot quicker, with the addition of four more fuel nozzles and two more queue lanes.

Of course, we’ll keep you posted.

Moe’s To Add A 2nd WC Location

Despite still having only one lane in each direction for much of its length, Wesley Chapel (WC) Blvd. continues to add new restaurants, retail and office space.

With our area’s first-ever Slim Chickens restaurant currently under construction just north of where WC Blvd. meets Old Pasco Rd., a new retail plaza, to be called Post Oak Crossings — anchored by Wesley Chapel’s second Moe’s Southwest Grill restaurant — is under construction on WC Blvd., just north of the entrance to Lexington Oaks.

The new 11,000+-sq.-ft. plaza (see below) being developed by Aprile Real Estate, has a total of five spaces, the anchor of which will be the new Moe’s, according to

Aprile

Aprile says that, in addition to Moe’s, a national dental group and a high-end med spa are planning to move into the building, leaving two available spaces, suitable for retail, office or quick-service restaurant uses.

“With S.R. 54 getting ready to be widened and 500 new apartment units in the area, it’s an ideal location for many different kinds of businesses,” he says. Aprile Real Estate, which has three generations in both the cattle and real estate business in Tampa Bay, currently also is handling properties in Riverview and Temple Terrace.

For more information about Post

Oak Crossings, call Jason Aprile at (813) 532-6432 or email him at Jason@ aprilerealestate.com.

Amberlin Outparcel Coming Soon

While the Amberlin Wiregrass Ranch apartments, a 216-unit rental community for ages 55+ on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. (across BBD from the new BayCare Wesley Chapel hospital, see map), has gone vertical and should be ready for residents by sometime in early 2024, a new commercial project to be located just north of the Amberlin entrance on BBD has been approved for development.

“Outparcel B,” which will be called the PSP Commercial Strip Center, will feature both retail and restaurant uses, although no specific users or names have yet been mentioned with regard to what the retail or restaurant might be.

Meanwhile, there also is an Outparcel A, on the south side of the Amberlin entrance on BBD, which has only been approved for clearing and leveling. No permits have yet been approved for that spot.

New Retail KRATEs

Although most of the restaurants at The KRATE Container Park at The Grove have done a good job of building a following, quite a few of the retail stores at the largest container park in the Tampa Bay area haven’t been as fortunate — despite some success stories (like Maeberry Co., Katie Beth’s Boutique and a few others).

Two new retail KRATEs (both pictured below) now have signs up and although we have no additional information at this time, we wish both Fitness Fashioness (in the former location of both The Rebellious Hippie and Mythos) and Sunglass Krate the best of luck and hope to bring you more information about both once they get closer to opening.