Wesley Chapel is located just north of the unincorporated city of Tampa, east of Lutz, and west of Zephyrhills, Florida.  This community has become Tampa Bay's hottest residential and commercial growth area.

RESIDENTIAL:

Wesley Chapel is already home to the appealing communities of Seven Oaks, Meadow Pointe, Lexington Oaks, Saddlebrook, and Watergrass, and two new massive residential communities are planned.

1.  Wiregrass:

5,000 acres of the former Wiregrass Ranch have been approved for 12,500 new homes to be built.

2.  Epperson Ranch:

1,750 Acres of former ranch land have recently been approved by the DRC for development along Curley Road.  4,000 new homes are planned to be built in this planned Wesley Chapel community.  Additional approval by Pasco County will be required.

COMMERCIAL:

Construction of three major malls in the Wesley Chapel area is underway:

The Grove:

800,000 square feet of space is under construction including a 16 screen upscale movie theatre (Cobb Theatres)  with a reported seating capacity of 2,900, including the restaurant.  This week, Best Buy, the first of the stores in phase I opened.  It will soon be followed with openings by Dick's Sporting Goods, Bed Bath and Beyond, Toys R Us and Baby's R Us.

The Shops at Wiregrass:

800,000 square feet of retail space for the Shops at Wiregrass is under construction with a projected August 2008 opening.  New stores reported to go in to this Wesley Chapel Mall include Dillards, Banana Republic, Coach, a two story Barnes & Nobels, Starbucks, & Aveda (Spa).  Detailed listing of stores link

The Cypress Creek Town Center

Construction of this 935,000 square foot mall is currently in the earth moving stages with a projected 2008 opening too.

Town Center:

A town center will be built on both sides of Curley Road by the developers of the Epperson Ranch project and Watergrass.

Smaller Strip Malls also underway in Wesley Chapel:

• Shoppes at Wesley Chapel
• Shops of Meadow Pointe

NEW HOSPITAL FOR WESLEY CHAPEL:

A new 80 bed hospital is planned to be built on 51 acres in the Wiregrass area by Adventist Health Systems and University Community Hospital. It is anticipated that construction will take three years.

PARKS AND RECREATION:

Pasco National Tennis Center:

A  5,000 seat $7.7 million tennis stadium on 24 acres in Wiregrass in Wesley Chapel has been approved and includes 15 courts.  The Pasco National Tennis Center will be managed by Saddlebrook.

Wesley Chapel District Park:

The first phase of the Wesley Chapel District Park opened this year.  Located on 120 acres, this park features ten ball fields, concession stands and rest rooms, a children's playground, basketball courts, and tennis courts.  Additionally, an aquatics center is planned for the future.

Wiregrass:

Parks are included in the future Wiregrass development.

ROAD IMPROVEMENTS:

State Road 56 will be extended to Meadow Pointe Boulevard.  Current plans provide for it to be six lanes to Porter Road, and four lanes from Porter Road to Meadow Pointe Boulevard.  It is likely that the four lane portion will be widened to six lanes in the future.  Eventually, plans are to extend S.R. 56 to highway 301.

Bruce B. Downs will be widened from County Line Road to S.R. 54 from four lanes to six lanes.

The intersection of Bruce B. Downs and S.R. 56 will have major improvements including three turn lanes in each direction making it reportedly to be the biggest intersection in Pasco County.

Planned interstate improvements include widening I-75 to six lanes and providing separate exit ramps from I-275 and I-75 to S.R. 56.  Additional improvements include bridge work at I-75 and highway 54 to provide for the planned widening of S.R. 54.

The Epperson Ranch project also provides for rerouting Curley Road to connect it to Meadow Pointe Boulevard at S.R. 54, making it a primary north-south connector road.

Additional more detailed information regarding the Wesley Chapel and New Tampa area can be found at: www.NewTampaHomes.blogspot.com

Russ Perlowski:  Selling homes in Tampa, Land O Lakes, and Wesley Chapel, FL