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More luxury homes planned for U.S. 41

The Tuscany development could become the Pasco County Jail's new neighbor if the plan receives approval.

LAND O'LAKES - Another housing development marketing luxurious living is planned to upgrade a stretch of U.S. 41 in Land O'Lakes that has struggled to overcome a rough-and-tumble image.

Much of the highway's length has been the haunt of junk collections, tattered storefronts and the none-too-cheerful Pasco County Jail.

Enter Tuscany, a housing development west of U.S. 41 with 770 homes on 551 acres near Five Mile Creek.

With a name redolent of Renaissance art, Chianti and lemon blossoms, Tuscany's developer, Windsor Development of Florida LLP, talks about modeling itself on Waterchase in northwest Hillsborough County.

The similarities start with size. Waterchase is a relatively upscale neighborhood on 500 acres along Race Track Road. Its proposed 786 homes are tentatively priced from about $200,000 to more than $800,000.

Waterchase's multimillion-dollar recreation complex includes two pools and a two story water slide with four twists. Its 6,400 square foot clubhouse is seasoned with English, Spanish and French Colonial elements.

Several calls to Tuscany officials, including to the main office in Minnesota, proved unsuccessful. But the company's rezoning application stresses 12 residential "villages" interspersed with 193 acres of wetlands.

The building schedule is aggressive, timed to start about a year after Connerton, the monster project of up to 8,677 homes directly across U.S. 41. Tuscany wants to begin the first 400 homes in 2005 and the remaining 370 in 2006.

Tuscany is one of a string of proposed developments west of U.S. 41 near the county jail. Neighbors are to include the Cone, Asbel Creek and Scheublein projects, with a combined home count of more than 1,000.