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Letter to the editor

Pasco landowner pitches business complex

By MELIA BOWIE
Published July 4, 2004

ODESSA - Forget the local housing boom; landowner Dr. Octavio Blanco wants to welcome Pasco County's first Fortune 500 company into his back yard.

That's the goal behind a land deal Blanco and county officials want to put together with Westfield Homes, Blanco's neighboring landowner.

About a month ago the group met with Westfield representatives to discuss assembling a roughly 330-acre parcel of Blanco and Westfield land to market for use as a major corporate center.

"Currently there's no such business in Pasco County," said Blanco, a veterinarian who owns about 100 acres (half of it wetlands) at the northeast corner of State Road 54 and the Suncoast Parkway.

At this time, no major corporations are lined up for the spot, Blanco and county officials said. But after nonstop residential development in parts of the county, Pasco leaders now are hoping to shift gears before it is too late to save space for major job centers.

The need to preserve parcels for industrial use is a message the Pasco Economic Development Council has pitched strongly since 2003.

For his part, Blanco said a corporate headquarters will put less of a burden on the environment and will require fewer county services than houses would.

The key to turning the land into a corporate site instead of housing is Westfield Homes.

Owned by Standard Pacific Corp. of California, Westfield controls nearly 273 acres next to Blanco's land. The company's property currently is zoned residential and could accommodate more than 800 homes.

But Blanco and county officials have their own sales pitch for the builder: Forgoing the allure of quick profits from residential homes in favor of corporate development could offer a bigger payday for Pasco and Westfield Homes.

At a meeting three weeks ago, "I tried to convince them of that," said County Administrator John Gallagher, who met with the landowners along with county Commissioner Steve Simon.

"The biggest difference is it takes longer to get the return on your dollar, but the return on your dollar is higher," said the county administrator.

Neither Westfield nor Standard Pacific executives could be reached for this article. Blanco said Westfield could build the corporate center itself or sell to a party that would.

Among the incentives Gallagher listed for a light industrial/office use is money available under Pasco's economic development ordinance for developers.

There also is the possibility of about $2-million from the state if a corporate job center is established. To a lesser degree, such funds have helped fund road projects and other work in Pasco, Gallagher said.

"We used it on Opinicus," he said of the Clearwater flight simulator manufacturer Pasco is wooing with a new road. "And we used it on an office park in Trinity."

Gallagher said Westfield officials are interested in the proposition and have halted their residential development plans for now.

Meanwhile, Blanco said he opposes the homes proposed for the builder's 273 acres. He is challenging an environmental resources permit allowing the residential development.

But if Westfield supports the idea of a corporate headquarters on its site - a change that would require a comprehensive plan amendment - Blanco said he is agreeable to contributing part of his land to the venture.

"You can do a lot less damage by developing a corporate site (and) a Fortune 500 company would be making money for Pasco."

He added "this is an opportunity to switch the flow a little bit and have people come this way to work" instead of commuting to Pinellas for jobs.

- Melia Bowie covers business in Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6229, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6229. Her e-mail address is bowie@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 3, 2004, 09:02:07]