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Connerton's 'Village One' may be ready in '05

The developer eyes a late spring or early summer grand opening for 265 homes and a shopping center.

LAND O'LAKES - You wouldn't know it from the muddy, soupy mess on U.S. 41, but developers have begun to lay the groundwork for what could be Pasco County's newest town.

Connerton New Town Development's "Village One" of 265 houses and a supermarket-dominated shopping center is almost certain to open next year in Land O'Lakes.

Connerton has always been touted as more than your average housing development. It's 8,700 homes would surround a walkable town center that developers hope to stock with stores, offices, restaurants, a community college and hospital.

Connecting everything would be roads, sidewalks and interlocking trails. To spare some Connerton residents commutes to jobs in Tampa, Terrabrook, the developer, has saved land for office and industrial parks.

"We're looking at late spring or early summer next year to have the grand opening," said Stu Gibbons, vice president of Terrabrook.

Village One will stress typical suburban houses, but future villages will include a strong "traditional neighborhood design." By traditional Terrabrook means back alleys, narrow streets, front porches, gables and detached garages.

Though builders won't be announced until fall, Terrabrook said home buyers can start reserving lots by early next year. The company expects to complete the first 265 homes in the 12 to 18 months after that.

With the recent inflation in Tampa Bay area real estate prices, few homes will sell below $200,000. Most will cost between $200,000 and $300,000, Gibbons said. A few "executive" homes will run $350,000 to $400,000.

The grocery store in the Village One shopping center would be the first on that stretch of U.S. 41, about 2 miles south of State Road 52. Terrabrook has courted Publix. For many neighbors, a supermarket can't come soon enough.

Residents in neighborhoods such as the Groves, Wilderness Lake Preserve and Caliente often complain about the 5 to 7 miles they have to drive to reach stores on State Road 54.

Phillips & Jordan Inc. is the contractor handling Connerton's initial development work: cutting trees, laying out roads and burying sewers, pipe and cable.

The project's 4,800 acres lie in a triangle formed by SR 52, U.S. 41 and Ehren Cutoff. Connerton will abut about 3,100 acres Terrabrook agreed to sell to the state for conservation.