Townhomes may go on site Wal-Mart sought

A builder is mulling a 182-unit project on a former battlefield for residents and the retail colossus.

By MELIA BOWIE
Published May 4, 2005

HOLIDAY - Two years ago the 30-acre parcel along U.S. 19 at Gulf Trace Boulevard was the center of controversy when Wal-Mart officials announced plans to locate a supercenter there.

The proposal failed. Now a different developer is eying the property - this time for townhomes.

Michael Willenbacher, division president of Rottlund Homes in Florida, said Monday he is exploring plans to build a gated community of 182 townhomes on the site.

A retail component also could be in the works for the proposed neighborhood.

But "everything is up in the air right now," Willenbacher said, declining to go into further detail. A name for the proposed development has not yet been chosen. Nor were cost projections available.

The site is owned by Larry Dimmitt of Dimmitt Car Leasing, based in Clearwater, which bought the property in 1988. Its assessed value is about $790,000, according to Pasco County property appraiser records. It is zoned for multifamily housing.

Both Dimmitt and Wal-Mart came under fire in 2003 after the surrounding neighborhoods of Gulf Trace, Edgewood, Westwood and Key Vista learned of the supercenter plans.

The nation's largest retailer wanted to build a 207,502-square-foot supercenter plus a gas station. Wal-Mart had contracted to buy the property, dependent upon county approval to rezone 20 acres on the site to commercial use.

But the deal fell apart amid neighborhood protests and the land remained vacant.

Now "to my knowledge there's a contract on it," Lester Gates, comptroller for Dimmitt Car Leasing, said Monday. But "I don't think it's closed yet," Gates said.

The Clearwater commercial real estate agent handling the sale for Dimmitt said it could take until next year to close on the property.

"It is in due diligence," Mark Klein, of Klein & Heuchan Inc., said of the 30-acre site. "Properties like that need site plan approval . . . (although) it does not require a zoning change."

Rottlund, based in Minnesota, is increasingly building townhomes with such projects under way in Brandon, Valrico, Dunedin and Tampa.

As for the builder's plans in Holiday, "I'm not at liberty to discuss it right now," said Willenbacher in Clearwater. "Right now it's not for sure it's going to be a community yet."

More will be known in the coming year, he said.

[Last modified May 4, 2005, 00:58:13]