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Developers buy land for Wesley Chapel mall

The $24-million purchase of about 100 acres gives the Grove at Wesley Chapel a jump on two rival mall projects.

By JAMES THORNER
Published December 14, 2005

WESLEY CHAPEL - One of three wannabe malls in central Pasco County has put its money where its mouth is.

Developers of the Grove at Wesley Chapel paid $24-million last month for about 100 acres at Interstate 75 and State Road 54.

Neither of its two rivals, Cypress Creek Town Center and the Shops at Wiregrass, has closed on the land it needs to build a competing shopping center. "I was impressed they actually closed on the property," said Patrick Berman with Cushman and Wakefield, a real estate company that sells and leases commercial sites in central Pasco. "That shows confidence."

All three projects want to tap thousands of new consumers in Wesley Chapel, Land O'Lakes and New Tampa. All have scheduled late 2007 openings.

By selling the property, the citrus farmers who owned it, the Oakley family, earned an average of $240,000 per acre. The land runs in a strip along the west side of I-75.

ECHO Real Estate Services proposes opening the Grove as an 800,000-square-foot "regional power center" in late 2007.

Proposed tenants listed on the Grove's preliminary site plan include a Lowe's home improvement center, a Kohl's discount department store and a Best Buy electronics store.

Cypress Creek Town Center, proposed for the southwest corner of State Road 56 and I-75, would include a 1.3-million-square-foot outdoor mall. Its developer is the Richard E. Jacobs Group of Cleveland.

The Shops at Wiregrass, developed by the Goodman Company of West Palm Beach, is pitched as a 750,000-square-foot "shopping and entertainment center" northeast of SR 56 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Goodman's land purchase awaits rezoning of the site, probably sometime in 2006. Jacobs needs environmental permits to dig up more than 50 acres of wetlands. It wants to break ground in the summer.

The three rivals are jostling for tenants in a competition that often resembles a game of chicken.

ECHO has been the most vocal. Waving nonbinding "letters of intent" with retailers, it has sought to build clout for its project, the farthest removed from potential shoppers in New Tampa.

Even more confident is ECHO's line-up of potential stores. A site plan shows a 116,000-square foot Lowe's and a 96,000-square-foot Kohl's bookending the shopping center.

Between those two anchors is a strip labeled with many national chains: Dick's Sporting Goods, Michaels crafts store, PetSmart, Ross and Old Navy.

ECHO even says it has landed a retailer that would be new to the Tampa Bay area. Cost Plus World Market sells household goods similar to those at Pier 1 Imports.

Some of ECHO's rivals have belittled the store announcements, saying that without contracts, those companies can fly the coop any time.

Jacobs representatives said they won't announce tenants until contracts are signed. That sentiment was echoed by Goodman representatives.

Goodman has already opened a JCPenney at SR 56 and Bruce B. Downs but can't open more stores until rezoning is complete.

"We're working on it. Things are going fine," said Brian Ratner of Forest City Commercial Group, partnering with Goodman on Wiregrass.

[Last modified December 14, 2005, 00:15:15]