Developers take aim at Land O'Lakes

With the three-county Suncoast Parkway opening in January, a proposed shopping district is the latest growth spurt along State Road 54.

By JAMES THORNER

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 24, 2000

LAND O'LAKES -- Commercial developers have claimed yet another chunk of pasture along the State Road 54 in Land O'Lakes, a corridor ready to burst with growth with the January opening of the Suncoast Parkway.

The proposed shopping district -- developers have yet to release the name of prospective tenants -- would take in 19 acres owned by the Van Worp family about a quarter-mile northeast of the Suncoast Parkway and SR 54.

The Tampa developers, Suncoast Five Partnership, submitted a rezoning application this month to Pasco County.

Developers are proposing 260,530 square feet of retail fronting a proposed four-lane road that would run from SR 54 to Tower Road.

That's big enough to handle a so-called big box store along the lines of a Wal-Mart Super Center or Home Depot.

Developers also propose an extra 58,470 square feet -- space enough for a large supermarket -- fronting SR 54.

Hugging the commercial property to the northwest is 273 acres of Van Worp land earmarked for an 800-home housing development called Cordoba, a proposal of Hillsborough County developer Lance Ponton.

The three-county parkway has been driving much of the growth on SR 54 between Land O'Lakes and Odessa. More than 7,000 homes have already been proposed for the 5 miles between the parkway and U.S. 41.

On the north side of SR 54 are several proposed developments, most submitted for approval this year:

Suncoast Meadows, 460 homes; the Fuentes subdivision, 330 homes; LeDantec subdivision, 1,599 homes; and Oakstead, 1,200 homes.

Another cluster of developments is planned for land south of SR 54.

Long Lake Ranch, which calls for 1.9-million square feet of stores and 1,700 homes, and Suncoast Crossings, which includes 1,300 homes and a giant office park at the SR 54 and the parkway.

Suncoast Five Partnership filed development plans this month with Pasco's growth management office, the first step in getting the land rezoned from agriculture to master-planned unit development.

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