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The Grove Shopping Venue Approved

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jan, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - The Grove at Wesley Chapel, one of three large shopping venues planned for this growing community, cleared its last hurdle Thursday.

Construction on the plaza near Interstate 75 and County Road 54 could start early next month, said developer Bill Krahe, president of Pittsburgh-based Echo Real Estate Development.

"The building permits are waiting to be picked up pending this approval," Krahe said after his project cleared the county's Development Review Committee.

The Grove will sit between Oakley Boulevard and I-75 on an old orange grove formerly owned by the Oakley family. The land for the project lies north of the Cracker Barrel restaurant.

Echo already has cleared land along C.R. 54 for its main entrance, a northern extension of Gateway Boulevard. The developer also plans to extend Dayflower Drive east from its intersection with Old Pasco Road to tie into Oakley Boulevard.

DRC members, led by County Administrator John Gallagher, approved a list of changes to the county's deal with Echo that reflect alterations to the plaza plans.

The chief change shrinks the shopping center by about 12 percent to 736,500 square feet of retail space. The mix of tenants, which includes Dick's Sporting Goods and Best Buy, stays the same.

Echo made that change in square footage so Cobb Theatres could enlarge the 16-screen multiplex it plans to build at the northern end of Echo's property.

Birmingham, Ala.-based Cobb is adding 900 seats to create a VIP theater in which patrons can watch movies while they dine and drink, Krahe said.

Formal groundbreaking on The Grove is set for Feb. 12, he said, and the first collection of stores could open by October.

Thursday's approval gives The Grove a leg up on its competition in the race for Wesley Chapel's shopping dollars.

As for the plaza's competitors:

•Cypress Creek Town Center, straddling State Road 56 west of I-75, won a reprieve Monday when environmentalists dropped a lawsuit aimed at blocking the project's development permit from the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Swiftmud will consider the project Tuesday.

•The Shops at Wiregrass remains bogged down with the rest of Wiregrass Ranch over concerns the city-sized Porter family development will cripple the road network shared by south-central Pasco and northeast Hillsborough counties. Pasco commissioners will meet with the developers next month.