Brightwork Crossing is going vertical.
Brick-and-mortar tower-like structures are rising on the 32-acre site, off State Road 54, west of Wesley Chapel Boulevard.
These are early signs of an apartment complex approved for up to 350 units. The complex will be a series of four-story buildings with more than 60 apartments per building, according to county records.
Permits also have been approved for a WaWa convenience store, a Burger King and the apartment’s clubhouse. Internal roads include Tapestry Way, Maren Way, Ashley Creek Trail and Canopy Creek Way.
Alabama-based Arlington Properties and BW 54 56 Holdings LLC are partners in the development. Representatives for the companies weren’t available for comment.
Pasco County commissioners approved the mixed-use, commercial and residential project in August 2017. It’s been on the drawing board since 2015.
Brightwork Crossing is approved for the apartments, as well as 250,000 square feet of offices, retail and a 150-room hotel.
Firestone Complete Auto Care store has been named as a potential retail store.
Construction began in summer 2017 as bulldozers cleared and leveled the vacant land, located directly behind the Shell gas station and Walgreen’s drugstore.
Traffic spills into the area from all directions, off State Road 54, State Road 56, Wesley Chapel Boulevard and Interstate 75.
Brightwork Crossing will fill out a prime corner at this major juncture for new development, which already includes Tampa Premium Outlets, Cypress Creek Town Center, and Florida Hospital Center Ice.
The site where apartments are being built was bisected by Old State Road 54, and often used as a cut-through by motorists seeking to avoid long waits at Wesley Chapel and State Road 54 and State Road 56.
Old State Road 54 became part of a land swap that gave the county green space for its wildlife corridor, as well as room for a future park-and-ride facility.
Recent and future road projects are on tap to improve traffic flow along the area’s major corridors.
Brightwork Crossing will have access via Wesley Chapel Boulevard to Cypress Creek Town Center, at the center’s Pondside Drive entrance.
Wesley Chapel is partially widened, near State Road 56, and the county plans eventually to widen the boulevard to six lanes to just north of Magnolia Boulevard. There will be 4-foot bicycle lanes, a median, 5-foot sidewalks on the eastern side, and an 8-foot multi-use trail on the western side.
Construction is expected to begin in 2018 on a diverging diamond interchange at I-75 to improve traffic flow.
Published April 25, 2018
