Circle K is the new owner of the Land O’ Lakes Plaza, a nearly 50-year-old shopping center along the busy commercial corridor of U.S. 41, at Hale Road.
The plaza, built in 1966, is considered to be Land O’ Lakes’ first shopping center. Today, the approximately 2.4-acre plaza is occupied mostly by mom-and-pop enterprises including a barbershop, a liquor store, a café, a nail salon and an antique shop.
(Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)
The $1.55 million sale between the plaza’s owner, A & M Somerset Inc., and Circle K closed about two weeks ago, according to Georgia Watson, a broker with Grimaldi Commercial Realty Corp. She represented A & M Somerset in the transaction.
“It was purchased as an investment,” Watson said. “It was purchased strictly to redo the property. The whole shopping center will be demolished.”
Circle K has filed a conceptual plan with Pasco County’s planning department for a 5,000-square-foot Circle K store with gasoline pumps and a car wash. Currently there is an older Circle K and Shell gas station at U.S. 41 and Hale, immediately north of the plaza.
County records show Circle K General Inc., bought that adjacent corner site in 1987. The property was sold in 2004 to RI CS2 LLC, but continued to operate as a Circle K store and gas station. Development plans filed with the county do not show what will happen to the existing Circle K.
Circle K representatives could not be reached for comment.
The trend in recent years is for brands, such as WaWa, Thorntons and Circle K, to build modern, more trendy gas and convenience stores, Watson said.
WaWa representatives had looked at the site, she said, but didn’t pursue a contract. “This (Circle K) seems to be the best fit.”
The new development is a welcome addition, Watson said.
“Land O’ Lakes has kind of been behind Wesley Chapel, Lutz and Odessa. They are growing much faster than we are,” she said. “It’s nice to see some good activity going on.”
Published May 20, 2015
