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TouchPoint brings jobs, good wages to Pasco

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TouchPoint Medical Inc., a global supplier of technology-based health care delivery systems, will bring 116 new high-paying jobs to Pasco County.

Company officials plan to relocate their headquarters to prime vacant land in Land O’ Lakes. They will build an approximately 125,000-square-foot facility, including a parking lot, on the northwest corner of Suncoast Parkway and State Road 54. The site is part of the South Branch Ranch property.

This rendering shows the future campus for TouchPoint Medical Inc., which will be located at Suncoast Parkway and State Road 54.
(Courtesy of the Pasco Economic Development Council)

Construction is expected to begin by the end of 2018, with an opening date in late 2019. The company’s capital investment is about $23 million.

The average annual wage paid by TouchPoint Medical will be about $57,000. In addition to new hires, the company expects to retain about 160 existing jobs, largely from positions currently held at several locations, including the Atlanta area and Connecticut.

In addition to serving as global headquarters, TouchPoint Medical also will be the site for its American operations.

“When you mention the words ‘global headquarters,’ it fires us all up,” said Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano.

The impetus to relocate began with the company’s acquisition of Promedica Inc., located in Oldsmar, in 2016. Promedica designs and manufactures custom medical carts and assemblies.

However, the facilities in Oldsmar didn’t meet TouchPoint Medical’s expanding needs, said Brian McNeill, president of the parent company, TouchPoint Inc.

“It’s not an ideal location,” O’ Neill said. “It wasn’t designed for what it currently is used for.”

TouchPoint searched for suitable new locations and settled on Pasco County.

“We are really making a statement here,” said O’ Neill. “The medical business is a huge platform for us.”

TouchPoint, the parent company, is privately owned and focuses on long-term investments, and acquisition of high-growth businesses in manufacturing and technology.

TouchPoint Medical offers hardware and software solutions for health care providers in 100 countries around the world. Products include medical workstations, mobile carrier systems and wall mount systems.

The company also is a major supplier of automated medication dispensing equipment.

The Pasco County Commission on June 19 approved about $1.7 million in incentives for TouchPoint Medical.

Over time, county officials project the direct or indirect creation of nearly 300 jobs, with total salaries of about $252 million. An estimated $125 million will be contributed to the Gross County Product.

Included in the incentive package:

  • About $464,000 to be paid over eight years in return for providing new jobs
  • Up to $150,000 in payments or credits for permitting fees
  • An estimated $980,000 in property tax rebates over 10 years
  • $100,000 in reimbursable employee training costs

Some of the funds come from the Penny for Pasco program.

TouchPoint Medical will partner with AmSkills as part of training and recruitment.

AmSkills is a Tampa Bay initiative that helps high school students, adults and veterans learn manufacturing job skills.

“It’s feeding the (job) pipeline,” said Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey.

Pasco’s workforce played a role in luring TouchPoint Medical to the area, said Bill Cronin, chief executive officer of the PEDC.

The first question company executives usually ask is does the area have a skilled, diverse workforce, Cronin added.

“They see this workforce is getting trained,” he said. “It seems we’re doing something right when the workforce is so attractive.”

June 27, 2018

Sex-trafficked girls will soon have a sanctuary

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The Tampa charity Bridging Freedom, which helps child victims of human trafficking, is developing a therapeutic safe house campus community at an undisclosed location in Pasco County.

It will begin to accept girls this spring, once its first safe house is completed.

Laura Hamilton is the president of Bridging Freedom. She founded the organization in 2011 after working for a time with the Clearwater/Tampa Bay Area Task Force on Human Trafficking. (Kevin Weiss)

The Bridging Freedom campus— situated on nearly 100 acres of donated land—will ultimately encompass seven homes, a lodge and a chapel. It will serve dozens of female victims under the age of 18 from Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, by providing long-term, comprehensive survivor care.

The concept marks the first of its kind serving female minors in the Tampa area.

Construction of infrastructure at the campus site began in 2016. Assistance for the project has come from state funding, corporations, local law enforcement and other stakeholders.

Two homes have since been sponsored and are currently being built.

The first therapeutic home—funded by Sykes Enterprises—will feature eight individual bedrooms and bathrooms, plus an educational room, counseling room, and a staff and nurse office.

A second four-bedroom home — funded by Lazydays R.V. Center Inc. — will serve as the intake home for girls rescued from sex trafficking.

Bridging Freedom is seeking sponsors to build the five remaining homes, either from corporate or philanthropic organizations.

Girls will be referred to the property mainly through rescues by law enforcement and the Florida Department of Children and Families, said Laura Hamilton, president of Bridging Freedom.

There’s no doubt about the need.

Florida reports as the third-largest state for human trafficking, with 329 reported cases in 2017, according to the Polaris Project and National Human Trafficking Hotline.

Locally, the Tampa FBI rescues approximately 50 or more child sex-trafficking victims per year; most of them are girls.

The nearly 100-acre Bridging Freedom campus will encompass seven homes, a lodge and a chapel. It will serve dozens of female victims under the age of 18 from Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, by providing long-term, comprehensive survivor care. (Courtesy of Bridging Freedom)

Few rehabilitative facilities are available to place them, however.

Rescued girls are either placed in runaway shelters, domestic violence shelters or foster care — with little to no rehabilitative treatment.

Hamilton founded Bridging Freedom in 2011 after working for a time with the Clearwater/Tampa Bay Area Task Force on Human Trafficking.

There she discovered when children and teens were rescued from the street, there were no places for them to go for treatment and counseling, to ease their transition to normal lives.

“I started doing research, and that’s when I realized (child sex trafficking) wasn’t in just India, Cambodia, Thailand, Russia. It was here in the United States, it was here in Florida and here in my own backyard,” Hamilton said.

“We thought we were just bringing awareness to the community; we never thought we’d be doing this,” she added.

Bridging Freedom will specifically address what’s called ‘traumatic bonding,’ where children have bonded with their trafficker or abuser.

Victim’s stays could last anywhere from six months to two years, as they get treatment one-on-one from professionally trained psychologists and social workers. Recurring funds already in place will be used to hire those direct service providers.

“It takes a whole program for these girls to find healing from the trauma they enforced,” Hamilton said.

“If she’s wanting to run, if she’s had a trigger, goes into some crisis mode, she gets scared or she becomes angry, we’re there, right there, one-on-one to track her. That’s what’s working in other parts of the country, and we need to bring that here to Florida.”

At the therapeutic safe home campus, survivors will also receive the following services:

  • Medical care from a clinical director, clinical therapists and licensed nurses
  • Alcohol and drug rehabilitation from licensed medical professionals
  • Therapeutic recreation, such as equine and art therapy, and gardening
  • Education from teachers board-certified through the Florida Department of Education
  • Life skills to help survivors adjust to life outside of the home
  • Career development and shadowing to prepare teen survivors to be independent adults
  • Transitional mentorship to provide support for survivors after they leave the home

Hamilton said Bridging Freedom’s safe house program is modeled after Wellspring Living, an Atlanta-based group founded in 2001. According to its website, Wellspring Living “provides trauma-informed care to survivors of Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking in the service of physical, emotional and spiritual restoration.”

Details on the progress of Bridging Freedom and its sanctuary campus were revealed at a Nov. 16 joint press conference at the Pasco Sheriff’s Office in New Port Richey. Guest speakers, among others, included attorney general Pam Bondi, Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco, Pasco Sheriff Cpl. Alan Wilkett and Irene Sullivan, a retired Florida circuit court judge.

Each praised the organization and the need for more safe house campuses.

“The demand is great for these homes; the supply is scarce,” said Sullivan, who for 12 years handled delinquency, dependency and domestic violence cases until retiring in 2010.

She added: “It’s a wonderful, wonderful opportunity to take care of these girls. They need therapy, they need to talk to other girls, and they certainly need Bridging Freedom…”

Wilkett is the commander of the Pasco County Human Trafficking Task Force. He also serves as chairman of the Board of Directors for Bridging Freedom.

In October, Wilkett was recognized as the “Law Enforcement Official of the Year” at the 2017 Human Trafficking Summit, held in Orlando

For him, the safe house campus community “can’t come together fast enough.”

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, with this horrific crime of human trafficking,” Wilkett said.

“Whether they’re domestic minor sex trafficking victims or national sex trafficking victims, we have a responsibility…to restoring childhood opportunities, birthdays and freedoms to those that have had it stolen.”

Fighting human trafficking long-term starts with harsher prison sentences for its consumers, Wilkett said.

“The only way to impact this strategically and long-term is to take out the demand,” he said, “so we’ve got to enhance the penalties and go after the buyers.”

Experts say the Tampa Bay area’s tourism, adult entertainment, and international seaport and airport industries create a lucrative and highly accessible environment for sex-traffickers.

Minor victims of sex trafficking, meanwhile, are typically kidnapped or have run away from home.

Florida has approximately 30,000 to 40,000 teenage runaways and throwaways each year, some being abused by a family member or forced out of their homes. In the Tampa Bay area, 75 percent of trafficked children are runaways.

Solving that issue takes a community working together, unafraid to report suspicious activity, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said during the press conference.

“It has to be an all-hands on deck approach,” Bondi said. “We have to work together as a state, as a country, and transnationally as a world to stop this.”

For information, visit BridgingFreedom.org.

By the Numbers
300,000: On average, the number of children in the United States that are prostituted annually

12: The average age that a trafficked victim is first used for commercial sex

2,700: The number of child sex-trafficking victims rescued by the FBI in the U.S., the past 10 years

3: Florida’s rank for the number of calls received by the national human trafficking hotline

83 percent: The percentage of sex trafficking victims identified in the United States as U.S. citizens, according to a study of U.S. Department of Justice human trafficking task force cases

52: The approximate number of local child sex-trafficking victims rescued in 2015

Less than 250: How many shelter beds there are for commercially sexually exploited children in the U.S.

Source: Bridging Freedom

Published November 29, 2017

New luxury apartment complex coming to Land O’ Lakes

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Wood Partners is stepping in where another developer left off, resurrecting a 311-unit apartment complex that could add even more residents along State Road 54 in Land O’ Lakes.

The Atlanta-based company announced the new project — called Alta Terra Bella — just off 20 Mile Level Road Monday, following a report on The Laker/Lutz News’ website, LakerLutzNews.com.

Developers of the new Alta Terra Bella apartments say the new Land O’ Lakes community will inject nearly $25 million into the local economy, and indirectly create nearly 400 jobs. (Michael Hinman/Staff photo)
Developers of the new Alta Terra Bella apartments say the new Land O’ Lakes community will inject nearly $25 million into the local economy, and indirectly create nearly 400 jobs. (Michael Hinman/Staff photo)

“As the Tampa Bay area continues to experience robust employment and income growth — especially in the hospitality, financial and business service industries — Pasco County will continue to grow,” said David Thompson, Wood Partners’ Florida development director, in a release. “Alta Terra Bella is ideally located near top schools, and provides convenient interstate access to employers throughout the Tampa area.”

Wood Partners closed on 52 acres of land through a subsidiary, Alta Terra Bella LP, last week. It’s located between Via Bella Boulevard and 20 Mile Level, just north of State Road 54. The developer paid Capstone Resdev LLC $4.2 million for the vacant land, according to county property records, using part of a $30 million mortgage the company received early last week from Synovus Bank.

Pasco County officials met with representatives from Wood Partners last June, where the developer shared plans to build 311 apartment units in 14 buildings. Also on the plans are a freestanding clubhouse and freestanding parking garages, with a complete build-out of more than 452,000 square feet.

The project was originally known as Viento at Terra Bella Apartments, according to documents filed with the county, with units averaging about 1,200 square feet. The parking garages would be individual, one-story units, each with six bays for vehicles or storage.

Wood Partners is not expected to waste much time in breaking ground and getting construction started. The company expects to start leasing next September through its Wood Residential Services subsidiary, according to a release, with a full completion date scheduled for May 2016.

A community like this could inject as much as $24.5 million into the local economy — including $2.5 million in taxes — that would ultimately create nearly 380 jobs, Wood Partners officials said, using a formula offered by the National Association of Home Builders.

The population within a five-mile radius of the proposed Land O’ Lakes development has exploded by 114 percent since 2000, compared to a smaller but still strong 20 percent for the rest of the Tampa Bay region, the developer said. At the same time, household incomes have risen 37 percent, with 64 percent of households generating income of more than $50,000 not far from the proposed complex.

The land for Alta Terra Bella was originally purchased in 2007 for $6.8 million by BSP/Pasco LLC, a company associated with Orlando-based developer Scott T. Boyd. However, PNC Bank filed foreclosure papers against the property in October 2011, according to county records, claiming they were owed nearly $6 million.

The bank won title to the property through is Capstone Resdev affiliate in August 2012, and the land has been on the market ever since.

The new community will be located in the same general area where Florida Medical Clinic operates its headquarters. It’s also close to 46 acres of land Academy at the Lakes purchased in August 2013 on 20 Mile Level for $2 million.

The Collier Parkway school purchased the former MacManus property for $44,000 an acre, while Wood Partners spent just under $81,000 an acre for its land. The developer plans to use just 19 acres of the site for the complex, slating the rest for conservation and other non-commercial uses.

Charlan Brock & Associates designed the community, according to a release. It will have a 9,000-square-foot clubhouse that will include a community room, fitness center, playroom, a Wi-Fi café, and a summer kitchen overlooking a swimming pool.

The community will have more than 630 surface parking lots, and 76 garage spaces for rent.

Biggest local real estate purchases of 2014

1. $36.1 million, Arlington at Northwood in Wesley Chapel
BES Northwood Fund IX LLC of Chicago purchased this 312-unit apartment complex in May and renamed it Enclave at Wiregrass.

2. $16 million, Wiregrass Ranch development in Wesley Chapel
Pasco County Associates II LLLP picked up more than 332 acres in May for a 550-home subdivision along the southern portion of State Road 56, not far from Pasco-Hernando State College’s Porter at Wiregrass Ranch campus.

3. $10.2 million, West Winds Assisted Living Facility in Zephyrhills
Sabra Health Care Holdings III purchased the 75-bed nursing home on Eiland Boulevard in October.

4. $4.7 million, Creative World School in Land O’ Lakes
Emerald Holding and Investments LLC bought the 7-year-old building and 2 acres of land on Mentmore Boulevard from Ballantrae LLC in July.

5. $4.2 million, Alta Terra Bella in Land O’ Lakes
Alta Terra Bella LP, a subsidiary of Wood Partners, purchased 52 acres of land off State Road 54 to build a new 311-unit apartment complex.
Source: Pasco County Property Appraiser

See this story in print: Click Here

Wood Partners to build 300 apartments in Land O’ Lakes

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Wood Partners is expected to officially announce Monday a new residential project that would bring more than 300 apartment units to the 20 Mile Level Road area of Land O’ Lakes.

Alta Terra Bella LP, a company associated with the Atlanta-based developer, closed on 52 acres of land last Tuesday, located between Via Bella Boulevard and 20 Mile, just north of State Road 54. The company paid Capstone Resdev LLC $4.2 million for the property, according to county property records, using part of a $30 million mortgage the company received earlier this week from Synovus Bank.

Representatives from Wood were scheduled to meet with Pasco County officials about the project last June, sharing plans to build 311 apartment units in 14 buildings, as well as a free-standing clubhouse and free-standing parking garages. It would have a total of more than 452,000 square feet.

The project was originally known as Viento at Terra Bella Apartments, according to documents filed with the county, with units averaging about 1,200 square feet. The parking garages would be individual, one-story units, that could hold up to six vehicles each.

The project will be called Alta Terra Bella, according to a Wood Partners spokeswoman.

The land was originally purchased in 2007 for $6.8 million by BSP/Pasco LLC, a company associated with Orlando-based developer Scott T. Boyd. However, PNC Bank filed foreclosure papers against the property in October 2011, claiming they were owed nearly $6 million. The bank won title to the property through its Capstone Resdev affiliate in August 2012, and had the land on the market ever since.

The new community will be located in the same general area of State Road 54 where Florida Medical Clinic maintains its headquarters.

Find out more about the development in the Nov. 26 print edition of The Laker/Lutz News.

Sorry, no Hooters planned for Land O’ Lakes

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It was a surprise to many drivers going north on U.S. 41 over the weekend.

It appears someone is pulling a prank on people driving by the old Mosquito Grill & Bar location on Land O' Lakes Boulevard. Hooters of America denies a restaurant from its chain is opening there. (Michael Hinman/Staff photo).
It appears someone is pulling a prank on people driving by the old Mosquito Grill & Bar location on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard. Hooters denies a restaurant from its chain is opening there. (Michael Hinman/Staff photo).

A bright yellow sign, painted using stencil, was posted on the old marquee board of the former Mosquito Grill & Bar restaurant at 4422 Land O’ Lakes Blvd. It seemed to confirm a longstanding rumor that the Hooters restaurant chain was opening there in 2015.

But it’s simply not true.

“Hooters does not currently have plans to open a location in Land O’ Lakes,” according to a written statement from Hooters of America LLC, given to The Laker/Lutz News Monday afternoon. However, the Atlanta-based company did use the rumor as a chance to promote its search for franchise owners throughout the nation, and maybe someday this part of Pasco County.

Hooters of America manages the largest number of Hooters restaurants in the country, while the original Hooters company in Clearwater — Hooters Inc. — controls a few dozen restaurants in the Tampa Bay area, Chicago and New York City, including Pasco’s only location in Port Richey.

Hooters Inc. handles the Tampa Bay territory, and would be responsible for the opening of any new restaurants in the area. Neil Kiefer, chief executive of the company, told The Laker/Lutz News Tuesday morning that while the sign promoting a new Hooters in Land O’ Lakes is not true now, there could come a point in the near future where one is opened.

“We have continued to look for appropriate sites for a Hooters restaurant in both Eastern Pasco and Northern Hillsborough (counties), but have yet to find a site that fits all our criteria,” Kiefer said, in an email. “We have no idea who placed the Hooters name and sign on this property, but thank you for bringing this to our attention.”

Want to learn more about this rumor, and what might be the future of this land along Bell Lake? Check out this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, hitting newsstands on Wednesday. You can read the full story now by clicking here.

This story was corrected 11/18 at 9:04 a.m., to indicate that the Bruce B. Downs Boulevard location also is controlled by Hooters Inc., and to add statement from Hooters Inc. chief executive Neil Kiefer.

Link to print edition story added 11/19 at midnight.

Kauffman Tire planning new store in Wesley Chapel

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Central Pasco County is set to get its first Kauffman Tire location with plans to build a 7,600-square-foot location on vacant land along Wesley Chapel Boulevard.

Developers are eyeing a 2.3-acre parcel around the area of 28225 Wesley Chapel Boulevard, located next to the Walgreens near where Wesley Chapel Boulevard connects with the northern portion of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

The land was purchased in June 2012 by 54 & 581 LLC for $350,000, and appears to have never been developed. It changed hands a few times since 1998, according to Pasco County property records, including a $790,000 transfer in 2005 at the height of the housing boom.

The current landowner is affiliated with Mitchell Rice and Michael Leeds, part of the ownership team of RMC Property Group in Tampa.

John Weaver, who works with the corporate office of the Atlanta-based company, is spearheading the project with Sarah Case of Gadd Case & Associates of Lakeland as project manager.

It would be the second Kauffman Tire location in Pasco, the first opening on Little Road in New Port Richey. However, this new location wouldn’t be too far from the Kauffman Tire at 17325 Dona Michelle Drive in New Tampa, located less than 10 miles to the south.

Kauffman Tire started in Ohio in 1936, according to the company’s website, but didn’t begin to expand until the late 1960s, primarily in the south. Kauffman Tire now has 55 locations throughout Florida and Georgia, and 14 wholesale distribution centers in seven states.

The company is meeting with Pasco County officials for the first time Nov. 25, and no timeline is available yet on when construction might begin.

RaceWay location in Dade City sold

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After more than 15 years of corporate ownership, RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. has sold its Dade City RaceWay location for $2.3 million.

The buyer of the station, located on a little more than an acre of land at 12310 U.S. 301, is 974 Pasco LLC, managed by West Palm Beach attorney Carolyn Sakolsky. The location was built in 2004 on land RaceTrac purchased in 1999 for $263,000. The land was originally owned by Bobby and Dorothy Baker of Zephyrhills.

It’s not clear if the sale of the property will affect the location in any way. A request for comment from the Atlanta-based RaceWay was pending return.

However, there is a chance the RaceWay might have sold to a franchisee. According to the company’s website, locations owned by corporate use the name RaceTrac, while those owned by franchisees are called RaceWay.

RaceWay was founded in 1934 in St. Louis as the Carl Bolch Trackside Stations. The company’s goal was to remain independent of the major oil companies, according to the company’s website.

Carl Bolch acquired the Oil Well Co. of Opp, Alabama, in 1959, and started to rapidly expand across the south beginning in the late 1960s. The RaceTrac name was adopted in 1979.

 

Sheffield pitching Wesley Chapel to the Atlanta Braves

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The Atlanta Braves aren’t making a trip to the postseason this year, but could they instead be planning a trip to Pasco County in a few years? Like for spring training?

Retired Major League Baseball player Gary Sheffield, left, listens as Blue Marble Strategies owner John Talton shares his vision of a new 20-field baseball complex in Wesley Chapel's Wiregrass Ranch area. (Photo by Michael Hinman)
Retired Major League Baseball player Gary Sheffield, left, listens as Blue Marble Strategies owner James Talton shares his vision of a new 20-field baseball complex in Wesley Chapel’s Wiregrass Ranch area. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

Gary Sheffield, the retired Major League Baseball star who hit 64 home runs when he played two seasons for the Braves more than a decade ago, believes his old team will come. And if not them, maybe the Houston Astros or Toronto Blue Jays — both which have expressed interest in looking for new spring training homes — instead.

Regardless, the former outfielder says the proposed $70 million baseball complex planned on 100 acres in the Wiregrass Ranch area will be so attractive, it would be impossible for any Major League team to turn it down.

“They don’t want to be second to Disney,” Sheffield told a group of business leaders recently at a Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce economic development meeting. “The problem they are having is that the fans coming to the games there are not Braves fans. They are there for Disney, and that is a problem for them.”

The Braves have played spring training at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex near Disney World in Orlando since 1998, but have been unofficially considering other options in recent months since their lease there is set to expire in 2017.

Wesley Chapel could be perfect for the team, Sheffield says, since many might consider the Interstate 75 trip between there and Atlanta a straight shot. It also makes sense as a second home for the team without making it inconvenient for its fan base.

“That is an easy commute for them,” Sheffield said. “All those fans could come straight here, plus go to other places like Disney and Clearwater Beach, since they would be close by. That is a possibility that is pretty much there for the taking.”

The sports complex was proposed by James Talton, owner of Blue Marble Strategic, and would supply 20 baseball and multipurpose athletic fields, as well as dormitories for players and other amenities. It’s a way to tap into the lucrative youth baseball market, he said.

Talton is raising $54 million in private funding, and looking for $11 million from Pasco County tourist tax money, to make such a project a reality.

Even without a major stadium component, Talton feels his sports complex could play a role in creating 8,000 jobs in the county, and produce $318 million in annual economic impact, as well as a direct revenue stream of $9 million each year to the county government. But if the project could attract a Major League team, there’s no telling how big of an impact that would have in the Wesley Chapel area, Talton said.

Creating a separate field for spring training would not be anywhere near the headache the Tampa Bay Rays are experiencing with its efforts to get out of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. In fact, spring training fields are typically much smaller than regular season venues, Talton said, where average attendance usually holds around 6,700.

“We would want to put in up to 12,000 seats, but that could be a little ambitious,” he said. “A lot of what we hear from the league is that they want to have no more than 8,000 seats, because they want to make sure they are filled.”

Yet, just from his own youth baseball operations, Talton believes he can fill 3,000 of those seats with his players and families that might be using the rest of the facility during spring training time. He wants to be open for business by January 2017, which would be just ahead of when the Braves’ lease with Disney expires.

But are the Braves even looking to stay in this part of the state? Braves president John Schuerholz told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in March that staying in Central Florida could be tough.

Many teams that used to participate in spring training are looking for other parts of the state, especially south, and it could be tough for Atlanta to travel around if its only nearby opponent is the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland.

The Braves want to stay in Florida, however, and have waved off any suggestions the team could move to the other popular spring training state of Arizona. But if the Astros move out of Kissimmee, and the Washington Nationals leave their home in Viera, that could leave the Atlanta team rather isolated in Lake Buena Vista.

Yet moving to Wesley Chapel could be a good move in that respect. The Tigers would still be available in Lakeland, joining five other teams in quick driving distance — the New York Yankees in Tampa, the Blue Jays in Dunedin, the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton, and the Baltimore Orioles in Sarasota.

The Braves also would be a lot closer to the Tampa Bay Rays, who play its spring training games in Port Charlotte.

A request to the Braves for comment is still pending.

Sheffield, who was born and raised in Tampa, says he has been spending a lot of time in Pasco County, especially since his kids are members of the Pasco Predators youth athletic teams. Once tourists start discovering the area, they won’t be able to stay away.

“There is something about Tampa and Pasco County,” he said. “People can’t leave. They can’t leave the water, or the beautiful places here. It’s totally community-driven.”

Local Hobby Lobby home sells for $4.1M

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Merchant’s Square, a Zephyrhills strip mall where Hobby Lobby opened earlier this year, is now under new ownership.

RCG-Zephyrhills SPE LLC finalized its sale of the 75,000-square-foot shopping center on Gall Boulevard on July 23 for $4.1 million. RCG-Zephyrhills is affiliated with RCG Ventures in Atlanta, according to state corporate records. It is a real estate investment group that raised more than $100 million last August to invest in “value-add shopping centers” across the country.

The price tag on Merchant’s Square is less than the $5.6 million Merchants Station LLC paid for the property in 1998 when it was anchored by Kash n’ Karry. That grocery store later rebranded to Sweetbay, which closed last year after that chain was sold to Bi-Lo Holdings.

Hobby Lobby became the new anchor for the strip mall in January when it opened a 46,000-square-foot store there.

By the time it finished raising money for its most current fund used to buy Merchant’s Square, RCG Ventures had acquired 85 properties nationwide totaling nearly $500 million in invested capital. Its portfolio at the time included 65 properties in 19 states with more than 6.75 million square feet.

This is the second major property deal in Zephyrhills this year, following All Craft Marine Holdings’ $1.5 million purchase of its manufacturing space on County Road 54 in February.

New RaceTrac coming to State Road 56

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The State Road 56 corridor between Land O’ Lakes and New Tampa continues to grow, with a third major gas station getting ready to set up shop … this time to help eastbound travelers.

RaceTrac Petroleum Inc., out of Atlanta, purchased 4.6 acres of vacant land along State Road 56 in Wesley Chapel where it intersects with Northwood Palms Road last month for $1.4 million. It will be located across the street from Colonial Grand at Seven Oaks.

A spokeswoman with RaceTrac told The Laker that the company did indeed buy the property along State Road 56 with the intention of building a store there, but details of when that might happen and what might exactly be there have yet to be worked out.

When built, it would become the area’s fourth RaceTrac, including one finished in 2012 just down the road near the intersection of State Road 54 and Livingston Road. Others are located at 3817 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., and 15474 State Road 52, both in Land O’ Lakes.

On its website, RaceTrac says that it looks for high-volume, high-traffic metropolitan areas where it can build 6,000-square-foot stores along with up to 24 fueling stations.

And while one convenience store is planned, another has changed hands.

The 7-Eleven store located at 2400 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., in Land O’ Lakes, has sold to a New York-based property manager for $4.2 million, according to county property records.

Lakes Pooh LLC bought the property from Commercial Net Lease Realty, now known as National Retail Properties, which had originally purchased the vacant land at the corner of State Road 54 and Land O’ Lakes Boulevard for $965,000 in 1998.

Lakes Pooh is associated with Manhattan Skyline Management Corp., according to state corporate records, which manages “several thousand luxury apartments in New York City’s most desirable neighborhoods,” according to the company’s website.

The company did not release any plans for any possible changes at the 7-Eleven location, and a request for comment was pending return Tuesday afternoon.