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Z Mitch LLC

Coca-Cola on tap at Florida Hospital Center Ice

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Coca-Cola Beverages Florida and Florida Hospital Center Ice are joining forces to bring Coca-Cola products to the soon-to-open ice hockey and sports complex in Wesley Chapel, according to a news release from Florida Hospital Center Ice.

Florida Hospital Center Ice will open in January 2017 with four ice rinks and a mini-rink. (Courtesy of Florida Hospital Center Ice)
Florida Hospital Center Ice will open in January 2017 with four ice rinks and a mini-rink.
(Courtesy of Florida Hospital Center Ice)

The iconic cola company and Florida Hospital reached an agreement for Coca-Cola to exclusively provide non-alcoholic beverages at the new facility, which is under construction at the Interstate 75 and State Road 56 interchange.

Construction is expected to conclude in December, followed by an official opening in January 2017.

Coca-Cola products include Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero, Sprite, Fanta, Powerade, Core Power and Dasani bottled water.

The exclusive rights for Coca-Cola prohibits competitive beverages, soft drinks, sports or energy drinks, water, tea and juices from the facility’s concession stand and the full-service restaurant – Top Shelf Sports Lounge – on the mezzanine level.

“Coca-Cola is such an iconic brand and so synonymous with sports, that we thought it was a natural partner for our new facility,” said Gordie Zimmermann, in a written statement.

Zimmerman is the complex’s managing partner, with Florida Hospital Center Ice.

Construction on the Florida Hospital Center Ice sports complex is expected to finish in December. (File Photo)
Construction on the Florida Hospital Center Ice sports complex is expected to finish in December.
(File Photo)

Florida Hospital Center Ice is billed as the largest sports facility in the southeastern United States. It is more than 150,000 square feet and offers four ice rinks plus a mini-rink.

Zimmermann’s company, Z Mitch LLC, invested $28 million in the facility. Florida Hospital is the facility’s major sponsor and naming partner.

The Tampa Bay Lightning is a program rink partner.

Advertising sponsors include Bright House Networks, Buffalo Wild Wings, DEX Imaging, RIPA Associates, Snyder Financial, Team Bohannon/kw, and The Toni Everett Co.

Center Ice will host national and international hockey tournaments and figure skating competitions, and is seeking sponsors for its special events.

For information, visit FloridaHospitalCenterIce.com.

Published November 23, 2016

Pasco commissioners approve a study for Wiregrass Sports Park

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Pasco County commissioners are in a quandary about the fate of the proposed Wiregrass Sports Park. Should they try again to work a deal for a world-class sports complex or build a district park for local sports teams?

Commissioners voted 4-1 on March 10 to take a wait-and-see approach with a feasibility study that will gauge the market for a sports complex with the potential to draw national tournaments, and yield millions in tourism tax dollars.

Jack Mariano (File Photo)
Jack Mariano
(File Photo)

The results also could show that the county’s money is better spent on a park that caters to local sports teams.

The study is intended to give county officials, residents and potential park operators an idea of what will work at the park site, located near Bruce B. Downs Boulevard off State Road 56.

“We think we’ll get the ability to expedite (the process) because people will understand it better, and we think the quality of applications will improve,” said Richard Gehring, the county’s planning and development administrator.

Johnson Consulting Inc., a sports consulting firm with national and international clients, will be paid $35,000 for the study, expected to take less than 12 weeks.

The study will include marketing and needs assessments as well as recommendations on development costs, operating and financial responsibilities, and funding options.

“I think it’s time to move forward,” said Commissioner Mike Moore. “It’s a positive. People in my district want to see it sooner rather than later.”

Commissioner Jack Mariano voted against the study. Instead of spending money on a study, he said county officials should explore why the deal with Pasco Sports LLC to build a multimillion-dollar sports complex fell apart.

“I’d like to find out why he (Gary Sheffield) didn’t like the contract,” Mariano said. “We could look at that first.”

In December, commissioners dropped plans to partner with Pasco Sports to build a sports complex on 100 acres near The Shops at Wiregrass regional shopping mall. The land is part of more than 200 acres donated to the county by the Porter family.

Partners James Talton and former major league baseball player Gary Sheffield had proposed to build 20 ball fields and dormitories on the site. They had envisioned a youth baseball camp that would attract national tournaments and deliver more than $300 million annually in economic impact to the county.

According to the agreement, the county would commit between $11 million and $14 million in tourism dollars to the project. But Talton and Sheffield let a deadline pass without delivering on a pledge to provide $3 million for the complex’s design.

Other projects, both rumored and real, are competing with the proposed sports complex.

Z Mitch LLC had a groundbreaking in February for a major ice hockey and sports complex off Interstate 75 at the State Road interchange in Wesley Chapel. The facility is expected to open in fall 2015 with four full-size rinks. But the 150,000-square-foot facility will accommodate a wide range of sports including soccer, lacrosse and basketball.

Rumors also persist that Hillsborough County may be in line for a new sports facility.

Most Pasco commissioners agreed the feasibility study would be a valuable tool in sorting out the county’s options.

“It will either validate or invalidate the marketing of the complex and what’s needed in this area,” said Chairman Ted Schrader. “It will give us the confidence to go forward with some sort of park project.”

Published March 18, 2015

 

Ice rink skates into Pasco County

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The traditional gear of hard hats and shovels gave way to hockey sticks and the whack of slap shots at the groundbreaking ceremony for the largest ice and sports complex in the southeastern United States.

The 150,000-square-foot sports facility in Wesley Chapel is expected to become a major tourism draw.

Roughly 100 people attended the Feb. 24 groundbreaking festivities to celebrate the $20 million project.

Molly Flanagan, 14, sets up her slap shot at the groundbreaking ceremony for the largest ice and sports complex in the southeastern United States. (Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)
Molly Flanagan, 14, sets up her slap shot at the groundbreaking ceremony for the largest ice and sports complex in the southeastern United States.
(Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)

The facility is expected to be popular with youth hockey leagues and to attract international hockey tournaments. But other sports including figure skating, basketball, soccer, lacrosse and even curling will be possible in a chameleon-like facility that can accommodate a variety of playing fields and sports.

It’s a dream come true for Canadian-born Gordie Zimmermann, managing partner of Z Mitch LLC and former general manager at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon. He and business partner George Mitchell are the project’s developers.

“I really love hockey,” Zimmermann said. “We saw a lack of ice in the area. Kids can’t practice enough.”

The as-yet unnamed facility will open in fall 2015 at 3173 Cypress Ridge Blvd., off Interstate 75 at the State Road 56 interchange in Wesley Chapel.

It will have four full-size rinks including one Olympic-size hockey rink. There also will be a removable ice rink pad that can be converted for multiple uses including non-sports activities such as dog shows and graduation ceremonies.

Florida Hospital officials announced a 10-year partnership with the ice and sports complex. The hospital, which purchased naming rights for the complex, will provide educational programs on sports performance and injury prevention.

Zimmermann and the hospital are sponsoring a contest to name the ice and sports complex. Suggestions can be made through March 10 at WesleyChapelIceCenter.com.

Molly Flanagan, 14, and her sister, Abby Flanagan, 11, can’t wait for the new ice rink to open. They play for the Lady Vipers hockey team and practice at a rink in Oldsmar.

“It’s good to be able to be close to an ice rink,” said Molly. “It’s going to be a good facility.”

And, she can hone skills that might one day land her a spot on the U.S. Olympics women’s hockey team. “It would be a dream come true,” she said.

Abby Flanagan revels in the physical nature of the game and breaking down stereotypes. “It’s doing what people say we (girls) can’t do,” she said. “They think it’s a man’s sport. I like showing we girls can do what a man does.”

The sisters have received instruction from Anne Schleper, a silver medalist on the U.S. women’s hockey team in 2014. Schleper, 25, is preparing for world championships next month in Sweden.

The complex could become an optional training site for athletes of all ages and all levels of play, potentially from all over the country, Schleper said.

“It’s going to be a great facility for us to use,” she said.

She grew up in Minnesota but lives now in Pasco County. To some a warm weather state might seem an unlikely choice for ice hockey training, but Schleper said, “The hockey fan base is huge here. They are dedicated fans.”

The Tampa Bay Lightning organization plans to use the facility for some of its “on ice” programs including clinics and camps for youth and young adults.

“We look forward to working with the ice complex in growing the game of hockey across the Tampa Bay region,” said Jay Feaster, executive director of the Lightning’s community hockey development.

Jeff Novotny, immediate past president of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce, has a personal reason to welcome the arrival of the ice and sports complex. His 13-year-old daughter, Madison, plays for the Lady Vipers.

Recently, a hockey tournament in Tampa drew 66 teams that had to play at four different locations. Almost 40 percent were from outside the Tampa Bay area, and Novotny said some teams had to stay at hotels at great distances from the game sites.

The complex will allow consolidation of locations and where people stay, giving Pasco County’s economy a boost, he said. “They need hotels and restaurants,” he added. “People have to fill up with gas and find things to do at night for entertainment. It’s a dream engine for giving people something to do. It’s all related to the economy.”

Published March 4, 2015

Wesley Chapel welcomes ice in new $20M sports complex

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By the end of next year, State Road 56 will be more crowded than ever.

A new Mercedes dealership. A long-awaited outlet mall and the different stores it will bring. Yet another hotel, this time 120 rooms.

Gordie Zimmermann, from left, is joined by Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano and retired Tampa Bay Lightning star Dave Andreychuk last week in a presentation unveiling a new four-pad ice sports complex just off State Road 56 in Wesley Chapel. The new arena is expected to open by late next year. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)
Gordie Zimmermann, from left, is joined by Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano and retired Tampa Bay Lightning star Dave Andreychuk last week in a presentation unveiling a new four-pad ice sports complex just off State Road 56 in Wesley Chapel. The new arena is expected to open by late next year.
(Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

Not bad for a road that, just a little more than a decade ago, didn’t even exist.

Joining all that, however, is an ice and sports complex so big, it might make existing facilities in Ellenton, Oldsmar and maybe even Brandon a bit jealous.

Apartment developer Gordie Zimmermann and his colleagues Z Mitch LLC, closed on 13 acres of land last week on Cypress Ridge Boulevard for $2.6 million, where they plan to build a 155,500-square-foot ice and sports complex complete with four pads of ice, a restaurant, and room for other sports in the community.

Zimmermann’s development team is investing more than $20 million in the project, all so that Zimmermann’s hockey team — and other teams like it — won’t have to travel so far anymore to find a sheet of ice in Florida.

“I was operating down in the Brandon facility, and I noticed that the adult hockey program had taken over,” Zimmermann said of Ice Sports Forum, a two-pad complex he also owns. “The kids had limited ice time there, and had to drive 60 to 70 miles to an ice practice.”

Zimmermann, in his off-time, coaches the Wiregrass Ice Hawks, a youth team that includes his son, incoming Wiregrass High School junior Luke Zimmermann. The Ice Hawks finished as one of the top youth hockey teams in the state, second only to Mitchell High School.

The long drives and fighting for time on the ice limits the younger Zimmermann’s practice time to just a few days a week. But having a sports complex within walking distance of his Seven Oaks home could actually get him out on the ice much more frequently.

“I’d probably be going there every day,” Luke Zimmermann, a center for the team, said.

Although the facility is tentatively called the Cypress Creek Ice and Sport Complex, Gordie Zimmermann said he’s not opposed to finding a corporate sponsor to buy the naming rights. But even if that happens, it would probably be hard for people not to refer to the facility based on where it is geographically, like Cypress Creek or even Wesley Chapel.

And that’s exactly what Jeff Novotny wanted to hear. Not only is he president of American Consulting, which helped with the Zimmermann project, but he’s also president of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce, which has been working tirelessly on branding new development along State Road 56 in the name of Wesley Chapel.

“I can tell you that the Tampa Bay area has a shortage of ice availability for all age levels,” said Novotny, whose American Consulting headquarters is literally next to the site where the ice complex will be built. “I can count on one hand the number of ice arenas in a one-hour drive. And thanks to the Tampa Bay Lightning, it is better than what it was 15 years ago.”

The Lightning was represented by Stanley Cup winner Dave Andreychuk who, coincidentally, went to high school with Zimmermann in Hamilton, Ontario. Andreychuk stood behind Zimmermann last week during a news conference where the new facility was unveiled, and lent his support to the facility.

Although there are plans to build a two-pad ice sports complex near The Grove in Wesley Chapel, Zimmermann seemed to dismiss the possibility that the local market could become too saturated with ice.

“I think we’ve done our homework,” he said. “I come from an area that has 200 rinks — eight-plexes and six-plexes, and it’s kind of the way of the world to build a minimum of four.”

The facility will be two stories tall, complete with two National Hockey League-level ice pads, and one meeting Olympic specifications. A fourth smaller ice pad, which can double as a non-ice sports court, could be made available when needed for young kids just getting their start, or even to help goalies learn position playing, Zimmermann said.

A restaurant would be situated on the second floor, with a clear view of all the rinks.

“During tournaments, some people’s children’s games might be an hour or two apart, an they can go up and grab a quick snack,” Zimmermann said. “Others might have six- or seven-hour gaps, and they can go to Wiregrass mall, and maybe to a restaurant.”

Coming right behind it is a planned 120-room hotel expected to close on 3 acres of land this summer, developers said. It would complement offerings already in that area, including an existing Hampton Inn & Suites.

Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano joined other government leaders at the presentation in endorsing the project, calling the project a crowning achievement to what the county is trying to accomplish in the State Road 56 and Interstate 75 corridor.

“Two rinks would’ve been great, three rinks is phenomenal, but with four, everyone is going to want to come here and play this from all around the world,” Mariano said, highlighting potential interest to travel here from groups outside Florida, and even outside the United States. “If you had to go to Canada or down here to play hockey, where would you want to go?”

Published June 4, 2014

In Print: Ice, summer school and young interns

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Last week was a big one for Pasco County, especially the Wesley Chapel area, when developer Z Mitch LLC unveiled its plans to build a 150,500-square-foot ice and sports complex just off State Road 56.

It shows how far this stretch of road between Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in New Tampa and State Road 54 on the edge of Land O’ Lakes has come in the past decade or so since it was first built. And it’s just one piece of a rather large and prosperous future for the area.

Pasco County commissioners Pat Mulieri, left, and Ted Schrader listen as commission chair Jack Mariano introduces the new ice and sports complex planned for Wesley Chapel. (Photo by Michael Hinman)
Pasco County commissioners Pat Mulieri, left, and Ted Schrader listen as commission chair Jack Mariano introduces the new ice and sports complex planned for Wesley Chapel. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

The new facility will feature four ice pads — two of them designed to NHL standards, while another will be at Olympic standards — as well as other courts for sports like basketball, a restaurant, and even a second neighboring hotel. It’s a way to bring in people from all over the region, just like what similar ice complexes in Brandon and Oldsmar do there.

“Two rinks would’ve been great, three rinks is phenomenal. But with four, everyone is going to want to come here and play this from all around the world,” Pasco County Commission chair Jack Mariano said during a press event last week attended by reporter Michael Hinman. “If you had to go to Canada or down here to play hockey, where would you want to go?”

The answer to that question seems obvious, but read the full story in this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, or read the free e-edition by clicking here.

The ice complex is at least a year away, and summertime is here, and ice is the last thing on most people’s minds. Instead, some kids might have to think about summer school.

Those programs through Pasco County Schools will cost $1.3 million, but serve 6.580 students — including younger children.

“The need is there,” school board member Steve Luikart told reporter B.C. Manion. “We’re doing everything we can to help more kids.”

This year’s classes will include two pilots addressing literacy and mathematics, which will help nearly 800 students primarily from economically challenged neighborhoods.

To read more about the program, pick up this week’s print edition of The Laker, or check out our free e-edition right here.

This week, the Lutz News begins its profile series by reporter Michael Murillo looking at each of the candidates running for the honorary office of Guv’na.

This ceremonial role is a way for the Lutz community to raise money for charities. And candidate Jerome Smalls might not live in Lutz yet, but feels the community has given so much to him that it’s time to give back.

“The people are probably the No. 1 thing,” Smalls said of those residing and working in Lutz. “The people are really friendly and outgoing.”

What does Smalls have planned for his run at the Guv’na position? Find out in the print edition of the Lutz News, or read our free e-edition by clicking here.

Finally, Ashley Schrader is just 13 years old, but you wouldn’t know it by her professional attitude and excitement about jumping into a journalism career.

Schrader was an intern recently at The Laker/Lutz News through a program set up by Countryside Montessori Charter School — one of several eighth-graders checking out the real world from the business perspective.

“Internships are like an opportunity for us to see the real world,” Devyn Dacus, 13, told her classmate, Ashley. “Since we are not yet adults, internships are one of the few chances we have to see the work force.”

What else did these interns learn? You’ll just have to pick up this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, or read our free e-edition right now by clicking here.

All of these stories and more can be found in this week’s The Laker/Lutz News, available in newsstands throughout east and central Pasco County as well as northern Hillsborough County. Find out what has your community talking this week by getting your local news straight from the only source you need.

If The Laker/Lutz News is not coming to your door, call us to see where you can get your copy at (813) 909-2800, or read our free e-edition by clicking here.

Developers, Andreychuk set to unveil new ice sports facility

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As the ink dries on sales documents conveying key land to its new owners near Interstate 75 and State Road 56, hockey great Dave Andreychuk and other dignitaries will gather Thursday to unveil plans for a new 150,000-square-foot, four-pad ice and multi-sport facility.

Andreychuk, who won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004, is one of several special guests expected to attend the unveiling for media and members of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce. A public groundbreaking is expected to take place in August.

The facility will be located just off Cypress Ridge Boulevard in Wesley Chapel, and will be developed by Z Mitch LLC, a company run by Gordie Zimmermann.

Among the dignitaries joining Andreychuk and Zimmermann to launch the project will be retired NBA shooting guard Anthony Parker, as well as retired Tampa Bay Rowdies star Jack Shannon.

The event also will include county commissioners Jack Mariano, Kathryn Starkey, Pat Mulieri, Ted Schrader and Henry Wilson; state Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby; Wesley Chapel chamber president Jeff Novotny; and hockey team representatives from the University of South Florida, Mitchell High School and Wiregrass Ranch High School.

The facility, tentatively called Ice I-75, is expected to be a boon to the growing area just off Interstate 75, not far from where an outlet mall is scheduled to start construction.

Its development team includes Deborah Tamargo from ROI Commercial Property Brokerage Inc., Skinner Brothers Realty Co., Keith Appenzeller from King Engineering, Michael Slater from Triad Consultants, Mark Jonnatti from Jonnatti Architecture, Jeff Novotny from American Consulting, John Hagen and John Walsh from Pasco County Economic Development Council Inc., and the Pasco Tourism Council.