A second major mixed-use development has been proposed for the property across County Road 466A from Pinellas Plaza.
This development on 153.6 acres by WholeLife Properties of Dallas would include 1,298 residential dwelling units, including apartments and townhouses, 174,240 square feet of institutional use and 544,500 square feet of retail space. Approval by Wildwood officials is required.
WholeLife Companies, the parent company of WholeLife Properties, is a developer and operator of luxury rental communities for older adults.
A revised plan for the separate Trailwinds development to the east on 131.5 acres calls for 296 homes, 462 assisted living beds, 572,750 square feet of retail space and 151,500 square feet of office space. That plan was approved last month by the Wildwood City Commission. Representing Word Family LLC, the Trailwinds developer, engineer Jerry Hart said last month that no tenant contracts had been signed and there were only prospects.
Both projects would be on farmland where cattle now graze between the Sandhill golf course on the east and County Road 462 on the west.
The Sumter County Commission Tuesday night approved an agreement to assess WholeLife Properties about $116,000 for its share of the cost of upgrading CR 462, scheduled to begin in mid-January. A third lane will be added between CR 466A and U.S. 301 and three right-turn lanes will be provided for access to the development.
The main access point for the WholeLife Properties development would be off CR 466A north of the stoplight at Pinellas Plaza. A frontage road will connect that development with Trailwinds.
Both developments would be connected to Wildwood’s water and sewer systems and the Trailwinds developer has agreed to pay $1.8 million for connection to the city’s sewer plant west of U.S. 301. That sewer line is about half finished.
Under a proposed development agreement between WholeLife Properties and the city of Wildwood, construction would be done in a single phase and must begin within two years, but the time period can be extended for good cause by the Wildwood commission. If construction doesn’t begin within four years, the agreement will lapse.
The project is required to have 15 percent of the property in open space, including wetlands, preservation areas, green space and landscape buffers. The property includes a 5.3-acre wetland.
A gopher tortoise survey is required three months prior to construction and, if tortoises are found, the developer must arrange for relocation.
The agreement also requires a system of sidewalks that encourage walking and bicycling.
Last spring, The Villages proposed building more than 700 homes and support facilities on the Trailwinds property. But Wildwood officials opposed the plan because they said the development would not adhere to the city’s standards. Commissioners also said they preferred a mixed-use development.