A 105,259-square-foot Lowe’s home improvement store will be an anchor for the emerging Trailwinds development on the north side of County Road 466A west of the Sandhill golf course.
A site plan for the store, slightly smaller than an average Lowe’s store of 109,000 square feet, was on Tuesday’s agenda of the Wildwood Project Review Committee and could come before the Planning and Zoning Board and the City Commission next month.
The store will be located on the southwest portion of the Trailwinds property next to two other large retail sites that could accommodate big-box stores. Smaller retail sites will be developed south of the large sites along CR 466A.
David Coia, president of Barclay Group of Palm Harbor, which is developing Trailwinds, said a liquor store and gas station also are on the drawing board along with homes and assisted living units.
“We have three out parcels under contract,” he said, adding that confidentiality agreements prevented him from identifying the companies.
A neighborhood of single-family homes called the Villages of Sumter is planned for the northeastern portion of the site, near The Villages.
Legacy Lifestyles Senior Housing Group of Palm Harbor is developing a 120-bed assisted living center, Coia said.
The Trailwinds development was proposed more than three years ago, but work on the property did not begin until August.
“We’re excited about the project,” Coia said. “We’ve had lots of positive responses. It took a long time for us to get the site balanced.”
When completed, the Trailwinds development will include 296 homes, 462 assisted living beds, 572,750 square feet of retail space and 151,500 square feet of office space. The developer paid for a $1.8-million sewer line to the site from Wildwood’s sewage treatment plan west of U.S. 301.
Another proposed development of age-restricted rental bungalows and apartments west of Trailwinds is on hold after that developer, WholeLife Properties, filed for bankruptcy last June in Texas Northern District Federal Court.
In early 2015, The Villages offered to buy the properties to build 800 homes, but withdrew the plan after Wildwood officials said they preferred mixed-use development that would include businesses and senior living centers