Volume 25 Issue 10
Inside:
2017
Who Is The Cake Girl? In Neighborhood Magazine!
Co-Creator Of The Wesley Chapel Chamber Of Commerce’s Chairman’s Award-Winning WCNT-tv! The Direct-Mail News Magazines Serving New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Since 1993! For the complete list of neighborhoods that receive this publication by direct mail in Wesley Chapel (zip codes 33543, 33544 & 33545), see page 50!
JD PORTER: THE BEST IS YET TO COME IN WIREGRASS RANCH!
Wiregrass Ranch Developer Updates Wesley Chapel Chamber Members & Our Assistant Editor With The Latest In The Development By John C. Cotey When you walk into the boardroom in JD Porter’s office in Wesley Chapel, one of the first things you see is a brick. It hangs in a shadow box on the wall, and is from the home that his grandfather, James “Wiregrass” Porter, once lived in on S.R. 54, currently the site of the Discount Auto Parts. It’s a reminder. This isn’t just land Porter is developing in Wiregrass Ranch. It’s home. For years, it was that reminder that kept the Porter family from selling the land it has owned and lived on since 1946 to the highest bidder. They entertained offers, met with many deep pocketed investors from New York and Chicago and similar places, and wondered what it would take. Some was sold in 1972 — to be later developed as Saddlebrook Resort — and a bit more for the communities at Williamsburg and Meadow Pointe. Over the years, the Porters have turned away millions of dollars in offers to sell it all. The current 5,100-acre Wiregrass Ranch DRI, which is being developed by the Porter family’s Locust Branch, LLC, extends from S.R. 56 north to S.R. 54, and west to east from Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. to Meadow Pointe Blvd. “We had people asking to buy it for 20 years,’’ JD says. “There were a lot of bridesmaids out there, but we never found someone that we fell in love with.” What they fell in love with was a vision to build the land out themselves. The offers, they
Also Inside This Issue: News, Business & Sports Updates Wiregrass Ranch Sports Facility Gets Key Vote; Locals Debate Connections To New Tampa; Our Updated Map Of Wiregrass Ranch; Fugitive Back In U.S.; Mario Lopez Visits Wesley Chapel; Car Pays An Unwelcome Visit To Local Photo Studio; Wesley Chapel Valedictorian Is A Star Student; Cypress Creek Starts Football; Plus, Lots Of Local Business Features!
Pages 3-38
Neighborhood Magazine
Fed Cup Delivers Fun & A U.S. Victory; Cake Girl Brings The Sweets To Your Door; & More Neighborhood Nibbles & Business Bytes!
Pages 39-52
still keep coming. But, with the family’s name so closely tied to Wiregrass Ranch, JD says it has become a project for the family to build a community and leave behind a legacy about which everyone can feel good. “Everyone said, ‘Let’s make this something we can be proud of,’” JD says. “That’s what I grew up hearing. Let’s make it so we will be happy coming back here 20 years from now, 50 years from now and saying, ‘Man, we did a good job.’” While the brick — as well as oil paintings of turkeys in a field and “Wiregrass” Porter, in denim overalls, standing on the family’s ranch — pay homage to the family’s roots in the community and guides their business principles, another wall shows the results of their resolve, among them framed color photos of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel and the Estancia and The Ridge communities. At Pebble Creek Golf & Country Club in New Tampa last week, Porter updated the Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce at its monthly Economic Development Council meeting. The meetings generally draw a few dozen local business leaders; a chance to hear Porter reveal what might be next in Wiregrass Ranch drew almost 100. “He is a visionary, and he sticks to his guns,’’ Chamber vice-chair of Economic Development Mercedes Hale told the audience. “He is making sure his vision, and his family’s vision, is maintained throughout. They have really put us on the map.” The cautious and patient development of
JD Porter stands in front of a map of the Wiregrass Ranch DRI, which he says he and his family has carefully and strategically developed to serve the needs of the community.
Wiregrass Ranch began in earnest around 2002, Porter says, when the family took a long hard look at the kinds of things that would make a great community. While many developers lead with homes, the Porters filled what they felt were more important needs first.
The open-air Shops at Wiregrass, which opened in 2008, is considered by many to be one of the critical anchors in Wiregrass Ranch, but Porter notes that before the mall was built, his family had already donated the land for John Long Middle School and Wiregrass Ranch
See “Porter” on pg. 8.
Wiregrass Ranch High Boys Tennis Falls In State Championship Final
The Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) boys tennis team, arguably the most successful athletic program in Pasco County the past few seasons, fell just short of winning a third State tennis championship in five seasons. The Bulls, champions in 2014 and 2015, fell to Parkland Stoneman Douglas High 4-1 in the Class 4A championship match on April 27 in Altamonte Springs. Noah Makarome, who was undefeated in his previous two singles matches, and Destiny Okungbowa were both playing their first sets when the match was called after Douglas clinched the title with their fourth win (out of seven lines). Josh Abrams, the Bulls No. 5 singles player, pulled out the only victory for WRH in the final by defeating Jabari Cole 6-1, 2-6, 11-9, to finish 3-0 on the week. The Bulls fell behind quickly when Douglas captured both doubles matches in convincing straight sets. Wiregrass Ranch, which is 111-2 in headto-head matches since 2010, during which time it hasn’t lost a Pasco County match, had to battle hard to reach the finals. In the state quarterfinals April 26, it defeated Fleming Island 4-1, as Makarome won 6-4, 6-1, at No. 1 singles, Jared and Josh Abrams picked up wins
at Nos. 4 and 5 singles and Kanishkh Ramesh and Okungbowa won at No. 2 doubles with a 4-6, 6-4, 10-2 victory. The semifinals, played earlier on the same day as the finals, saw the Bulls defeat Tampa’s George Steinbrenner High 4-2 with the same combination of winners. Makarome, who has signed to play at the University of Pennsylvania next year, defeated Nicholas Cary 6-3, 6-1, at No. 1 singles, and the Abrams brothers The Wiregrass Ranch High tennis team poses with the state runner-up from last week’s Class 4A state championships in Altamonte Springs. both won their singles matches, with Jared winning 6-4, 6-0, at No. 4, and Josh winning 6-0, 6-0, at No. 5. Ramesh and Okungbowa won at No. 2 doubles 6-4, 6-3. The title was the first for the Douglas High tennis team. — John C Cotey.