Volume 25 Issue 26
Inside: ‘Please Keep Puerto Rico On Your Radar’
December 15, 2017
See Page 10!
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First Families
The Crystal Lagoon is spurring big sales in Epperson & excitement among the community’s first residents. By JOHN C. COTEY john@ntneighborhoodnews.com
J
ennifer Rose was in the market for a home, and narrowed her choices down to two communities.
Her realtor, however, suggested they take one more drive, this time to Wesley Chapel, to a large stretch of land off Curley Rd. with nothing to see but trees, grass, dirt and tractors. Rose, a hair stylist at Salon Loft, was sold a vision that day, of a development with affordable homes that were cheaper than they ones she had previously looked at, that would be built from the ground up with gigabit internet, roads that would one day handle autonomous vehicles, a community that would be vibrant and active, and year-round parties and events. Oh, and this new community also promised to be home to a Crystal Lagoon — which boasts a specially- formulated system for keeping its water crystal clear and clean. The lagoon, the first of its kind in North America, will be surrounded by white sandy beaches, have a swim up-bar, an adventure cove, cabanas and multiple party areas. “There was nothing there at the time,’’ Rose says. “Even the model home was only in framing. But, I could just see the outline of the lagoon.” The pictures of what that Crystal Lagoon will become sealed the deal. “I absolutely loved the whole concept,’’ said Rose, who bought a fivebedroom, 2,500-sq.ft. home. “I saw all the pictures of what it was going to be. It was swimming in bottled water that piqued my interest.” Rose is one of the first handful of residents to move into Epperson, a new community being constructed by the Metro Development Group north of S.R. 54 off Curley Rd. Epperson is the first part of the “connected city,” a project created by a senate bill that called for a private-public partnership between Metro Development and Pasco County. The project will turn 7,800 acres of mostly undeveloped land in Wesley Chapel into a mini-city of its own within 50 years, with 37,000 homes, more than 60,000 jobs and almost 100,000 projected new residents. “The connected city thing is hard to imagine,” says Diane Bissett, who became the first-ever resident in Epperson. “It will be neat to see it come together, and to say we were a part of that.”
See “First” on page 6.
INSIDE
Epperson resident Jennifer Rose (top) is excited to be one of the first residents of the community where the first Crystal Lagoon (above) in the U.S. is expected to open in February or March of 2018.
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Magazine: Wiregrass Wobble Draws A Record 2,200 Runners.
Page 3
Pages 24-25
Page 37