Highway ignites Pasco development

A third-generation Pasco County ranch owner is ready to turn a large chunk of land northeast of Tampa into thousands of homes and more than a million square feet of commercial space.

Members of the development team behind the proposed Two Rivers project along the northern Hillsborough County-Pasco County line are set to meet with Pasco officials the week of July 13. Up for discussion: plans to build 6,400 homes and 1.2 million square feet of office space on 3,500 acres between Morris Bridge Road and U.S. 301 south of Zephyrhills.

Plans for the large chunk of the 14,000-acre Two Rivers Ranch now owned by Robert Thomas have been in development for years. Working with Tampa-based Sierra Properties, the master-planned community has been on hold until State Road 56 is extended from the Wesley Chapel area in the central part of the county east through the project.

Funding for that seven-mile extension, to U.S. 301, was approved in late 2013. But that was only for two lanes, not the four lanes developers wanted. Two Rivers might have to provide funds for the additional lanes, but Pasco officials say the county could try to borrow $25 million from the State Infrastructure Bank to pay for the work.

The meeting will include representatives from King Engineering Inc. and Lennar Homes, and is described as a pre-submittal meeting. That could mean full-fledged plans will be revealed later this year, with groundbreaking possibly even ahead of the planned 2017 start to the State Road 56 extension.