'Broad Scope'

At least once a month, Lakewood Ranch Commercial Realty President Kirk Boylston is on the road touting a vision he has for the master-planned community in east Manatee County.

At health-industry conferences he hands out brochures depicting a modern, industrial development where biomedical researchers and medical suppliers mingle against a classic Lakewood Ranch backdrop of wetlands, trees, bridges, pedestrian and bicycling trails.

“There's a lot of bio research hubs,” Boylston says. “We're just trying to create a smaller version here. It's a pretty broad scope, so we're really looking for anything that's related to enhancing health.”

Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch Inc. calls the 305-acre project CORE, short for Collaboration Opportunities for Research and Exploration. South of Rangeland Parkway, at the northeast corner of State Road 70 and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard, the project is designed to attract scientific, educational and research institutions. Picture a health-tropolis, home to medical suppliers, advanced-care facilities, cancer centers, residential, retail, education and hotel space.

“We're getting a great response,” Boylston says. “It's an important project for the whole region, as well as for Lakewood Ranch. We're making good progress, but it's a lengthy process.”

It will take up to 20 years to fully develop. But when CORE is complete, SMR and Boylston say it will be a one-of-a-kind research and development campus — a biomedical destination unlike any other office or medical park in the region.

“We're not looking to have a bunch of doctors' offices and urgent-care medical types in this area,” Boylston said. “We're being selective about the uses we are putting on this particular site.”

The first piece of the CORE puzzle is already in place: a 40-acre lifestyle development called The Green, scheduled to open in 2018. Orlando-based Tavistock Development Co. announced in January it would bring two dozen restaurants and retailers to the parcel, including an Earth Fare organic grocer and a fitness facility. Known for its business parks, Tavistock also signed on to build more than 300 luxury apartments at the site.

“Biomedical is going to take a while to bring in,” says SMR President and CEO Rex Jensen. “To have a really nice lifestyle product makes a difference. I think it will help us attract other businesses that fit the CORE profile.”

SMR has several office and industrial parks scattered across the ranch, including Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park, home to entities such as FCCI Insurance Group, Stantec Inc. and State College of Florida. Last year, Tampa-based Harrod Properties Inc. solidified plans to build more than 500,000 square feet of flexible industrial space on the east side of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard, just south of the Crowder Bros. Ace Hardware shopping plaza. The community's office and industrial centers are economic drivers, but officials say CORE will be different because of what it will offer and how it will look.

SMR officials also see the hub as an integral part of community's long-range sustainability plan.

“New demographic, economic and lifestyle forces are driving the formation and growth of biomedical clusters throughout the U.S.,” Jensen says. “Critical to the success of these centers is the infrastructure, support systems and collaborative environment to nurture their growth. With more than 1,300 companies, Lakewood Ranch is a major job center. Proximity to homes, retail and services is a major advantage, and a must for companies that need to tap into an ecosystem like ours.”