- March 14, 2025
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A Deerfield Beach chain of day care centers is expanding in Southwest Florida with plans for three new locations. The three centers — in Fort Myers, Estero and Naples — will total 30,000 square feet and open over the next three years, the company says. The chain is The Learning Experience, which already has 40 centers across the state. Early details are scant, and the company did not respond to questions about whether it was building new facilities or moving into existing ones. What is known is that the each will have about 10,000 square feet of indoor space with an additional 5,000-square-foot playground. The centers will each employ about 30 people. The company, which both owns and franchises its centers, also did not say whether it would buy the properties or lease them. The new Fort Myers center will be at 6080 Jonathans Bay Dr. and is expected to open later this year. The one in Estero will be at 19950 S. Tamiami Trail and is expected to open in the third quarter of next year. And the Naples school will be at 4735 Santa Barbara Blvd. and is expected to open in the third quarter of 2027. Last year, when The Learning Experience announced it was opening a new center in Pasco County, it said the cost to build a new school is, on average, $3.2 million to $3.5 million.
The YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg has sold a portion of the land belonging to one of its clubs to developers who plan to build a mixed-use residential and retail development on the site. The center is the Jim & Heather Gills YMCA at 3200 1st Ave. S. What was sold is 4.5-acres of the property. Lisa Eccles, chief marketing and communications officer for YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg, says in an email that the land sold for $12 million. The YMCA kept 7 acres of the property and intends to use the proceeds of the sale to modernize the center. That includes relocated athletic fields with artificial turf and lighting, expanded parking including access to a covered parking garage and updated locker rooms. The first phase of the YMCA project is expected to begin this spring. As for the apartments and the retail center, the project will be developed by the St. Petersburg firm Blake Investment Partners and national developer Greystar. The retail center will be known as Whitney Village and have 32,000 square feet of space along 1st Avenue South. There are also plans to build smaller, attainable apartments for local employees, including YMCA staff, above the retail space. The apartment portion of the project, The Henry at Whitney Village, will have 325 residences with studio, one-, two-, and three-bedrooms units available. Greystar is also building a six-story, 600-space parking garage. The city of St. Petersburg has already approved the developers' plans, Eccles says.
Nearly 9 acres of land near Busch Gardens in Tampa have been sold. Bill Eshenbaugh of Eshenbaugh Land Co. says the buyer paid $1.4 million for the land on E. Regnas Avenue and will develop it into 38 home sites. The buyer is Clearwater’s Boos Development. Eshenbaugh, who represented the seller, an LLC tied to Platinum Developers, also of Clearwater, says Boos “do a lot” with homebuilder D.R. Horton as a developer. The property is in a residential area off of East Busch Boulevard. It is a few minutes from Busch Gardens and less than 3 miles from the University of South Florida.
A national developer and a real estate investment firm have bought nearly 36 acres in Hillsborough County’s Wimauma and plan to build 196 townhouse family homes to rent. Los Angeles-based PCCP and the Houston-based Balcara Group have partnered up to develop the homes on 35.4 acres within the 680-acre Southshore Bay master-planned community. Lennar will be the homebuilder and the first deliveries are expected later this year. A spokesperson for the partnership would not disclose a sale price but Hillsborough County public records show the companies paid $13.7 million. The development, when complete, will include 52 two-bedroom, two and a half-bathroom units totaling 1,372 square feet; 72 three-bedroom, two and a half-bathroom units totaling 1,534 square feet; 36 three-bedroom, two and a half-bathroom units totaling 1,654 square feet; and 36 four-bedroom and two and a half-bathroom units totaling 1,663 square feet. PCCP has $24.9 billion in assets under management and Balcara Group develops neighborhoods of luxury single-family rental homes.
Sarasota County has bought two Venice properties deemed ecologically sensitive. The purchases were made through its Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program, which is a part of the Land Acquisition and Management Program. The properties include 4.14 acres on Lemon Bay Drive and 5 acres on East Venice Avenue. The Lemon Bay Drive property, which the county paid $350,000 for, sits along Lemon Bay and Alligator Creek. According to a statement from the county, its features include a mangrove swamp, mesic hammock and remnant scrub and it provides a habitat for birds, gopher tortoises, brown pelicans, roseate spoonbills, little blue herons and green and brown anoles. The East Venice Avenue site, which the county paid $950,000 for, is in the Myakka River watershed and is made up of mesic hammock and scrubby flatwoods that supports gopher tortoises, red-shouldered hawks, barred owls and bobcats. County voters approved a referendum in 1999 for a not-to-exceed 0.25 mil ad valorem tax to be used for the purchase, protection and management of environmentally sensitive lands. Voters approved a second referendum extending the ESLPP through 2029.
The Sarasota Players has signed a 30-year lease for Payne Park Auditorium and is planning for a $2.5 million renovation. The goal of the project, which the group is raising funds for, is to transform the auditorium at 2100 E Laurel St. into a 200-seat community theater, according to a statement. The organization says it will keep the “original 1960s aesthetic” while adding a new lobby, expanded restrooms and making modern upgrades. Work is expected to begin this fall with the hope of reopening in time for the 2026 theater season. The Payne Park Auditorium is currently being utilized by the city of Sarasota Parks and Recreation Department and is not available for rental. According to YourObserver.com, a sister publication of the Business Observer, The Players has been looking for a permanent space for six years, after it sold its previous home, on U.S. 41 downtown, in 2018 for about $9.5 million. The plan at the time was to build a new facility in Waterside Village at Lakewood Ranch. But those plans fell through. It has operated since 2021 in a converted retail space at The Crossings at Siesta Key shopping center.
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