Trends

So why change? The active retirees—he’s 64, she’s 57—wanted something with more room and a garage. And being boating enthusiasts, they wanted a home near the water, away from the urban hustle and bustle. Finally they wanted something affordable.

Mission impossible? Not at all. In June, the Haynes moved into a 1,600-square-foot villa with two bedrooms, a den and a woodsy area behind it. It’s in the Centex Homes community of Southshore Falls, and the price was $208,000.

“It’s kind of away from town,” Marsha Hayne says. “It’s like a rural area and yet it’s close to town, close to the water”

Turned out, to find exactly what they wanted, the Haynes simply had to do what more and more Bay-area buyers are doing: They looked in South Shore.

LONG IGNORED,
NEWLY REDISCOVERED

A few years back, southern Tampa" target="_blank">Hillsborough County, then known simply as South County, was rural and agricultural.

For a long time, “nobody wanted to move all the way down there. It was not a very desirable place to be,” says John Heagney, president of John Heagney Public Relations, which represents about two dozen local builders and developers. “Now, it’s really a hot area.”

After years of being bypassed by the Bay Area’s building boom, southern Tampa" target="_blank">Hillsborough County has suddenly caught everyone’s attention. That’s because South Shore offers large tracts of undeveloped land, much of it with coveted water access, as well as reasonable prices.

For developers, that meant opportunity. And for homeowners, it meant a chance to live on the water without dropping a couple of million dollars to make it happen. Suddenly, South Shore became the fastest-growing area of Tampa" target="_blank">Hillsborough County.

Over the next 20 years, the Tampa" target="_blank">Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission is projecting its population to swell by as much as 450,000—and a good portion of these newcomers are expected to wind up in South Shore.

That’s welcome news for longtime landowners ready to sell out. But it might not be such good news for longtime residents who—until now—haven’t had to deal with growth and the challenges it brings.

The area now known as South Shore—the chic name fits better with its gussied-up image—is really a collection of communities that together make up about 385 square miles encompassing Apollo Beach, Balm, Gibsonton, Riverview, Ruskin, Sun City Center, Sundance and Wimauma.

“For a long time, it wasn’t on developers’ radar,” says local homebuilder Charley Hannah of Hannah Bartoletta Homes. It was thought of as the leftovers of waterfront for the Bay Area. “It had the power plant, the sewer treatment plant, it had this stigma.”

That began to change, says Hannah, when surrounding areas started to reach population overload. “Suddenly, the West Coast is running out of waterfront and there’s this beautiful stretch available,” Hannah adds. “It got discovered and bloomed practically overnight. It’s an emerging area that’s going to have legs for a long time.”

In fact, the area was perfectly positioned for growth because property values weren’t inflated and because of its easy access to Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota.??

“What you’re seeing now is a major recognition in the building and development industry that this really is a very accessible area, because of the road system, to Tampa" target="_blank">Hillsborough County services,” Heagney says.

As a result, the area that Heagney says had “always been kind of the stepchild of Tampa” is being reshaped with new luxurious waterfront estates, retail centers and affordable townhome communities.

The South Shore development boom started about five years ago, says Rob Ahrens, director of acquisitions for Metro Development Group in Tampa. That’s when San Diego-based Newland Communities began MiraBay, an upscale, 750-acre community in Apollo Beach.?

MiraBay, with its easygoing coastal ambiance, is situated on saltwater canals that offer direct, deep-water access to Tampa Bay. Streets are lined with pastel-hued, Key West-style homes priced from the high $300s to more than $5 million. In 2004, the community received national attention by hosting the Coastal Living magazine Idea House.

“Newland took a leap,” Heagney says. “MiraBay set the tone for that area. They [Newland] were the pioneers.”

Pioneers generally take risks, and Newland was no exception. The area was considered to be off the beaten track and there were those old image problems to overcome. But at MiraBay, Newland had a secret weapon: its already existing canals. They had been neglected, Heagney says, “but it was an existing gold mine.”

Newland improved the canals, built beautiful waterfront homes and “suddenly changed the whole perception of southern Tampa" target="_blank">Hillsborough County,” says Hannah.

Actually, the company did more than that, spearheading a drive to unite the area chambers of commerce to work toward establishing a new regional identity.

“Before this development push started, there was no cohesive identity down there,” Heagney says. “The (city and county leaders) deserve a lot of credit for putting aside their individual identities for the greater good.”

South Shore, with its abundant natural resources, proximity to cities and existing infrastructure, already had a lot going for it. Now, with a united coalition of business organization touting the area, it was ripe for development.

Today, new communities are rising in and around the existing towns of Ruskin, along the Manatee River and a hodgepodge of inlets, and Riverview, along the banks of the Alafia River. And equestrian communities have sprung up in Sundance and Wimauma.

Buyers love the variety, with everything from moderately-priced single-family homes with acreage to pricey waterfront estates, says Mike Speakman, a Keller Williams Realty agent who specializes in South Shore properties.

For example, a five-bedroom estate home in MiraBay was recently listed at $1,999,000 while also on the market was a three-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot home in Apollo Beach listed at $250,000.

Bargain-hunters can find an 800-square-foot, one-bedroom condo in Sun City Center for as little as $37,500—yes, $37,500—or a 928-square-foot, one-bedroom bungalow in Ruskin for $118,000.
Because of the current housing market slump, Speakman says, “If you’re a buyer, I can’t tell you how many good deals there are out there.”

Buyers are, in fact, getting considerable bang for their buck in communities such as Hawks Point of South Shore, a Centex Homes development where townhomes are priced from the $150s and single-family homes are priced from the $190s.

When complete, this gated community in Ruskin will encompass 1,180 homes with two clubhouses, a resort pool, a playground and sports courts.

“We put a lot of thought into the amenities,” says Brian Bullock, West Florida division sales manager for Centex. “But we wanted to keep it affordable.”

Along with MiraBay, Newland is developing two other communities in Apollo Beach: Covington Park, a 394-acre development with preservation areas, and Waterset, which will feature an esplanade linking the community’s recreation centers to its shopping and dining venues.

Along with all the enthusiasm, however, comes concern. The changing landscape isn’t welcome news to some longtime residents, who prefer cattle ranches and vegetable farms to new, amenity-filled communities.

“There’s an ‘I’m here so I want to stop all the growth coming next to me’ mentality,’” Ahrens says. “Everybody prefers rural to high density, green space to parking lots. But when there are employment centers, where do those [workers] live?”

And the reality, most observers say, is that since you can’t stop growth, South Shore communities should plan for it and control it. “Figure out where the density should be, where it should stay rural and what’s important to protect,” Ahrens says.?

In any case, it’s clear that South Shore’s boom is only beginning. New homes are going up in record numbers. And plans are on the drawing board for a $2 million shopping center with 1 million square feet of new stores at the southwest corner of I-75 and Big Bend Road. Plus, the area could soon get a movie theater and hundreds of new hotel rooms.
?
“I’m always fascinated by the transformation of areas,” Heagney says. “It’s interesting to see how development and growth can transform an area that was considered less desirable into an area that’s considered very desirable.”

“Before South Shore became South Shore, there was nothing down there,” Heagney adds. “Now, essentially, its time has come.”?
?

New South Shore Communities

Name: Southshore Falls
Developer/Builder: Centex Homes
Homes/Number and Types: 866 single-family homes and villas.
Location: Apollo Beach
Timetable: One-third sold out.
Home Sizes and Prices: Single-family, 1,630-2,544 square feet from the $260s; villas, 1,362-1,650 square feet from the $200s.
Community Amenities: 1,400-square-foot clubhouse with fitness center, Internet caf? ballroom, two heated lagoon-style pools, aqua track, social clubs and events, walking trails.

Name: Triple Creek
Developer/Builder: Joint venture of Centex Homes and M/I Homes
Homes
Homes/Number and Types: 2,045 single-family homes and townhomes.
Location: Riverview
Timetable: Phase One land development under way with completion
expected in January 2008; sales to start in fall 2008.
Home Sizes and Prices: 1,494-4,029 square feet from the low $300s.
Community Amenities: Town center and 6,000-square-foot clubhouse with fitness center and kitchen, aerobics, locker, multipurpose, child care and massage rooms, competition pool with water slide; snack bar, tot lot, playgrounds and sports fields; basketball, volleyball and tennis courts, 50-acre community lake.

Name: Hawks Point
Developer/Builder: Centex Homes
Homes/Number and Types: 1,180 single-family homes and townhomes.
Location: Ruskin
Timetable: Land development
under way with completion expected in October 2007; model homes to open December 2007
Home Sizes and Prices: 1,571-3,639 square feet from the high $100s.
Community Amenities: Two multi-use pools, playgrounds, basketball court, several parks and access to nature preserve areas.

Name: Bay Park
Developer: Metro Development Group.
Builders: Maronda Homes, Freemar Homes, Suarez Housing, Lennar, Windward Homes, KB Home.
Homes/Number and Types: More than 800 homes, some with views of conservation areas or ponds, in seven neighborhoods.
Location: Ruskin
Timetable: Land development expected to be complete fall 2007; home construction to begin fall 2007.
Home Sizes and Prices: 1,200-3,475 square feet from the $180s-$310s
Community Amenities: None

Name: Cypress Creek
Developer: Metro Development Group
Builders: Lennar, Transeastern, M/I Homes
Homes/Number and Types: 1,400 single-family homes, 865 townhomes
Location: Ruskin
Timetable: Land development begun on first two phases; Phase Three land development scheduled for completion by fall and the final two phases early in 2008.
Home Sizes and Prices: 1,582-2,575 square feet from the $180s
Community amenities: Resort-style pool, children’s splash zone, sport court, tot lot and cabana.

Name: Spyglass at River Bend
Developer: Metro Development Group
Homes/Number and Types: 761 single-family homes and executive homes.
Builders: Lennar, M/I, Morrison Homes, Hannah-Bartoletta Homes, Lexington Homes
Location: Ruskin
Timetable: Land development complete for new phase; models opened spring 2007.
Home Sizes and Prices: 3,000-6,000 square feet from the $700s
Community Amenities: Gated neighborhood with many homesites on the Little Manatee River, community dock, resort-style pool and cabana, community lake, sports court, dog park, walking path, children’s pool and playground.

Name: Winthrop Village
Developer: Taylor Woodrow
Homes/Number and Types: 228 single-family homes, 184 townhomes
Location: Riverview
Timetable: Grand opening was March 2007.
Home Sizes and Prices: Single-family homes, 1,928-3,203 square feet from the mid-$300s; townhomes, 1,700 -2,300 square feet from the mid-$200s.
Community Amenities: Urban-lifestyle community with central park green, 5,300-square-foot clubhouse with social hall, meeting room, catering kitchen, fitness studio, offices and restrooms, full-time activities director, pool, children’s play area, dog park.