New Arbor Reserve Community Planned For Bloomingdale Avenue

New Arbor Reserve Community Planned For Bloomingdale Avenue
By Carisa Biesecker
Residents who live near Bloomingdale Ave. in Valrico have had some grievances in the past with the acreage that lies on Bloomingdale Ave., battling the onslaught of developers with hopes of big-box stores and apartment complexes, but they now have found equal ground, as Bloomingdale Developers constructs Arbor Reserve Estates with the help of Zephyrhills’ South End Development.According to Hillsborough County Public Information Manager Willie Puz, this quaint, 33-single-family home development will sit upon 12.53 acres of land located between Lithia Pinecrest Rd. and Mulrennan Rd., almost adjacent to the Lithia Pinecrest Publix. He adds, “The developer is also extending the existing westbound right-turn lane on Bloomingdale Ave. onto Lithia Pinecrest Rd.”These custom-built homes, with square footage starting at approximately 3,000 sq. feet, will be encompassed within a gate and lush landscaping and regulated by a homeowners’ association. Described as “mid-range to high-range all-custom homes,” owner Naheem Francise, of Bloomingdale Developers, states, “I wanted to do something different…This is truly going to be custom homes, not low-end track homes. Homebuyers are going to get exactly what they want.”He says that he chose this parcel of land, having financed the project himself, because of the “potential” he said he saw in it. Having primarily worked in commercial construction before, he asserts, “It is just a great location.”With residents in the surrounding neighborhoods having gone up against real estate company Crosland from 2005-2008, they are now breathing a sigh of relief. Back then, Crosland was campaigning for the development of a luxury apartment complex containing retail space by the name of Vittoria on 18.42 acres located directly next to the land being developed, just east of the intersection of Bloomingdale Ave. and Lithia Pinecrest Rd., behind the Albertson’s-anchored shopping center and north of the Publix-anchored plaza.  Valrico resident Kevin Dorsey, homeowners’ association president of the 650-home Buckhorn Estates, as well as president of the Valrico Organization Interested in Controlled Expansion (VOICE), states, “We feel that the building of single-family homes is an appropriate use of the land east of Lithia Pinecrest Rd.,” adding that “large commercial developments, such as ‘big boxes,’ like Walmart or large apartment building developments, are not appropriate uses for land east of Lithia Pinecrest Rd.” Still, Dorsey believes that with additional housing, roadways will have to be altered, saying: “Increasing traffic along Bloomingdale Ave. and Lithia Pinecrest Rd. is an ongoing problem for all residents living in this area. However, large traffic attracting developments, such as I mentioned previously, would be brutal for our residents. Even with more homes being built in this area, Hillsborough County will be required to step up and improve this section of Bloomingdale Ave. and other local roads to handle the additional traffic.”Working in conjunction with Bloomingdale Developers and South End Development is Hamilton Engineering & Surveying, Inc. For more information on Arbor Reserve Estates, call Ginger Crabtree, of Florida Executive Realty, at 832-5400. Signage of the neighborhood should be installed within the next three-five weeks. To learn more about VOICE, visit www.MyValricoVoice.org.