By Tamas Mondovics
Red Cast Bloomingdale LLC, a development company formed by Redstone Investments, has finally revealed the name of its now infamous Bloomingdale Big Box project located on Bloomingdale Avenue, just west of Lithia-Pinecrest Road. Occupying 43 acres, Crest Pointe Towne Shoppes, located at 2150 Bloomingdale Ave., is a mixed-use development anchored by a new 152,000 sq. ft. Walmart Supercenter, for which the retail giant reportedly paid the developer $4.6 million.
According to an online release of the project by Redstone Investments, the site has 700 ft. of frontage on Bloomingdale Avenue with up to seven out-parcels available for ground lease with access to Bloomingdale Avenue and Lithia Pinecrest Road, and a new stoplight at the main Bloomingdale entrance.
Several businesses, confirmed so far by the developer to occupy the frontage of the property, includes Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, Tijuana Flats, Mattress Firm and Wendy’s, while leaving another 2.89 acres available for additional businesses.
The project also includes 14 acres zoned for a Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) style residential complex in the form of apartments and condominiums.
While Walmart being the future anchor of the property was no secret to most residents, its confirmation came earlier this year, nearly two years after it was first revealed by Hillsborough County staff, setting off a sizable and impressively enduring community-wide protest, which often saw angry confrontations between residents and county commissioners and their representatives.
Opponents of the project, mainly made up of local residents and members of adjacent neighborhoods, consistently expressed their worries about student-safety, the traffic woes on Bloomingdale Avenue, which carries a grade of D because of its congestion, and Lithia-Pinecrest, an F-rated road, not to mention the unwelcome change of landscape within the heart of their neighborhood.
According to residents, the most reprehensible part of the project was the lack of communication and public notification on the part of County officials. Residents argued that in 2011 commissioners approved changes in the county’s land development code initiated by Redstone which changed parking, traffic patterns and the amount of commercial space allowed in the development without requiring public notification.
“The land development code was inappropriately changed without the board of county commissioners following the proper process,” said community advocate George Niemann during an earlier interview adding that residents had no clue what was happening until news of the project showed up in the local community paper.
The battle to halt or at least alter the development eventually lead to a lawsuit against Hillsborough County, which ended late last year after a court ordered mediation.
According to Redstone, the Walmart Supercenter is scheduled to open in the spring or summer of 2016.
For more information about the project, visit http://bit.ly/1Oj2wuy.
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