When Reggie Caruthers attends the International Conference of Shopping Centers this week in Orlando, he’ll be looking for an anchor store to jump-start retail development along U.S. 301 in Wildwood.
Caruthers, a land consultant, owner and broker with Oxford Land Co., says he thinks U.S. 301 can become a retail center that rivals U.S. 27-441 on the other side of The Villages.
The highway corridor between Oxford and downtown Wildwood has been a focus of recent development activity.
An Oxford apartment complex of up to 150 units and a 9.9-acre retail development near Clark Street were approved this month by the Wildwood City Commission. Last month, commissioners approved the 201-home Enclave at Lakeside Landings on County Road 472 while the 172-home Grand Oaks Manor is under construction down the road.
Peppertree Plaza near the Peppertree Apartments will have a 14,820-square-foot drug store and 16,500 square feet of additional retail space. Oxford Oaks, a 295-home subdivision west of U.S. 301 north of County Road 214, now is in its second phase.
Wildwood Pointe, proposed in 2008, is planned to have 1,575 homes, 222,000 square feet of commercial space and 40,000 square feet of office space near the south end of the U.S. 301 corridor. Construction has not begun yet.
Commissioners also recently fast-tracked a $2.3-million sewer line extension from Wildwood’s wastewater treatment plant to Oxford that will serve the new development.
The area already has a smattering of retail such as a flooring store, an Italian restaurant, a landscaping business and a fitness center. But Caruthers, who owns some property along the highway and represents other developers, said the area has potential for much more.
He said 75 percent of villagers can reach U.S. 301 by car in five to 20 minutes. The four-lane highway also is easily accessible from the Florida Turnpike and Interstate 75.
“We’re looking for a big-box retailer,” Caruthers said. “They call it a lynch-pin. Our main emphasis is selling the 301 corridor.”
Top prizes, of course, would be Costco or Trader Joes, two stores popular with many villages. But Caruthers said other large retailers would be a good fit.
He knows sacrifices may be necessary to lure a major retailer. One community, for example, got a Dillard’s store by donating the land and paving the parking lot for free.
Caruthers said when The Villages build-out is finished, it may spur other developers to begin residential projects like Wildwood Pointe that have stalled since 2008. Those developments would add more customers for stores on U.S. 301.
“The potential exists,” he said. “There are small pockets (along U.S. 301) where there could be retail centers.”
