Excerpted from the Charlotte Sun-Herald
05/21/08

* 11th-hour concessions produce pact for 202-acre project near Punta Gorda to get started.

Boon or bust, the Great Loop won't come back to haunt Charlotte County.

Commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved Wilder/BN Jones Loop Holdings' proposed 202.5-acre project on Jones Loop Road between Taylor Road and U.S. 41 south of Punta Gorda.

They did so after being assured by Wilder attorney Ted Brown that the Great Loop of Southwest Florida will develop rapidly enough to generate the revenue necessary to finance up to $20 million in improvements before traffic fostered by the project degrades area roads.

The Great Loop will be the "answer to the question, 'Does growth pay for itself?'" Brown said. "The unqualified answer to this is, yes it will, and we stand behind it to the extent that if it isn't, we'll fund the difference."

Commissioners endorsed a comprehensive plan amendment, a developer agreement and a development order for Boston-based Wilder to build 1.2 million square feet of retail space, 100,000 square feet of office space, 500 residential units and 200 hotel rooms in a mixed-use Development of Regional Impact.

Prior to Tuesday, county planners recommended denial of the proposal because Wilder was committing only $6.8 million to the $18 million it will cost to improve U.S. 41 between Aqui Esta Drive and Burnt Store Road.

Originally, the project was to be built over a 10- to 15-year span and would require $31 million in improvements to four road networks.

Brown said Wilder has changed its plans to a single-phase project that will be built within five years.

He said the shorter time produces "different answers" in cost projections and now will require Wilder to pay only $12.4 million for improvements to one road -- North Jones Loop -- in addition to its $6.8 million proportional share on U.S. 41.

County Growth Management Director Jeff Ruggieri said "11th hour" concessions resolved the impasse and produced a tentative accord.

To get the project rolling, Wilder will establish a community development district to collect tax revenues and pay for infrastructure.

With its tax base as collateral, the CDD will issue a bond, perhaps up to $20 million, to pay for local road-grid improvements.

The CDD will be reimbursed by the county through money generated by incremental increases in property tax values as the Great Loop is built and opens for business.

Wilder maintains the Great Loop will enhance the county's tax base by $475 million while generating $2.3 million a year in property taxes and $1.5 million in sales taxes, and creating 2,300 retail and service jobs.

The company hopes to start building the project in early 2009 and have it completed by 2010.

If revenues don't accrue as anticipated, "you don't pay," Brown assured commissioners. "We step in and pay. The county has no real exposure."

Of course, there's been similar assurances before -- Murdock Village, Burnt Store and Publix at the airport commerce park among them.

But in this instance, commissioners were lobbied by Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce and Team Punta Gorda representatives to approve the project as a much-needed economic boost.

LAS VEGAS -- A Boston-based company working to transform a 200-acre tract in Charlotte County into a massive mixed-use development has revamped its plans in response to market conditions, adding a shopping center's worth of retail space to its original proposal.

The Wilder Cos.' plans now call for 1.2 million square feet of retail space to be a part of The Loop-Punta Gorda, a 20 percent increase from designs unveiled last year.

At the same time, Wilder has reduced to 500 the number of new residences that would become part of its massive project, slated for a tract near Interstate 75 and Burnt Store Road. When Wilder's plans were announced last May, plans called for 800 homes.

"We're talking now to all the major department stores, the specialty retailers, the regional retailers," said Thomas Wilder, a company principal. "With a million two hundred thousand square feet, we have the flexibility to accommodate all kinds of retailers on the site."

In addition to the changes made to the retail and residential plans, Wilder's latest designs for The Loop-Punta Gorda also call for 100,000 square feet of office space and a hotel.

Wilder said the drop in planned homes stemmed not from the softened residential real estate market, but rather from an enthusiastic response from merchants to the planned retail.

"We found there was a little more demand for the retail we've planned," Wilder said during the International Council of Shopping Centers annual meeting in Las Vegas, a gathering of more than 50,000 retailers, developers and municipalities.

Wilder believes that Charlotte County's population will more than double between now and 2030, to 302,440 residents. Already, there are 20,000 new homes being planned or constructed in the county, by WCI Communities, Engle Homes, Centerline Homes and others.

Company executives are hoping to capture at least a portion of the purchasing power of those new residents, whose shopping experiences are currently limited to smaller stores and the Port Charlotte Town Center.

Because of its size and scope affecting both Charlotte and Lee counties, the Loop-Punta Gorda is now undergoing state review as a "Development of Regional Impact." Wilder said if state and local approvals can be obtained by the end of this year, as expected, construction would begin sometime next year.

The Loop-Punta Gorda, part of what the company calls "Florida's last great growth corridor," is slated for completion in late 2009, company materials say.

But while much has changed numerically in Wilder's plans, the company remains committed to "town center" designs that incorporate pedestrian-oriented uses such as restaurants and a multiplex movie theater with retail anchors such as Kohl's, JCPenney, Best Buy and others.

"The idea is to create a Main Street concept, something very pedestrian-friendly that blends cutting-edge designs," Wilder said.

The Loop-Punta Gorda is one of three Wilder is developing in Florida and Massachusetts. A 440,000-square-foot Loop in Orlando opened with Kohl's, Old Navy and a Regal Cinema in 2005, and an expansion nearly doubling the project is nearly complete.

A third Loop, slated to contain roughly 1 million square feet of commercial space, together with offices and residences, is planned to open next year in Northborough, Mass.

To see the Loop brochure, click here