Wesley Chapel shoppers could get a new upscale grocery store and dozens of restaurants on SR-56 after a Tampa-based developer filed plans with Pasco County for more than 80,000 square feet of retail and dining space at the Mansfield Boulevard intersection.
Seth Lane, vice president of Regency Centers, submitted site plans for three parcels totaling 14.63 acres on Friday, June 19, 2026, according to county permit records. The parcels sit on a larger 59-acre property within the Wiregrass Ranch Master Planned Unit Development that will ultimately be divided into 10 parcels.
The centerpiece is a 26,187-square-foot grocery anchor space on Parcel D. County permits do not name The Fresh Market directly, and the chain has not publicly confirmed a Wesley Chapel location. But Regency Centers has developed multiple Fresh Market-anchored shopping centers across Florida, and the proposed store size aligns almost exactly with the chain's standard 25,000-square-foot format.
Scott Sheridan, chief operating officer of Locust Branch, LLC, the development arm of the Wiregrass Ranch MPUD, discussed the project at a North Tampa Bay Chamber presentation in April 2026. He described the planned grocery as a Fresh Market "green" grocery store and referenced "South Tampa-style" restaurants, according to Neighborhood News Online's account of the presentation. Sheridan declined to provide further details for the outlet's July 26, 2026, report beyond confirming that plans had been submitted.
What the plans show
The three filed parcels include:
- Parcel D (7.65 acres): The main retail center with the grocery anchor, 28 retail and restaurant suites ranging from 1,220 to 4,230 square feet, 54,985 square feet of retail space, and 17,390 square feet of restaurant space.
- Parcel B (4.10 acres): Three restaurants, including a 5,750-square-foot sit-down, an 8,000-square-foot sit-down, and a 3,075-square-foot fast-food restaurant with a drive-through.
- Parcel A (2.88 acres): One 3,000-square-foot restaurant or office building and one 8,000-square-foot sit-down restaurant.
The combined retail and restaurant space across the three parcels exceeds 80,000 square feet, according to the site plan. No tenants beyond the proposed grocery anchor have been publicly identified.
Seven additional outparcels covering about 27 acres have no filed plans yet. The site plan designates future uses including retail, restaurants, offices, and residential.
Location and size
The site occupies the southwest corner of SR-56 and Mansfield Boulevard, between Pasco-Hernando State College and SR-56, near Orlando Health Wiregrass Ranch Hospital. The land was zoned for commercial use in 2007, the same year The Shops at Wiregrass opened.
For size comparison: The Fresh Market's boutique format at 26,187 square feet is roughly half a typical Publix. The under-construction Whole Foods at Aronwood Boulevard and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in Wesley Chapel will be 35,518 square feet.
Traffic questions remain
Traffic access is an unresolved issue. Current transportation standards limit median openings on SR-56. A full median opening exists at Yaupon Lane, and the site plan calls for a reverse-frontage road connecting the development to a future signalized intersection at Lajuana Boulevard, the same signal serving Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant and Audi Wesley Chapel on the north side of SR-56.
Whether transportation officials will require changes to the existing median configuration has not been answered.
What happens next
The project is in active Pasco County and state review. No hearing date or construction timeline has been publicly announced.
