The Villages Construction Update #127 Do things grow faster in the south? 5/28/2023
 

Do things grow faster in the south end of The Villages? It seems so when you look at the Village of Lake Denham, but then when you look at the rest of the housing construction in The Villages you realize that unlike the past few years where more than one village has been under construction, right now the only place they are building homes is Lake Denham. Yes, I know, there is Middleton, but that is at a much more tempered pace, just as fast but not as many at one time, so the overall impact is minimal.

Obviously, I include Lake Denham and Dabney in this video, also included are Well Point, Coleman Ridge (that was a real blast!), a brief look at Moultrie Creek, Middleton, and Eastport. I take a quick look at Edna’s and the changes that are about to happen there. I take a final look at the now completed 501/470 interchange. The progress at the Magnolia Plaza 7-11 appears to have stagnated, and many are still awaiting Harry and the Natives to start construction at Okahumpka, I’ll show you both of these.

There’s also another TAN segment, this time I’ll show you a comparison of Then And Now of the Village of Chitty Chatty.

There is also a short tribute to our fallen veterans in observance of Memorial Day.

Last up is another motorcycle ride, this time using 3 cameras that will show how things actually look when on two wheels.

Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/ZDKbSnwkNyY

Thanks again, Don.

Great video - thank you - will be sad to see the Edna food trucks go away. 🙁

I agree, it brough a different feel and vibe to the area, much more relaxed. It was obviously a hit for a lot of people.

Another excellent and very informative video. The Edna's scene appeared almost seemed 3D on my iPad.

Looks like there will be additional room for seating on the pavers near the building similar to Sawgrass. Would be nice if that included some shade.

Noticed a big patch of dirt fairly far south in this satelite view in the lower left. Maybe from the lake?

Nope, that’s a haul yard, where they stage the thousands of dump truck loads of dirt. It will move in a year or two as they move farther south.

Hey Don, thanks for another informative video.

I noticed that the developer didn’t say much about the new medical campus down south, and other than the medical center in the Eastport area you haven’t said much either. Has this project been cancelled or at least back burnered?

Yes, at the evening with the developer, they talked around the new hospital quite a bit and never said a word about it. As I am understanding it changes in UF upper management have caused considerable slowdowns. There is a huge information vacuum on the topic, my best and deepest digging is still turning up very little. It would be a true shame if UF backs out, another hospital group could replace them, but it would not likely then be a teaching/research hospital as originally planned. A lot of time and money has gone into this so far and the need is great, it would be a huge loss for the community and both Lake and Sumter County if nothing becomes of it.

Great update. Thanks Don! Surprised about the food trucks. Any idea what restaurant will be going in?

All the articles say Edna’s is going in new structure.

Thanks, no idea on what is going in.

At a recent uf town hall nothing was mentioned about a new hosp. Rumor has it they were denied a certificate of need. They were late to the table because HCA got a CON for their hosp in the beaumont area behind there free standing er. The only chatter was a expansion of the uf health free standing er on 44 in brownwood. It was originally built to be expanded. This is a very hard area to attract quality physicians. Both UF hospitals in the area struggle to provide quality care because of this.

These are not food trucks in the true sense of a truck pulling into an area and selling food. They are basically three trailers that you buy food from. I was told that at least one of the vendors will be in the new building.
One thing this is going to do is make an already tight parking situation even worse. I live about a block away and there is many a time when there is a decent band playing that I have to double park behind somebody's car just to get my mail. What they are planning will take at least 15 spots away from the parking lot.

What is a "block"?

By the way, I have always thought the parking lot should have been extended into the grassy area behind the #9 hole at Lowlands. At present, I see a lot of carts parking there when Edna's is crowded.

Evolution is good, the owners and staff are very innovative.

From Don's video, Looks like it going from the Edna's truck back, no impact to the parking lot?

Additional space on pavers in front for seating?

Here's the original pic I used for better detail and the complete plans that I have. Lots of unknowns still, - number of employees is listed as "unknown". There is a 500 gal grease trap.

Also, only 1625 sqft building, after a freezer/refrigerator and kitchen area are taken out of the total sqft it doesn't leave a lot for tables. As far as outside seating, the paved area is only 53x40 (just over 2000 sqft) and will still be the entry area to the bar and outside seating areas so not a lot of room for tables.

Perhaps the best guess at this point is a walkup counter food sales area.

We'll see what the summer brings.

Therein lies the problem, just rumors, we don't know the facts. As I said, there is an information vacuum, rumors and speculations are just that, the facts are few and far between at this point.

The rumor regarding a denied certificate of need (CON) is false. Several years ago Florida ceased requiring a CON. A CON is no longer required to build a hospital.

Two UF Health Central Florida executives have each said a different meetings that the hospital to be built on the medical campus near CR470 is "on hold." Reasons given: 1) cost to build keeps increasing; 2) difficult to recruit physicians.

I'm a volunteer at The Villages Hospital. From a meeting I attended, I learned that at this time the focus for UF Health Central Florida is to build "hybrid emergency rooms" in Marion, Lake and Sumter counties. These buildings will offer two services under one roof: urgent care and emergency care. The patient is triaged and informed if they have choices. One will open in Eustis during Q1 2024. Land has just been purchased in Clermont for another. There was no mention of expanding the size of the Brownwood ER.

Great video as always, Don. About 7/11… we were getting gas for our cart last week at the little remote place in Marsh Bend run by the Villages golf cart store, and the guy working there told us 7/11 is opening in 3 weeks. He also said after it opens they’re moving the remote station down further south near the newest villages (Newell, Lake Denham, Dabney, etc). We’ll see!

Thanks Don, it will be interesting to see how this materializes.

Clear there is no proposed impact to existing parking.

Gas in N/LD/D will be a great thing, most likely at the golf maintenance area just south of Jubilee & Mickey Lee.
As far as 7-11, I went by there on Friday and still no progress on filling the shelves in convenience store. The place looks complete. 3 weeks seems optimistic. Goodness knows, the gas station is really needed in that area.