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Takeover shouldn't impede ranch plan
By JAMES THORNER © St. Petersburg Times, published May 7, 2001 Del Webb Corp. had first dibs on 2,000 acres of Cannon Ranch property recently rezoned for 6,700 homes in central Pasco. It is the same Del Webb that will be swallowed by the Pulte Homes empire in a $1.8-billion takeover announced last week. What does the merger mean for Cannon Ranch, one of Pasco's biggest proposed housing developments? Apparently not much. Del Webb spokesman Kyle Reinson said his company, despite its approaching absorption into Pulte, is still considering central Pasco for its next big Florida venture. "As far as we know, it's business as usual," Reinson said. Del Webb hasn't bought the 2,000 acres. At least not yet. Last fall, the Phoenix-based company secured an exclusive option to buy Cannon Ranch. That option still stands as the company studies the property before deciding whether to close the deal, Reinson said. The company is best known for building Sun City active adult communities, marketed to people 55 and over. The Cannon Ranch rezoning application approved this spring calls for 5,200 houses and apartments, 1,500 resort condominiums, two golf courses, stores, offices, parks and schools. The owner of the ranch is Leon Heron Jr. of Tennessee, who operates under the name Thompson Station Enterprises. In 1999, Heron paid the Cannon family $7-million for the ranch, which sprawls about a mile east of Interstate 75 south of State Road 52. Earlier plans for the land included an ill-fated county-western-themed amusement park called Charlie Daniels Western World. Heron resurrected development plans for the ranch originally approved in 1989. He has spent the past year getting permission to increase the number of homes from 5,956 to 6,700. Pulte, the Bloomfield Hills, Mich., company active throughout the Tampa Bay area, said last week it would let Del Webb operate as a separate unit within the corporation. The takeover lets Pulte dig itself more deeply in the active adult market. Pulte has established itself in central Pasco, quickly developing as a Tampa suburb, with Lexington Oaks. The 1,500-home golf-course community on State Road 54 sits about 8 miles southwest of Cannon Ranch. On Friday, Tampa Bay area Pulte executives didn't return calls from the Times.
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From today's Pasco Times |
