By CRAIG GARRETT Staff Writer Aug 17, 2021 Updated 4 hrs ago
A rendering suggests what Wellen Park may look like some time in the near future.
IMAGE PROVIDED
NORTH PORT — Pitched as North Port's new entertainment district, Downtown Wellen Park officially breaks ground Wednesday.
The mix of retail, dining and lakefront recreation is the centerpiece district of several upscale neighborhoods, the Atlanta Braves spring training complex, the Marketplace plaza, anchored by a Publix, and other amenities.
That area centered at Tamiami Trail and Mercado Drive sprawls over several hundred acres and also includes a North Port police/fire rescue station to service the city’s western edge. That opens next year. Assisted living and new housing are included in Downtown Wellen Park. Opening is planned for late 2022, a spokesperson said.
“Everybody gets what they’re asking for” in the new district, North Port Mayor Jill Luke said of Downtown Wellen Park. “I’m just so excited.”
Wellen Park is the renamed West Villages, a planned community covering some 11,000 acres.
Downtown Wellen Park will become its retail business hub. The enterprise had also opened a welcome center in the adjacent Marketplace plaza.
The largest four trees inside the perimeter — one with a 96-inch diameter and well over 100 years old, all salvaged from the property — will flank the entryway to the project, a welcoming canopy of green that will provide a “sense of place,” said Rick Severance, Wellen Park president, “that doesn’t feel brand new.”
The other trees get sprinkled around the development — including an 80-acre lake, restaurants, shops, concert and festival areas, a food-truck park, splash pad and a kid play area.
Downtown Wellen will serve as the premier shopping, dining, and entertainment destination for our growing community. Part of the Wellen way of life, this welcoming, walkable destination will have something special for everyone, from great eateries to stylish shops and exquisite sunsets.
The first phase should open by 2022, Severance said. At build-out, Wellen Park will contain some 20,000 homes and 50,000 residents, or about two-thirds of North Port’s current population.
As Downtown Wellen Park takes shape, North Port has also boosted its campaign to push its activity centers, nine downtown-like districts within the city.
Activity centers — not to be confused with fitness hubs such as the George Mullen Activity Center — were meant for walkability or riding a bike to work, bringing retail and employment zones, for instance. Housing and recreation are part of that mix.
These districts date to 1997 and were a retooling then of the city’s future. The idea was a greater mix of retail and jobs with its housing. One district may feature medical professionals, another light-industrial businesses or corporate offices.
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