Wiregrass Ranch owners look to future [Tampa Bay Florida]
During the housing boom, the Porter family made big plans for Wiregrass Ranch: thousands of homes; acres upon acres of shopping and office space; a hospital; a college and even a golf course.
The housing collapse cost the Porters their development deal with Pulte Home Corp., which signed on during the boom as Wiregrass’ master developer. When Pulte walked away in 2008, it left the Porters to ponder their future.
“That was the best thing that could have happened to Wiregrass,” said J.D. Porter, the 31-year-old great-grandson of the ranch’s founder. “It allowed us to make some changes to the property during a downtime.”
With his father, Don Porter, and uncles behind him, J.D. Porter is emerging as the chief architect of the ranch’s future. He can talk at length about how Wiregrass’ spot on the landscape of the Tampa Bay area makes it the ideal place for the economic recovery to begin in Pasco County.