With nearly all of their residential lots in Crossprairie spoken for, BTI Partners is just weeks away from closing on the most substantial deal in the 1,400-acre master-planned community.
WMG Development is under contract for the 95-acre urban center at the new Florida’s Turnpike interchange and plans to start construction late next year, starting with New Nolte Road and the final segment of the Cross Prairie Parkway through the community.
The developer, which has offices in Chicago and Winter Garden, has been quietly working with BTI partners and the City of St. Cloud on the revised master plan for the urban center, which they’ve renamed Heritage. When completed, it could have up to 1,200 residential units, 600 hotel rooms, 200,000 square feet of medical and institutional uses, and 2.7 million square feet of commercial and office space.
Craig Kopko, WMG’s EVP of Development, told GrowthSpotter they initially contacted BTI three years ago to inquire about developing a grocery-anchored retail plaza at Crossprairie. But once they understood the scope of the project — and saw the demand from homebuilders to be in the community — they expanded their vision to take on the full urban center.
“It is the largest project we’ve probably done as an organization, but the team members that are on it have done projects of similar size and scope or even larger,” Kopko said.
The City Council approved WMG’s preliminary subdivision plan amendment and development agreement in April. Prepared by GAI Consultants, the plan calls for the center to be developed in phases, with a grocery-anchored plaza and two big-box stores in the first phase, along with dozens of shops, restaurants and medical offices. The first phase, which will take about 5-7 years to complete, also will have two hotels and two suburban-style apartment complexes.
“This is what the market wants today; this is what we can fill,” Kopko said. “Our goal is to make a very vibrant, active project together, and then, as the market matures, being able to go denser.”
He said all of the roads, utilities and stormwater ponds will be built to accommodate the infill development in future phases. Because the infrastructure will all be built on the front end, WMG won’t need to split the project into sections. “We’re planning to just go full-speed ahead.”
Davey Brown, WMG’s VP of Retail Development, said the company will be meeting with future tenants next week in Las Vegas at ICSC, the world’s largest retail convention. “We’re in a unique situation, in that there’s been more tenants calling us than us calling tenants,” he said. Now that they have the PSP approval, they can nail down the tenant list.
The interest has primarily come from national brands with which WMG has an existing relationship. Some brands the company has partnered with in the region include Publix, Miller’s Ale House, Chipotle, Starbucks, KFC, Wild Fork, Blaze Pizza, Panda Express, Raising Cane’s and White Castle.
We had a fun morning in Clermont’s Plaza Collina Development getting our “Crave” on with our friends from @WhiteCastle! Sliders incoming later this year with a 3,200+ sq. foot restaurant with both indoor and outdoor seating. Thank you to our team and colleague’s for working so… pic.twitter.com/IbuvoNY2ER
— WMG Development (@WMGDev) April 9, 2025
The project will have a walkable lifestyle center overlooking a lake that could attract users who are new to the Orlando market, as well as independent, chef-driven restaurants. The project will also have medical components, including a potential free-standing emergency room and dental office.
“We are entertaining office,” Kopko said. “We believe there is an office demand. We’re working on something I think is pretty special, as far as the retail and office integration, really highlighting the mixed-use concept and being able to integrate it together in some areas within the project.”
Kopko said WMG plans to self-develop the first two apartment complexes, which will have 600 units. The firm has engaged Nelson Worldwide for the design work and master planning.
Between Crosspraire and Edgewater West, BTI Partners controlled roughly 2,600 acres in the county’s East of Lake Toho mixed-use district. The property is divided into 11 different neighborhoods and entitled for nearly 9,000 residential units.
Homebuilders in Crossprairie include: Meritage, Jones Homes, M/I Homes, Beazer, Lennar, K. Hovnanian, David Weekley Homes and Starlight Homes. Ashton Woods is under contract for one of the neighborhoods but hasn’t closed yet.
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