Long-dormant Parrish project is back on. Here’s what it means for epicenter of town’s growth.

Plans for Morgan’s Glen, a 138-acre mixed-use development that were first approved in 2006 for the Parrish area, have been dusted off and are again making their way through the Manatee County permitting process.

John and Patrick Neal are planning 115,216 square feet of retail commercial development and 270 single-family detached homes between Erie Road and Moccasin Wallow Road.

Unlike in 2006, the Morgan’s Glen area is now a hotbed of development.

Under construction nearby are Barbara Harvey Elementary School, North River High School and State College of Florida’s Parrish campus.

Pat Neal said the new school campuses will make the Parrish area the education center of North Manatee County.

“We think it’s a great site,” he said this week.

In documents submitted to the Manatee County Building Department, the Neals requested approval of a revised preliminary site plan. County staff have until Aug. 1 to complete their comments.

Neal Land has a business agreement with Claude and Lydia Melli to develop Morgan’s Glen. The Mellis are the principals of Brandon-based Florida Land Management.

Florida Land Management paid $6.5 million in September 2017 for the orange grove property, which is the site of the planned Morgan’s Glen project.

The Morgan’s Glen property is currently zoned for grazing and farm uses, and is located west of U.S. 301 and to the east of the Copperstone community on 115th Avenue East.

Florida Land Management is proposing to build 3,300 homes and 450,000 square feet of retail and office space on a 1,155-acre parcel nearby called Parrish Lakes.

Another high-profile development, Robinson Gateway, is located just west of Parrish Lakes. Planned for Robinson Gateway are 900,000 square feet of retail space, 600,000 square feet of retail space, hundreds of hotel rooms and 542 residential units.

Neal Communities is best known as a home builder with more than 13,000 homes in southwest Florida.

Neal is also making plans for Central Park Station, a 119,650-square-foot commercial development on 16.8 acres at Lakewood Ranch. That project is tied to the extension of 44th Avenue East.

The Parrish area and Lakewood Ranch are Manatee County’s two hottest development areas.

Developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch recently announced that robust new home sales in 2018 helped Lakewood Ranch reach 12,034 sales in just 24 years.

Fifty homes were sold at Lakewood Ranch in the first week of July, bringing the total number of new homes sold there in 2018 to 882, with an overall sales value of close to $4.9 billion.

John Osborne, Manatee County planning official, estimates that 23,000 homes have been permitted or are awaiting approval in the North Rivera area, including Parrish.

In recent years, 2,000 new homes have been added annually in Manatee County. In 2017, that increased to 2,400, Osborne said.

This story was originally published July 26, 2018 at 11:09 AM.