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Luxury homes are latest idea for corner
A sumptuous gated community is planned. But some neighbors remain skeptical, after several failed projects on this corner of Belleair and Belcher.
By LORRI HELFAND, Times Staff Writer
Published November 22, 2003

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LARGO - A Swiss fugitive tried to build a megamansion there, and a Clearwater lawyer thought it was the perfect spot for a 185-bed assisted-living facility.

But for the past five years, nothing has materialized on the 12-acre site on the northwest corner of Belcher and Belleair roads.

Now, a new set of developers wants to build The Plantation, a gated community with 23 luxury homes costing $700,000 to $2-million each.

Torrey K. Cooper, project manager for the Dakota Land Group and a 1970 graduate of Largo High, said the property appealed to him because he and partner Dan Vietto of the Barclay Group grew up in the neighborhood.

Although there are other high-end neighborhoods in the city, city officials say it would be the first time in many years that a residential subdivision of this type and price bracket is built in Largo.

Other exclusive neighborhoods such as Kent Place are different because they were built parcel by parcel, rather than all at once, said Mike Staffopoulos, community development director.

This development "shows (Largo) as a community that supports all income levels and is appealing across the spectrum," Staffopoulos said.

Cooper said he plans to break ground in January on the posh two-story homes ranging from 3,000 to 8,200 square feet. He thinks it will take about six months to finish the project because much of the site work was completed by the previous developer.

The homes will have the style of South Carolina plantations and the old-world charm of Mediterranean manors. They'll be trimmed in English stone, brick and limestone.

Owners will be able to chose their own floor plans, customize the interiors and select specific details of their exteriors.

The community will feature streams and waterfalls, gas street lamps, and iron and stone fences, the developers say. The subdivision will be landscaped with Southern magnolia trees, honeysuckles, live oaks and deer and bear topiaries surrounding the 4-acre lake the developers have named Swan Lake.

Cooper said he plans to close on the property, which will cost nearly $2-million, by mid December. So far, seven of the homes are reserved, and there have been 70 offers, he said.

Some of the neighbors are skeptical, several are curious and most are just eager for something to finally happen there.

Dene Thomas, 84, who has lived near the property for more than 30 years, said she wouldn't mind upscale homes there. But she's not holding her breath. "Well, I have to see that before I believe it," she said.

Tim McDermott, 47, who lives down the street from her, likes the idea of the new homes, but he has doubts, too.

"It beats an assisted living facility," he said. "My concern is that the developer is not going to be able to follow though. I just don't think people are going to pay a half-million dollars to live in the middle of the county."

But neighbor Pat Rossewey, who lives across the street from The Plantation, said it's a convenient place to live.

"This is the perfect location in Pinellas county because you're central to everything," she said.

Realtor Marilyn Waldorf, with the Warldorf Group at ReMax Realtec, agrees. She said there is a market for high-end homes countywide.

"We have buyers coming in and they won't even look at anything over 5 years old. We've come a long way as far as amenities," she said. "The size of kitchens and the size of bathrooms. If they're going to spend the money, they want the amenities that go along with it."

Some of the neighborhood skepticism may stem from the property's history.

Swiss investor Jurg Weiss bought the property in 1999 and planned to build a 24,000-square-foot palace with eight bedrooms and 13 baths. An annexation dispute began between Largo and Clearwater, and Weiss entered an agreement with Largo.

About three years ago, Weiss vanished and his plans came to a halt. A concrete foundation and random cinder blocks are all that remain of his venture.

Weiss had returned to Switzerland in police custody, charged in Zurich with embezzling $4.5-million from a company where he had been the chief financial officer.

Andrew Szilagyi, Weiss' business partner, sold the property in February 2001 for $1.7-million to a Florida corporation named Belleair Beach Marine.

For many years before that, the land belonged to the Walker family. In 1998, a Clearwater developer obtained an option to buy it and tried to have it rezoned for an assisted living center. The neighborhood raised a ruckus and killed that plan.

In the mid 1990s, Cooper headed a company that ran into legal trouble for buying insurance policies from the terminally ill and failing to pay for them.

A Pinellas County circuit judge ordered his company, Credit Life Corp., dissolved and banned Cooper from operating that type of business again in Florida.

"A public funding source in Orlando did not complete the funding on a multiple group of policies," Cooper said. "Everybody was paid in full or every policy was returned."

- Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Lorri Helfand can be reached at [e-mail] or 445-4155.

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/22/news_pf/Northpinellas/Luxury_homes_are_late.shtml