By Joe Callahan|Ocala Star-Banner
A detailed road study of southwest Marion County about 20 years agorevealed that State Road 200 was poised for massiveresidential development and county leaders needed to designate land off that main highway to build neighborhood marketplaces.
And, as the2000 study predicted, SR200 has grown to a six-lane highway thanks to the dozens of large residential developments. The area isnow known as the State Road 200 corridor, a strip from Interstate 75 to County Road 484.
The population in that area, also named by planners as the “triangle” because ofthat area’s shape, has exploded.And in return, so hasthe need fornew business.
Southwest: New 392-home community coming to State Road 200 corridor
Southeast: Huge apartment/quadraplex/commercial development planned off US 441
Northwest: Old-line family balks, but developer wants 207 homes in NW Marion
Northeast: 320-home subdivision approved just north of Ocala
Now that affordable commercial lots along SR 200 are scarce, businesses are finally taking flight off the beaten path, about onemile east of SR 200, to better service all the new residential developments.
The first business center off SR 200will soon begin at Southwest 60th Avenue and Southwest 95th Street near Freedom Library. That commercial development, called Freedom Crossing,has been planned for more than a decade.
One of Marion County’s biggest developers, John Rudnianyn, said Friday that the Freedom Crossing train has just left the station.
The new Cherrywood Marketplace, which will be home to a new Publix, will soon break ground on the southwest corner of the SW 60th/SW 95th intersection behind Cherrywood Estates, Rudnianyn noted.
Just a few weeks ago, the Marion County Commission gave Rudnianyn the green light to restructure an already approved plan for 50-plus acres of commercial property near the southeast corner of SW 60th/SW95th intersection, behind Dollar General and the Freedom Library.
The new commercial development, which will abut Meadow Glenn and Hardwood Trails subdivisions, will include 200,000 square feet of retail space, nearly 134,000 square feet of general and medical offices, and 200,000 square feet forself-storage.
John Rudnianyn, and his son, Todd, have owned and operated Neighborhood Storage since 1978.
On that property, developers can buildan assisted living facility. If that addition is added,the square footage of that facility will have to be taken off square footages granted forthose three other three designated uses.
The self-storage units will be used as a buffer forthe neighboring communities.
Rudnianyn, along with Coneva PropertiesLLC, and 1415 Brothers Holdings LLC, are the owners of the property. ToddRudnianyntold commissioners a few weeks ago that the property was approved for commercial use in 2001.
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“In the 2000 study, the idea was to create commercial nodes in the central part of the triangle, which is created by (SR) 200, I-75 and CR 484, so that people could access services without having to (go to) the State Road 200 corridor itself,” Todd Rudnianyn said.
The new commercial intersection is also just a few blocks from Southwest 49th Avenue, the highway that will connect Marion Oaks to Ocala. That project, scheduled to be completed in a few years, will help get some traffic off SR200.
I-75 is located just east of Southwest 49th Street, where Southwest 95th Street is expected toone day connect to I-75 when aninterchange is approved. Thatwill give residents in that area anotheroptionof getting to Ocala without taking SR200.
During a planning and zoning meeting in late March, several residents of Meadow Glenn, who live on the property abutting the new commercial development, said they were unaware that commercial would be built in what is now cow pastures.
Todd Rudnianyn addressed each resident’s concern.
He reminded everyone that the acreage was approved for commercial in 2001, before the first house was built in Meadow Glenn. He assured residents he will attempt to developthe self-storage buildings in a way to reduce noise and distractions.
Rudnianyn said the the self-storage times will be from 6 a.m.-10 p.m. (for the exception of 5% of the customers who would need 24-hour access)and that there will be a solid fence along the back property line behindMeadow Glenn homes.
There will be about 65 feet between the property line and a self-storage unit. The unit doors will likely be facing into the commercial property, which should reduce noise.
In 2016, many residents of the 700-home Cherrywood Estates complained about the plans for the Freedom Crossing Marketplace. And, now five years later, construction is about to begin.
That’s not all of the Freedom Crossing plan. On the northeast corner of the SW 60th/SW 95th intersection, more commercial is planned. And behind that L-shaped commercial property, there is a 187-home neighborhood being planned.
— Contact Joe Callahan at 817-1750 or email him at joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeOcalaNews.
