SPANISH MOSS DRAPES hundred-year-old trees in majestic oak hammocks. Horse farms and white picket fences line winding country roads. The pace is a little slower, the accent more southern. There's room to breathe here. But change is coming in the form of gated communities, half-million dollar homes and championship golf courses. Whether the unique rural flavor of Hernando will disappear remains the million-dollar question.

- by by Janan Talafer jvt916@tampabay.rr.com
- photo by by Tom Berndt

It's almost a mile from the guardhouse before you'll see the estate homes that sit on 1,800 acres of pristine, rolling hills - at the highest point some 160 feet above sea level - with clear views to the horizon of the Gulf of Mexico. There are no homes there yet, only the vision, but the demand is already feverish. On grand opening day in mid-June, everything that was offered - 302 home sites - sold, with sales climbing to more than $38 million, says Walt Davis, the broker for Southern Hills Plantation, a development of LandMar Group, LLC.

The community's (www.sohilly.com) golf course, fitness center and spa, tennis courts and proximity to the Suncoast Parkway are all designed as a magnet for the affluent. "There's nothing else like this here," says Davis.

"They're coming from Tampa, Michigan, Georgia and throughout the Northeast." Southern Hills is just one of several upscale developments in Hernando. There's also Hernando Oaks, a 626-acre gated community of 975 single-family homes that will eventually have two town centers. Like Southern Hills, Hernando Oaks will retain its wooded feel - only 262 acres will have houses and streets, says Ronnie Dunston, project manager for Hernando Oaks LLC. Groundbreaking for the community took place in 2002, with the golf course opening in the summer of 2003 and the first residents just moving in this year.

"This is about the hottest subdivision I've ever seen, and I've been doing this since 1972," says Dunston.

By Car or By Plane

Dunston attributes the housing boom to the opening of Suncoast Parkway, reducing the drive to Tampa to a smooth 40 minutes. Land and housing is cheaper than Hillsborough and Pinellas to the south, and then there's the allure of wide-open spaces. For those who own a personal or corporate jet, there's also the advantage of Hernando County Airport.

"The airport is what first caught my attention," says Barry Stem, whose company, Duratek Precast Technologies, recently relocated from Pinellas to Hernando. "We were looking for a place to expand the business and we wanted a site for the company plane." (www.duratek.net)

Now Duratek has a new 6,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Airport RailPark, one of three business parks at the airport. The company's corporate aircraft hangar is just 130 yards from the office.

"I can be airborne in 10 minutes and anywhere in the state within one hour," says Stem, a pilot whose business takes him throughout Florida where he has crews working. "Before, it took me 40 minutes just to drive to the airport."

Duratek has been in business for eight years, but three-and-ahalf years ago Stem shifted the company to the manufacture of precast concrete walls and barriers. He says the move triggered a dramatic increase in sales, with a 45-percent annualized growth rate in the last four years.

Now Duratek is moving into precast housing with a high-tech design that is significantly stronger than the standard block used in residential construction, according to Stem. "Norway, Finland and Germany have been using this technology for over 20 years," he says. "It can withstand both termites and hurricanes."

This product line will be manufactured in Hernando at a new 35,000-square-foot production facility that Duratek plans to build in the next 18 months. "Our growth has been nothing short of phenomenal," says Stem. "All of us are excited about the move to Brooksville."

Duratek is not the only company moving into RailPark. Topline Hylift Inc. (www.toplineauto.com), an automotive parts manufacturer based in Chicago, plans to build a 140,000-square-foot facility there, and 84 Lumber (www.84lumber.com) has leased 10 acres for a new facility.

In addition to easily accessible airport hangars, another advantage of the Airport RailPark is the CSX rail line that will connect Hernando with Tampa and the port, making it easier and more economical to transport goods. The rail line isn't in yet, but design work was completed this summer, says airport director Don Silvernell. He expects construction of the rail line will be under way soon.

At the 250-acre Corporate AirPark, Silvernell hopes business will heat up when the new South Airport Road opens next year. This east-west access road will tie the park into U.S. 41, improving traffic flow and making access easier. Already housed there are helicopters for the Hernando County Sheriff's Office and Bayflite, a medical emergency helicopter operated by Bayfront Medical Center. Currently a joint use facility is under construction for both programs, says Silvernell.

AFrom Fly Boys to Corporate Jets Like many small airports around the country, the Hernando County Airport began its life as the Brooksville Army Air Field, a World War II auxiliary field for the big boys to the south - Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base and Drew Fields. After the war ended, the airfield (www.co.hernando.fl.us/airport) was deeded to the city of Brooksville, and later transferred to Hernando County. While the airport's growth has remained stable over the years, with Hernando's population increase expected over the next decade, every indication points to an increase in airport traffic as well. General aviation operations climbed from 47,800 takeoffs and landings in 2001 to 61,512 in 2003, and are expected to continue, says Don Silvernell, airport director. The shortage of private hangars in the region is also fueling interest in the airport. For example, after the closing of Tampa Bay Executive Airport in Pasco County earlier this year, Silvernell says his airport had already received 14 to 16 new airplanes and expects another 8 to 10 by year-end.

The AirPark is also the home base for PAR, a sheet metal fabrication and plastic injection molding company. President Jerry Henderson plans to venture into the high-tech security arena. Although he wouldn't disclose more on the new product line, he says the firm is building labs in an 18,000-square-foot facility. The company also owns an adjacent 20,000-square-foot manufacturing complex.

"In the last couple of years, we've bought six or seven different companies locally and internationally," he says. One of the product lines is a high-tech powder coating that Henderson says is a plastic that adheres to metal and can be used like paint on everything from Harley Davidson motorcycles to industrial equipment. Henderson declines to give revenue figures for the company and says that he has in excess of 60 employees.

Business is also good for Sun Fiberglass Pools, located in the Hernando County Enterprise Zone in Brooksville. The company (www.sunpools.com) has been located there since 2002, relocating from Homosassa to a significantly larger 44,000- square-foot facility in Hernando.

"It's been a good location for us," says President Curt Prystupa. "Sales are up 40 percent from a year ago and we've added another 20 employees."

Its one-piece fiberglass pools are built on site and installed throughout the East Coast, Michigan, Caribbean, Central America, the Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Puerto Rico. "Much of our growth has been in coastal communities where people are installing the pools in vacation homes, luxury villas and family homes," says Prystupa.

The largest employer in the county continues to be the Wal-Mart Distribution Center, with 1,600 employees. The second and third leading employers are Oak Hill Hospital, with 850 employees, and Brooksville Regional Healthcare, with 763.

Oak Hill, part of the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) network and Hernando's largest hospital, completed an expansion of its emergency department in the fall of 2003. The hospital (www.oakhillhospital.com) is also adding an open-heart surgery program, expected to be ready in early 2005.

Brooksville Regional Hospital, part of the Health Management Associates network, is reinventing itself with a new, $53-million facility. The hospital (www.hernandohealthcare.com) will go from 91 beds to 122 beds - just three miles from its current location. "Everyone recognizes this part of Florida as a growth area, and we expect to continue expanding as the county grows," says Thomas Barb, hospital president.

The projected move to the new site is December 2005. The hospital will upgrade much of its high-tech diagnostic imaging medical equipment, says Barb. HMA also owns Spring Hill Regional Hospital in West Hernando County.

According to the Hernando County Tourist Development Council (www.co.hernando.fl.us/visit), Hernando County's population increased 802 percent from 1960 to 1990, making it the third-fastest growing county in the nation in the 1980s. The Deltona Corporation, synonymous with Florida development, was responsible for much of that growth with the development of Spring Hill, an unincorporated community near U.S. 19.

Today, growth is occurring around Brooksville, the county seat and a quaint town steeped in history. In fact, the Hernando Historical Museum (www.hernandoheritagemuseum.com) hosts the annual Brooksville Raid Festival each January, billing it as the largest civil war reenactment in Florida. The event recreates the Battle at Olustee that took place in the county in July 1864.

As the county grows, demand for improvements to the infrastructure will increase. Discussion is under way on a proposed public road that will tie State Road 50 to U.S. Highway 41. And major "collector" roads, like Mariner Boulevard in Spring Hill, are being upgraded and widened, says Gary Adams, Hernando County administrator.

"Residential and commercial building is taking place from one end of the county to the other," says Gary Schraut, a broker/owner with Coldwell Banker. "Hernando Beach prices have gone up 200 to 300 percent and in Spring Hill, lots that sold for $7,000 to $10,000 just 18 months ago are now selling for $25,000. With the revitalization of Brooksville and developments like Southern Hills Plantation, we are going to draw even more people to the area."

Will Hernando end up like so many other densely populated areas of the state? Schraut doesn't think so. "Thirty-five to 40 percent of Hernando is green space," he says. "The Chassahowitzka Swamp (a nature preserve) dominates the northwest section of the county and the Withlacoochee state forest to the northeast covers more than 20,000 acres of land."