by Janan Talafer • Jvt916@tampabay.rr.com

FROM THE STREET LEVEL, everything still looks the same. But from an aerial view, you can see it’s just a matter of time. You’re about to witness the transformation of Pasco County to something entirely different.

One by one, large cattle ranch-es are disappearing and in their place whole new towns are being built, complete with schools, town centers, office buildings and hospitals. Land owned by the same family for generations is changing hands as developers come calling. They know a good investment when they see one.

More than 150 projects are on the draw-ing boards, from small subdivisions to large developments of regional impact. While most are residential, an increasing number include professional offices, light industrial or even Fortune 500 companies.

“We’re starting to see the natural migra-tion from the concept of Pasco as a bed-room suburb for Tampa to the idea of livable mixed-use communities where people can live, work and play in the same location without having to spend their life com-muting to work,” says Doug Weiland, a former surgeon, now businessman whose company, JES Properties, has several projects under way in Pasco, including Ashley Glen, with its proposed 1.2-million square feet of office space, 340,000 square feet of retail and about 800 town-homes and duplexes.

There’s also Beat Kahli’s New River Township, which includes approximately 690,000 square feet of retail and professional office space, as well as space for parks, schools and some 4,800 residential units. Kahli is also developing the 70-acre Suncoast Indus-trial Park, which he anticipates will bring at least 300 jobs to the area. And he is already at work on a second industrial park near Pasco’s northern border.

But it’s not just the face of Pasco’s land-scape that’s changing, its industry mix and workforce are, too. (More on Pasco’s rush to development later.)

Of Nanotech and Simulators

Opinicus Corp., for example, is a leading designer and manufacturer of flight simulators for the military and commercial aviation industry, with contracts worldwide. Among its many clients are Airborne Express, Northwest Airlines, L3 Com-munications, Delta Airlines, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and the U.S. military.

“We looked for land all over Pinellas, Hillsbor-ough and Pasco and settled on this location,” says Opinicus President James Takats of the company’s brand-new 60,000-square-foot facility in the North Pointe Industrial Park. Opinicus moved into its new headquarters in January of this year.

“We do a lot of international business and have a lot of customers flying in. Our new location is about a 15-minute shot from the airport (Tampa International),” says Takats, whose company was originally based in Clearwater and moved temporarily to the former Tampa Bay Executive Airport in Pasco until the new headquarters could be built.

But it wasn’t just location that drew Opinicus (www.opinicus.com) to the area. Takats made a point of expressing his appreciation for the support the company received from the county’s economic development and government officials. “Our busi-ness is flight simulators, not putting up buildings,” says Takats. “The Pasco EDC has been a lifesaver, allowing us to continue to do our business while we moved forward on the new facility.”

Company growth is the primary reason for the new facility. “The use of flight simulators to train pilots is becoming much more prevalent and there is more demand for the product,” says Takats. “There are only a few true manufacturers of flight simula-tors in the world and we are a full flight level D simulator firm, the highest level in the industry.”

Takats is especially enthusiastic about the com-pany’s new exclusive contract with Eclipse Aviation, a new “upstart” aircraft manufacturer based in New Mexico that is building a revolutionary type of aircraft called a VLT (very light) jet. “The VLT will change the way we fly in the future,” says Takats. “It’s a fast, high-performance small jet that will be able to fly in and out of small runways, avoiding the congestion found at major aviation hubs.”

While Takats won’t release revenue figures for the company, he says it’s rather substantial. He expects the privately held company to double its growth by the end of next fiscal year and again in 2007. “

Do the math,” he suggests. “One simulator for the military can cost from $30-$40 million because of its complex radar and weapons systems. We just delivered 130 to Hurlburt Field (the U.S. Special Forces Air Command base in Florida’s Pan-handle).”

He also expects the workforce to increase from its current staff of 40 people to around 250 in the next few years.