Abbey Crossings Inches Toward Construction at SR 52 and McKendree — Here's What's Real and What's Not Yet

For anyone who drives State Road 52 through San Antonio, the empty acreage at the McKendree Road corner has long been one of the area's biggest question marks. That question is slowly being answered: Abbey Crossings, the roughly 330-acre mixed-use project planned just east of Interstate 75, continues to edge toward construction — though the gap between the developer's marketing and shovels in the ground is still very real.

The developer behind the project lists a striking lineup of national tenants tied to the retail portion of Abbey Crossings: Walmart, Wawa, McDonald's, Panera, Chipotle, Dunkin', Panda Express, Del Taco and Chase. According to project materials posted by Bones Investment Group, one of the development partners, letters of intent, leases and purchase agreements have been signed with those brands. That's meaningful momentum — but it is not the same thing as confirmed opening dates, and local readers should treat it accordingly.

Why this matters to San Antonio and northern Wesley Chapel

The southeast corner of McKendree Road and SR 52 sits in one of the fastest-growing corners of the Tampa Bay region. A full-scale retail center anchored by a Walmart would reshape everyday errands for residents across San Antonio, St. Leo, Dade City's western edge and the rapidly expanding neighborhoods of northern Wesley Chapel.

As The Wesley Chapel Loop noted, many households along corridors like Old Pasco Road and Curley Road currently drive south to the crowded Walmart near SR 54 and Wiregrass Ranch Boulevard. A store right off SR 52 would offer a shorter, more direct trip north — and could pull some traffic away from the perpetually congested SR 54/56 retail zone.

The scope of the project

Abbey Crossings is not a strip center. The full master plan is enormous. According to the developer's project overview, the site carries entitlements for roughly:

The development is led by Legacy Development Partners, a Tampa-based group, along with Bones Investment Group, per reporting from Connect CRE. The partners acquired the land in November 2023, and a portion of the acreage was later sold off to other builders — including industrial developer McCraney Properties and homebuilder Lennar — as the master plan took shape.

What's actually happening on the ground

The most concrete near-term signs of activity involve infrastructure and individual permits rather than storefronts. The developer has described being on the verge of breaking ground on roadways and retail outparcels, with horizontal infrastructure permitting moving forward.

Separately, a permit for a 3,130-square-foot professional office building was filed on June 3 and remained under review in mid-June — a small but tangible step that suggests the office and commercial components are also working their way through Pasco County's review process. A national apartment developer has likewise moved toward bringing hundreds of multifamily units to the site, according to Tampa Bay Business Journal reporting.

The bottom line for residents

Abbey Crossings is real, it is large, and it is moving — slowly. The named retailers represent genuine commitments on paper, the infrastructure work appears to be advancing, and individual building permits are now entering the pipeline. What's still unconfirmed is the part residents care about most: exactly when they'll be able to shop, eat or grab coffee there. For now, the smart approach is cautious optimism — watch the corner, watch the permits, and don't reschedule your grocery runs just yet.

We'll keep following Abbey Crossings as permits clear and ground breaks. For more on what's being built across our area, read more business and development stories and coming-soon coverage on the San Antonio, FL Community Website.

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