The family behind Tampa's Oxford Exchange wants to build a 130-room wellness resort on 550 acres of rolling hills northeast of Dade City, complete with a working farm, an equestrian center, and hiking and biking trails threaded across the Pasco-Hernando county line. The project, called Clay Hill, is still early in the approval process, but its backers say it could eventually create more than 200 long-term staff jobs while keeping most of the land undeveloped.
The site sits at 18424 Clay Hill Road, with roughly 330 acres in Pasco County and 220 acres in Hernando County, according to Business Observer. Pasco County Property Appraiser records show the land is still owned by Vero Beach-based Evans Properties, Inc., since developers have not yet closed on the purchase. As FOX 13 News reports, Clay Hill spans Pasco and Hernando counties near Dade City and is being developed by the same family that owns Tampa's Oxford Exchange.
Blake Casper, CEO of Caspers Company, and his sister Allison Casper Adams are leading the project. Casper has said the resort will offer outdoor activities, farming and livestock, and the conceptual master plan calls for a central Manor House atop the property's highest elevation, up to 50 estate homes on 1-to-2-acre lots, and a chapel overlooking 130-acre Dowling Lake, per the Business Observer's reporting. The land itself features rolling hills, natural creeks and vistas, according to FOX 13.
A Different Model Than Golf Courses And Beach Resorts
Casper pointed to out-of-state luxury properties including Blackberry Mountain in Tennessee, Soho Farmhouse in the United Kingdom, and Canyon Ranch in Malibu as conceptual models for Clay Hill's farm-to-table, low-density approach, the Business Observer reported. The pitch is meant to set Clay Hill apart from the state's more familiar golf and beach resorts, and FOX 13 notes the project intends to provide a different experience from most Florida resorts. The site's plan also includes a working farm supplying fresh food to the resort.
Developers have committed to leaving 80% to 85% of the total property as open space or natural terrain, and the project's boosters describe it as using functional conservation to keep the natural landscape intact, according to FOX 13. Notably, Clay Hill will not require Pasco or Hernando counties to extend municipal central water or sewer lines to the site; instead, it's designed to run on self-contained systems or private wells and septic facilities, per the same Tampa Bay Times reporting cited by the Business Observer.
Rural Protection Rules And A Two-County Approval Process
The Pasco County portion of Clay Hill falls within the Northeast Pasco Rural Protection Overlay District, a zone established in the county's Comprehensive Plan to restrict urban sprawl, protect agricultural character, and enforce low-density land development rules. That framework means Clay Hill's initial design and construction work will require developers to secure rezoning and land-use approvals from both the Pasco and Hernando county commissions, a process expected to run through early 2027. Developers are also planning community feedback sessions and town halls before those votes, with groundbreaking targeted for 2028 and an opening slated for 2030, according to FOX 13 and the Business Observer.
Some local residents have voiced concerns that construction could exceed current building regulations, while others worry specifically about impacts on water levels at nearby Dowling Lake, FOX 13 reports. Not everyone in the area is opposed, however: some local residents say they prefer the rural conservation design over traditional housing subdivisions, even as others push back against regional changes more broadly.
From McDonald's Franchisee To Boutique Hospitality
Caspers Company built its fortune as Florida's largest McDonald's franchisee for 64 years after its founding in Tampa in 1958. Blake Casper and Allison Casper Adams sold their 60 fast-food locations back to McDonald's corporate in 2022, a move that let the siblings focus on boutique hospitality and dining ventures, according to Nation's Restaurant News. Blake Casper and Allison Casper Adams also own Caspers Company and Tampa's Oxford Exchange, the downtown bookstore-cafe that has become one of the family's signature properties.
The pivot away from fast food has continued to play out in Pasco County. Caspers Company acquired South Tampa's Wright's Gourmet House in 2024 and announced in July that it was expanding the deli brand to Wesley Chapel. That growing footprint in East Pasco comes as the region faces broader development pressure: in May, developer GT USA filed plans to rezone the Grand Bar Ranch in Dade City for roughly 1,500 residential homes, underscoring the housing growth pressures on East Pasco's agricultural land.
Evans Properties, the company that owns the Clay Hill land, has faced scrutiny over rural rezoning before. The Laker/Lutz News reported that the seller ran into public pushback and local planning board delays in February 2025 over a separate 80-acre rezoning request in Northeast Pasco's rural protection area near Lake Iola Road, where it sought multi-family and commercial approvals. Clay Hill remains early in the approval process, and its fate will depend on how Pasco and Hernando county commissioners weigh the resort's low-density promises against the rural protections meant to keep sprawl out of the area.
