In Waterset, the People Building the New Town Center Already Live There

Jason and Jennifer Babinec could have opened their smoothie franchise almost anywhere. Territory was available in Bradenton, in Clearwater, in Tampa proper. They picked a strip of new construction on Paseo Al Mar Boulevard instead, inside the same Waterset community they've called home since 2018. Within the first month, the shop was serving more than 100 customers a day, a number that says less about smoothies and more about how much foot traffic a neighborhood generates when the person behind the counter already knows half the people walking through the door.

That choice, made by two residents rather than a corporate site-selection team, is the real story behind The Yard at Waterset, the retail strip that's finally filling in along Paseo Al Mar. Look at who opened a business there over the past year and a pattern shows up fast: almost every operator either lives in Apollo Beach or picked the location specifically because the area was underserved. The one thing still missing, a full-service sit-down restaurant that's been promised since early 2025, is also the one thing not being built by a local.

The Owners Who Picked Their Own Neighborhood

The Yard sits between US-41 and Waterset Boulevard, close enough to walk or bike from thousands of homes in the surrounding community. It was designed as Waterset's first real town center, something the area lacked even as its population kept climbing. Two established retail hubs already existed nearby, Paradise Shoppes of Apollo Beach and Waterside Shoppes, but neither was built as a walkable gathering spot inside Waterset itself.

Planet Smoothie was one of the first tenants to open, and the Babinecs weren't shy about why they picked this address over a bigger market. They wanted to support the community they'd chosen to live in rather than chase a larger customer base somewhere else. Rock N Roll Sushi followed in the first quarter of 2025, and franchisee Andrew Jessen gave a similarly local rationale for the location, pointing to the growing car counts on Paseo Al Mar and telling a Hillsborough County outlet, Osprey Observer, that "it seems like an underserved market in terms of food options."

Wingstop opened around the same time. Crunch Fitness, a nail salon, a preschool, and a pet boarding and grooming business filled in the rest of the early roster, giving residents errands they used to drive miles for. The Greyson landed a few months behind its original second-week-of-March target and is now open at 6162 Paseo Al Mar Boulevard, Unit 103. The sports bar started in Palmetto, expanded to Lakewood Ranch, and picked Apollo Beach as its third stop for the same reason Jessen gave for sushi: the area still doesn't have enough sit-down, family-friendly options.

None of these are massive national chains parachuting into a hot zip code. They're small operators, several of them Waterset residents themselves, opening businesses sized to a neighborhood rather than a region.

One Restaurant Is Still Missing, and the Timeline Explains the Pattern

The tenant everyone in Waterset has been asking about is Hypocrites Row, a planned 5,525-square-foot full-service restaurant that ownership group Circus Hospitality Group described as a departure from the fast-casual mix already open. Local reporting called it something Apollo Beach was "severely lacking and desperately wanting." The concept was described early on as a polished casual restaurant, and the building shell was reportedly complete as of January 2025, with a mid-2025 opening targeted.

As of Osprey Observer's most recent update, no confirmed opening date had surfaced. The broader Phase 2 expansion at The Yard, a much larger 54,690-square-foot addition to the current 27,485-square-foot Phase 1, tells a similar story. It was originally advertised for fourth-quarter 2025 delivery. Commercial leasing documents from SRS Real Estate Partners now list that same expansion for fourth-quarter 2026, a full year later than first promised.

That gap between the small tenants and the anchor restaurant isn't really about ambition. A smoothie franchise or a sushi outpost can open in a finished suite within months of signing a lease. A ground-up restaurant build tied to a phased commercial development answers to contractors, permitting, and a landlord's construction schedule, none of which move at the pace of a local owner deciding to open near their own front door. If you've been checking that storefront every few months hoping for news, the businesses already open around it are a better read on where this corner of Apollo Beach is headed than any original completion date ever was.

The Marina Side Is Filling In Too

The Yard isn't the only part of Apollo Beach adding something new this year. Down at Lands End Marina, Circles Waterfront Restaurant added a Tiki Bar built specifically for sunset dining, right on the docks overlooking Bal Harbor and Tampa Bay. Executive chef Chris Bodensky still runs the steak, seafood, and pasta menu that's anchored the restaurant for years, but the new bar gives residents a lower-key option than the dining room, a place to grab a drink dockside without committing to a full meal.

It's a smaller addition than a restaurant row, but it points to the same underlying shift. Apollo Beach has had waterfront dining for a long time. What's changing is the range of ways to use it, from a formal dinner to a beer at sunset with sand underfoot.

Manatee Season Runs on the Same Model

Every November 1, the free TECO Manatee Viewing Center at Big Bend Power Station reopens through April 15, and it's worth remembering that this attraction, too, was built and is still largely run by people invested in the place rather than outside operators. Manatees have gathered in the warm water discharge canal since the early 1970s, and the site is a state and federally designated sanctuary. Inside, the Cow Nose Cove touch tank, run in partnership with the Florida Aquarium, brings back stingrays that spend their summers at Tropicana Field before returning to Apollo Beach for the cooler months. A 50-foot observation tower and a boardwalk that runs nearly a mile through coastal habitat round out the grounds, and it's all free to visit.

The staff who greet visitors along the platform each winter are, in large part, Tampa Electric retirees who volunteer their time. Stan Kroh, who manages Tampa Electric's land and stewardship programs, has described the center as a place where people can experience the wonders of Florida up close and see manatees in the wild. That description fits the rest of what's happening in Apollo Beach this year just as well as it fits the boardwalk. Whether it's a former utility worker explaining manatee behavior to a family from out of town or a longtime Waterset resident handing a smoothie across a counter, the version of Apollo Beach that's expanding right now is being staffed and built by the people who already call it home.

If you've lived here long enough to remember when Paseo Al Mar Boulevard was mostly construction fencing, this fall is worth a slow drive through. The restaurant you've been waiting on might still be a year out, but the neighborhood around it stopped waiting a while ago.

For more on what's happening across Apollo Beach and the rest of the Tampa Bay area, visit our Tampa neighborhood guide. And if a move to this part of the coast is somewhere on your horizon, Aquamarine Real Estate is always glad to talk through what a neighborhood like this one actually offers day to day. Schedule Your Complimentary Consultation whenever you're ready.