Tony Benge, CEO, Benge Development

July 2026 — Invest: spoke with Tony Benge, CEO of Benge Development, about Pasco County’s rapid growth, infrastructure planning, and the importance of aligning residential, commercial, and workforce needs. “The market’s on fire,” Benge said.

What changes over the past year impacted Benge Development, and in what ways?

We have had a lot of growth internally. We sold one of our Pasco County projects and acquired another that we had been focusing on for some time. We closed on the 90 acres at the intersection of Handcart Road and State Road 52, with about 40 acres south of 52 and 50 acres north of 52.

We have been focused on that particular deal as a mixed-use project with multifamily and retail to serve the heart of the Village of Pasadena Hills overlay. It has been a labor of love getting it through the process, and now we are revising the development to provide additional commercial uses to meet the growing needs of Pasco County, where the rooftop population continues to grow at a blistering rate.

We have also been working with the county on various developments. I joined the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce four years ago, and today I am honored to be the 2026 Chairman. The North Tampa Bay Chamber has connected us with many other businesses and community leaders that have shared different aspects of Pasco that we would not have seen otherwise. It has helped us become immersed in the county, understand what it has to offer, where it is going, and how to navigate the process better.

How would you describe the state of the development market in the region?

Given the hypergrowth that Pasco has had, the county has done an exceptional job of keeping up with infrastructure. To the average non-developer, it may look like things are taking longer than expected. What people may not realize is that planning, design, engineering, right-of-way acquisition, traffic improvements, additional road right of ways, intersection improvements, water, sewer, power, and other core utilities all have to be planned, designed and permitted  before growth can be supported. Most people only count progress once the bulldozers show up. In reality, identifying the need, designing improvements, and permitting them can take years before construction ever starts.

There are understandable concerns about traffic, school crowding, and stress on infrastructure. Many of the solutions are already underway and by the time the average citizen sees the issue as a problem, the fix is just around the corner. There is also a certain level of density required before some improvements are economically viable or warranted.

Growth can be part of the cure. You need enough density to support the needed improvements and services. The cycle we are entering now is about placing commercial uses near where people live. That creates internal capture of traffic and if properly planned will result in far less traffic if the commercial is strategically located near the most dense populations. If someone lives near State Road 52, they should not need to get on I-75 and drive elsewhere for every good or service. If businesses, retail, and restaurants are nearby, those trips are captured internally and pressure is taken off strained intersections.

The challenge is that businesses will not come until there is enough population to support them. Things can look unbalanced at first, but when you know what is coming behind them, the picture changes rapidly.

We recently attended the topping off of the Johns Hopkins Hospital project, and that is a great example. There are now multiple hospitals concentrated in the area. Those organizations have done the research to determine where future demand will be. Those investments signal what is coming and demonstrate how important long-term planning is to attracting major economic drivers.

As developers and chamber members, it is incumbent on us to work with the county to ensure growth happens responsibly while not missing opportunities that benefit the community.

What trends are having the greatest impact on developers in terms of tenant and buyer preferences?

The market’s on fire. Tampa is a great place for companies that have been leaving less business-friendly states and environments. The technology sector is a great example, with many businesses relocating to Tampa from out of state over the last three years.

That brings infrastructure questions. It is not just the business that comes; it is also the people who work there. Companies evaluate the quality of life their employees can have here. Sports, concerts, cultural events, the arts community, education, and other amenities all play a role.

Every time a business decides to move, Tampa is competing with other cities. Companies want to know whether employees will have places to live and whether the infrastructure is in place to support their growth.

Housing is a major part of that equation. People may say they do not want more apartments, but hospitals show why workforce housing is needed. Everyone thinks of doctors and nurses, but many hospital employees are not earning doctors’ wages. The people cleaning facilities, operating rooms, and cafeterias also need places to live.

COVID exposed some of those needs. Many employees who relied on public transportation suddenly could not get to work. For a hospital, not having support staff available creates serious operational challenges.

That made workforce housing near employment centers even more important. We had a multifamily project near AdventHealth where the hospital CEO came forward and asked for approval because their employees needed that housing. It was not just another apartment complex. It supported the viability of the hospital and helped ensure employees could reach work during disruptions.

That is why it is important to be strategic. Some residents may ask why a community needs more apartments, but those residents may be supporting a major employer or institution that benefits the entire region.

What role do sustainability and resilience play in development strategy?

A lot of it comes back to internal capture. Studies have shown that if you place services, entertainment, and amenities near residential areas, people can walk or make very short trips instead of driving long distances.

In a place like the Village of Pasadena Hills overlay, the planning is large enough to support grocery stores, schools, restaurants, shopping, after-school programs, and sports leagues. The more you can keep within the community, the more you reduce transportation burdens.

If someone can drive a mile instead of 15 or 20 miles, the savings are significant when multiplied by thousands of trips. That is why developers have been advocating for commercial uses and community services to be planned into these areas from the beginning.

Good planning is the most important part of aligning those elements. If you want to reduce unnecessary transportation impacts, you put services near residents and make them easy to reach. Ideally, access is multimodal, allowing people to walk, bike, use public transportation, or drive.

We are trying to do that in our developments now. We have one in The Villages, in the middle of Millennium Park, where people will be able to arrive by golf cart, walking, public transportation, or car. You have to plan for major events, daily needs, and how people actually move.

The key is planning for all needs on the front end. Put the commercial component in the right location, place multifamily near it, and transition down to single-family homes. That creates buffers and puts density in the core, where people can access what they need.

Pasco has been ahead of the curve on that. 

What are your key goals and priorities for the next three to five years?

Over the next three to five years, we would like to keep doing at least one major project in Pasco or Greater Tampa Bay every year. We want to see the region continue to grow and mature into the world-class city that Tampa is becoming.

All the bones are there. We are starting to get the critical population, the right movement with employment, and economic growth. Every indicator is positive for Tampa’s future.

The goal is to keep the region on a path of responsible growth that allows many years of expansion without creating problems or overcrowding the resources we have. If we do future planning well, there is nothing that should stop Tampa from growing vigorously for at least the next 10 years.

Every constraint right now is fixable. It is a matter of applying the right approach and resources. There is no reason Tampa cannot be one of the Top 5 cities in the country for growth.