A developer is under contract to buy one of Pinellas County’s largest vacant tracts, the former home of the Wagon Wheel Flea Market, but a stack of government approvals stands between the land and any bulldozers.
Belleair Development Group, a Pinellas Park firm, plans to purchase roughly 156 acres at 7801 Park Boulevard North. The Wagon Wheel and Mustang flea markets operated there for more than five decades before closing in 2020. Most of the property has sat empty since, with parts of the old market structures still standing.
Christian Yepes, who owns the company with his father, Carlos Yepes, said the firm is exploring a mixed-use project that could combine homes and businesses. He said the company is “extremely grateful for the opportunity to develop such a landmark” and is still in due diligence.
The red tape ahead
Filings with the Southwest Florida Water Management District show how much regulatory work lies ahead. In an August 31 letter, the property’s owners authorized Belleair to pursue site plan approvals, rezoning, land-use changes, development agreements, and annexation. The letter also covers environmental and geotechnical studies.
The property sits in unincorporated Pinellas County, and Belleair is working with the City of Pinellas Park to annex it. On November 5, the water district received a request for a formal determination of wetlands and surface waters on the site. Much of the land is undeveloped, wooded, or covered by lakes, so that review could decide how much of it can be built on.
A Pinellas County institution
Hardy Huntley, a used-car salesman, and his wife, Janet, started the Wagon Wheel in 1966 with a roadside stand selling secondhand goods along Park Boulevard. It grew into one of Florida’s largest flea markets, with more than 2,000 vendor booths selling produce, clothing, antiques, furniture, and household items. It also absorbed vendors from the nearby Mustang Drive-In Flea Market.
A 1986 fire didn’t close it; the market reopened the next day. Huntley died in 2013 at age 77, and his family kept the business going. The market temporarily shut in March 2020 as COVID-19 spread, and three months later the family announced that both markets were closing for good after nearly 55 years.
Hundreds of independent vendors had to find new places to sell. Many landed at the Pinellas Farmers and Flea Market, which opened in Largo in 2021. It now operates on weekends at Win! Derby, formerly Derby Lane, at 10490 Gandy Boulevard in St. Petersburg.
Who is buying
Carlos Yepes founded Belleair in 1997. The family-owned firm says it has completed more than 400 commercial and residential projects across Florida. Christian Yepes joined in late 2007. The company owns The Shoppes at Park Place in Pinellas Park.
The Huntley family currently owns the land. No formal construction timeline or redevelopment plans have been announced.
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