Welcome to Mulberry, Florida's boomtown

MULBERRY (FOX 13) - The little town of Mulberry seems to be sitting on a powder keg of development. The streetlights are already in for the first phase of Bridgeport Lakes, a new 700-home subdivision just north of State Road 60.

“Right now the economy is hot,” developer Tom Mims told FOX 13.  “The housing market has come back, and I am a big believer that Mulberry is the place to be.”

“You look at North Lakeland,” he continued. “It is tapped out with the Green Swamp. There is no place for Lakeland to go but south.”

The homes in Bridgeport Lakes will start at around $225,000.

“I really think this is the first development, actual development in the city in 50 years, maybe,” said City Manager Rick Johnson.

Nearby, another developer is putting up apartments, a storage facility and senior living complex.

But the biggest impact could come from something that’s been talked about for years. Back in 2008, the Landstar Development Group, based in Coral Gables, bought 1,300 acres in Mulberry with the intention of building close to 6,000 new homes.

The company has not broken ground, but seems to be moving closer and closer to doing that. The city manager and Landstar officials have a meeting on Tuesday.  

If the plans come to fruition, the city’s population would triple in size.