OCALA, FL (352Today.com) – Marion County’s Growth Services Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously on Monday to recommend approval of a 105-acre mixed-use project at a forthcoming Interstate 75 exit, after neighbors used public comment to warn about traffic, buffers, and how the corner will change.
The board recommended both pieces of the 49th Street Gateway project: a land-use change on 31.44 acres from Low Residential to Employment Center, and a planned unit development (PUD) allowing up to 535 homes, a 500-room hotel, 450,000 square feet of retail, offices, restaurants and a gas station. No one voted no. County commissioners will take it up on October 20, 2026, at 2 p.m.
The site sits at Northwest 49th Street and Northwest 44th Avenue, where a jug-handle off the new diverging diamond interchange will pour interstate traffic onto the property. Directly across I-75 is the planned Buc-ee’s travel center, the chain’s first in Ocala, tied to the same exit. Senior Planner for Marion County, Chris Rison, told the board Buc-ee’s cannot open until the interchange is finished, expected at the end of 2028…