Pace of State Road 87 development has slowed following death of visionary Craig Kruse

Developer Craig Kruse was a man of vision and action, and one of the things that frustrated him to no end was being held back from accomplishing something he'd set out to do.

"What aggravated him most was working with county zoning. A lot of times if you don't cross a "T" or dot an "I" it seems like they put your plans on the bottom of the pile," said former Santa Rosa County Commissioner Bob Cole. "I tried to keep things moving forward for him because I realized the beneficial impact what he was doing would have on the county and East Milton."

Kruse had built a lasting legacy in a career spanning 50 years by developing properties from Pensacola to Panama City, but he died suddenly in February having not accomplished all that he had set out to do in Santa Rosa County.

Gary Blossman, a long time friend, executor of Kruse's will and "co-trustee" of the trust managing his estate, said "nothing has really changed" as far as bringing Kruse's unfinished dreams to fruition.

His death, however, seems to have at least slowed the pace at which some highly anticipated State Road 87 amenities, namely a grocery store, will be available to residents of East Milton in the center of Santa Rosa County.

"The best I understand it, stuff is still wrapped up in a trust," Cole said. "They're just going through everything and trying to determine what moves are best for the trust."

It was in October of 2022 that Kruse took the first steps toward acquiring commercial zoning for 23 acres of land on the north side of the State Road 87 intersection with Nichols Lake Road.

The Kruse Group, a company on which Kruse served then as a sole managing partner, hatched plans to develop a shopping center on a parcel that extended north in a triangular shape from a southern tip at Nichols Lake Road. The Board of County Commissioners approved the zoning to allow construction of a 43,000-square-foot grocery store and an adjacent 4,875-square-foot retail building.

Planning documents also showed two strip-mall style retail buildings, estimated at 16,250 square feet and 16,900 square feet respectively, on either side of the grocery store.

At the Santa Rosa County Zoning Board hearing at which The Kruse Group obtained the commercial zoning needed to build the grocery store, residents of the area, which lies about halfway between Milton and Navarre, stood to applaud the planned development.

"We desperately need some stores in that location. A grocery store would be fabulous," said Shiloh Road resident Greg Luther. "Today we have to drive 10 to 15 miles minimum to get to anything remotely like what this will be. Several of my neighbors and I, when we heard about it, were ecstatic."

More than a year has passed since the county gave the go ahead to build the grocery store and retail space, but the lot at Nichols Lake Road looks substantially the same as it did in 2022. A locked cattle gate prevents entry onto the site of the proposed development, where a dirt road leads into the interior of the still heavily wooded lot.

The Kruse Group, listed as Kruse Group Properties on the Florida Division of Corporations website, has passed from Kruse's control to that of Richard Steele, his stepson. Efforts to reach Steele for this article were not successful.

Directly across State Road 87 from the Nichols Lake Road site is another property Kruse had succeeded in getting zoned for commercial development. Working through a limited liability corporation dubbed "It's All About Me" he had obtained the zoning change for 41 acres of land between Fortune Road and Hickory Hammock Road.

Control of that property has passed from Kruse to Blossman, according the the Division of Corporations website. It is presently listed for sale.

"A realtor put signs up trying to generate interest," Blossman said of the property. "We're not really in a rush to sell it. The area is growing and the property is only going to continue to get more valuable.

The name of Harry Bell Jr., the president and managing broker of Bellcore Commercial Realty, appears on signage posted at the property. Bell is listed as a member, along with Blossman, of Splash and Crash LLC, another, now inactive, corporation once run by Kruse.

Shannon Ogletree, Santa Rosa County's economic development director, concurred with Blossman's assessment that land along the SR 87 corridor, much of it already zoned for commercial development, is only going to increase in value.

He said he's seen some plans for development in the area near Hickory Hammock Road and indicated that though he's not at liberty to discuss them at this time, "there are a few things ready to hit."

"What's coming is definitely going to improve the value of that property," Ogletree said of the SR 87 parcel at Hickory Hammock and Fortune roads.

Ogletree said he has had no contact with anyone representing the Kruse estate since Kruse's untimely death and has learned nothing of what changes to development plans might be being considered.

Perhaps Kruse's most innovative Santa Rosa County development had become a success story by the time of his passing.

Kruse announced his plans to create his Spash! RV and Water Park in 2019. He envisioned it as a tourist attraction for Santa Rosa County that sat close to the SR 87 intersection with Interstate 10.

Four years later, the park is thriving. Along with 350 RV sites, it also offers luxury cottages and covered wagons capable of sleeping four for luxury "glamping." Amenities include a lazy river, water slides, swimming pools along with a grand lodge, dining and a beer garden.

"Splash is doing outstanding. It's always near capacity and it's a beautiful facility. His vision, to come up with that, it's quite something for East Milton and the county," Cole said. "He had great vision. That guy was phenomenal."

Calls to the park were not returned.

Another development, this one residential, that Kruse was involved in has yet to get off the ground. Austin Run LLC, in which Kruse was a managing partner alongside Aaron Davis, has received county permission to construct 152 single family residential homes on Fortune Road that had previously been zoned agricultural land.

It does not appear that ground has as of yet been broken for the subdivision.

"I've never seen any kind of development out there," said County Commissioner Kerry Smith, who represents East Milton. "I've never seen them come up with any kind of development plans on it."

In an annual report filed with the Florida Division of Corporations, Davis was listed as currently co-partnering with Richard Steele, Kruse's stepson, on the Austin Run project.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Death of Santa Rosa developer Craig Kruse slows East Milton growth