More than six years after the Wagon Wheel Flea Market welcomed its last shoppers, the sprawling Pinellas Park property it once occupied could soon be transformed into a major mixed-use development.
Belleair Development Group, based in Pinellas Park, is under contract to purchase roughly 156 acres at 7801 Park Boulevard North. The site was home to the Wagon Wheel and Mustang flea markets for over five decades before both closed in 2020.
Christian Yepes, who owns Belleair Development Group with his father, Carlos Yepes, confirmed the company is studying a mixed-use project that would introduce residential and commercial uses to the largely empty tract. "We are extremely grateful for the opportunity to develop such a landmark in Pinellas County. We are currently in the midst of due diligence and are exploring mixed-use development options at the site," Yepes told St. Pete Rising.
The land remains in the hands of the family of Hardy Huntley, who founded the Wagon Wheel with his wife, Janet, in the 1960s. Filings with the Southwest Florida Water Management District offer an early look at the redevelopment plans. In an August 31 authorization letter, the owners gave Belleair Development permission to pursue government approvals for a project that could combine retail and residential construction, including site plan approvals, rezoning, land-use changes, development agreements, annexation, and environmental and geotechnical studies.
The company is also working with the City of Pinellas Park to annex the property, which currently sits in unincorporated Pinellas County. On November 5, the water management district received an application seeking a formal determination of wetlands and other surface waters on the site. Much of the property consists of undeveloped land, wooded areas, and lakes, so the environmental review will be a key factor in deciding how much of it can be built on.
The Wagon Wheel's roots stretch back to 1966, when Hardy Huntley, a used-car salesman, and Janet began selling secondhand goods from a roadside stand along Park Boulevard. The couple frequented yard sales, collected discarded items, and repaired things they could resell. That modest start grew into one of Florida's largest flea markets, eventually hosting more than 2,000 vendor booths offering produce, clothing, antiques, collectibles, furniture, and household goods. The market also took in vendors from the former Mustang Drive-In Flea Market after that property was redeveloped, and it survived a devastating 1986 fire, reopening the very next day before the Huntley family rebuilt the damaged stalls.
Hardy Huntley died in 2013 at age 77, passing the business to his descendants. The market shut down temporarily in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic began, and three months later the family announced the Wagon Wheel and Mustang markets would close for good after nearly 55 years. Many displaced vendors later regrouped at the Pinellas Farmers and Flea Market, which opened in Largo in 2021 and has since moved to Win! Derby, the former Derby Lane, at 10490 Gandy Boulevard in St. Pete, where it still operates on weekends.
Redeveloping the property would dramatically reshape a prominent stretch of Park Boulevard that has barely changed since the market closed, with some of the old structures still standing. The project would also rank among the most significant for Belleair Development Group. Founded in 1997 by Carlos Yepes, the family-owned firm has completed more than 400 commercial and residential projects across Florida. Christian Yepes joined in late 2007 and helped grow a portfolio that includes retail centers and residential developments. The company owns The Shoppes at Park Place in Pinellas Park and has built numerous commercial properties around the Tampa Bay area.
Yepes said he is grateful for the relationship the company has built with the Huntley family and called it an honor to be entrusted with a property that carries so much local history. For now, the developer remains focused on due diligence and determining what kind of project best fits the site. No construction timeline has been announced.
