The state's blessing to the project follows Lake County commission's unanimous decision in January of this year, also supporting Tom Harb's Phonecia Development LLC's undertaking, as GlobeSt.com previously reported.

Besides the 1.2-million-sf shopping center, the venture is also slated to have 80,000 sf of retail and entertainment space not directly connected to the center, 250,000 sf of mixed-use space and 200 townhomes. The entire undertaking could total over 1.53 million sf at completion, subcontractors who have worked with the Orlando-based developer on other Central Florida projects tell GlobeSt.com.

The only group unhappy with Plaza Collina, in the planning stage for five years, is the Clermont City Council. Council members have told both the county and the state the project, because of its size, will create a traffic nightmare on State Road 50 and smaller connector roads.

The development site covers 142 acres--comparable to about 137 football fields--and almost a mile of frontage on retail-laden State Road 50, considered one of the most heavily trafficked east-west routes in Central Florida.

Since Clermont expects to annex the development site this year, Plaza Collina could run into unexpected roadblocks in the form of stricter development requirements from the city, according to Clermont sources. Although the county and the state have approved the project, Clermont, as the final home of the venture, will have the last word on its development progress, Clermont city hall sources tell GlobeSt.com.

Still, sources close to developer Harb and his company tell Globest.com the developer is agreeable to working with Clermont officials on all of their requirements for Plaza Collina. The shopping center will dwarf the 876,000-sf Lake Square Mall in Leesburg when the third and last phase is completed in 2010. The largest retail center in Central Florida is the enclosed 1.8-million-sf Florida Mall in south Orlando owned by Simon Property Group of Indianapolis. Simon also owns Lake Square Mall.

The first phase of Plaza Collina calls for the development of 950,000 sf of shopping center space and the 80,000 sf of other retail and restaurant space. The second phase envisions about 200 townhomes. The final phase, to be built between 2008 and 2010 will have an additional 250,000 sf of mixed-use space.