Building boom affects N.E. Cape

The News Press, Friday, May 29, 2005

By Pete Skiba

Developers are busy in Cape Coral's northeast area adding about 3,000 residences and commercial buildings.

Because US Home is adding irrigation pipes to the Entrada development truck traffic is raising dust in the area.

Drivers headed south from U.S. 41 on Del Prado Boulevard could smell the burning pine trees and watch massive bulldozers and haulers making the development's land into a sandy plain ripe for digging.

"We've received our permits to do irrigation infrastructure and we are proceeding," Bill Edwards, senior project manager, said. "The plan includes a pumping facility for water."

Irrigation and sewer water services will come from North Fort Myers Utilities. Drinking water for Entrada will be pumped in from Lee County Utilities.

The company developing Entrada, Realmark, is paying for the work. No construction cost estimates for the irrigation pipe and pumping facility at the Entrada project were available Thursday from the developer, Realmark Group LLC of Cape Coral.

Construction crews continue to work on the other area projects: D.R. Horton, Concordia and Coral Lakes developments.

Those projects could add about 1,400 homes to the area.

The 446-acre Entrada project, as approved by the Cape Coral City Council, could have as many as 1,600 homes.

US Home's Steve Benson said the company could start building residences this summer and complete the project in five years.

While construction crews dig to put the irrigation system in place, other work is in various stages.

Coral Lakes developers have houses going up and Del Prado Boulevard awaits expansion to six lanes.

Plans originally called for De Navarra Parkway to run west from Gator Circle to U.S. 41. Entrada decided to spend about $4 million and turn the road south through its development on the south side of Del Prado Boulevard Extension in northeast Cape Coral and meet Northeast 24th Avenue.

With the soon-to-boom population in the area Entrada also has a commercial area under development. Plans call for 280,000 square feet of commercial space and 15,000 square feet of office space to go on Del Prado Boulevard's north side to the east of the Horton development.