Cape Coming of age

City's continued phenomenal growth helps it earn recognition as economic force to be reckoned with

The News-Press, Saturday, December 29, 2001

By Jeff Cull

The largest city between Tampa and Miami is booming.

Like a teen-ager transforming into early adulthood, Cape Coral is shedding its bumbling image and blooming into an economic force that's getting much-deserved attention.

Of all the newsworthy events that took place in the city this year, none can approach the phenomenal leaps in population, building and development the city has seen.

That's why "growth" is The News-Press top story for 2001 in Cape Coral.

What's happened in a year:

Major projects

"Cape Coral really came of age in 2001," said Bob Knight, vice president of Paul Homes Inc. "It's still affordable, but now we're moving into the upper level."

City Council approved a number of residential and commercial projects in 2001 that are unique to the community.

Council approved the zoning for a $450 million waterfront district, Meta at Cape Harbour, that will be a 51-acre mix of retail shops, restaurants, a 125-room hotel, offices, boat slips and condominiums nestled along a canal and marina.

In addition to the commercial and residential developments, developer Will Stout said there will be walking paths, a waterfront boardwalk and open space for public use.

Stout said the restaurants, specialty shops and offices will turn Cape Coral into "the new alternative to Naples."

"Meta provides our tourists with what they're looking for," said Mike Quaintance, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Cape Coral.

Grosse Pointe Development Co. bought the 150-acre Tarpon Point Marina property for $29 million in June - setting the stage for Cape Coral's first high-end community combining houses, apartments and shops.

Grosse Pointe is offering carriage homes, a 10-story condominium and single-family lots for sale.

The Sailport subdivision, a 207-unit single-family home development next to Four Mile Cove Ecological Park, was purchased this summer by the Millennium Development Group of Estero.
The $27 million upscale gated community has been on the drawing board since 1997.

Millennium officials said the project will feature single-family homes priced between $180,000 and just more that $300,000.

North American Properties Southeast Inc. recently started work on a 206,000-square-foot shopping center on 27 acres at Veterans Parkway and Santa Barbara Boulevard.

Target and Publix will be the main tenants, and four of the six outparcels that border the front of the property are under contract for sale.

A gas station, two banks and a restaurant will occupy those outparcels.

"There's a pretty good pent-up demand in Cape Coral," said Shawn McIntyre, vice president of North American, of his company selecting the Cape for development.

Infrastructure

Almost $100 million of public construction work started this year.

Cape Coral Parkway is getting two new lanes, making the east-west trip in the south Cape, when it's completed in 2003, a lot easier. The new roadway will also help open up the already hot southwest.

Water and sewer lines are being installed along Pine Island Road that should open that area up for a rise in commercial development. That project is expected to be completed in September.

Veterans Parkway is being extended from Surfside Boulevard up to Burnt Store Road. When completed in November, it will let Cape residents drive directly to Lehigh Acres on one road. It's also expected to spur growth in the city's northwest.

The extreme southwest section will be getting water, sewer and irrigation lines beginning in the spring. It is the third city utility project in a 10-year program.

Planning

The city completed three strategic plans this year that will define what the city will look like in the future.

The downtown master plan, under the direction of Dover, Kohl & Partners - a nationally known urban planning firm - will transform the area. The essence of the plan is pedestrian-friendly shopping and dining, commercial buildings mixed with residential, and making the waterfront a central focus for the city.

Chet Hunt, executive director of the 340-acre downtown Community Redevelopment Agency, said creating the new look for the downtown won't happen tomorrow.

"This is a long-term process - we'll hand it off to our kids," he said.

The Pine Island Road corridor plan covers a nine-mile corridor from Del Prado Boulevard to Burnt Store Road on the west. It would transform the highway into a landscaped corridor with pockets for development arranged at major road intersections.

Interim City Manager Howard Kunik said the city staff has a lot of work to complete before the road is ready for developers.

"We'd like to see some definite projects in the next five to 10 years, if not sooner," he said.
In November, a parks master plan was unveiled. That plan, a 10-year project that could cost up to $70 million will try to provide adequate parks and recreation facilities for the 184,000 seasonal residents that the city expects by 2010.