‘Catch the Vision’ provides citywide update
Those wondering what’s on the horizon for developments in Cape Coral got the chance to “Catch the Vision” Tuesday night at Cape Christian.
The ninth annual event highlighting prospective businesses, new real estate and developments coming to the Cape was held by Raso Realty’s Gloria Tate to a packed venue.
“This is a great night for residents and Realtors to find out just how much people are looking at Cape Coral, and finding out what a great city it is to live, work and play,” Tate said.
Mayor Joe Coviello, in a Saturday Night Live style, introduced the “Weekend Update” crew of Joe Mazurkiewicz and Bill Johnson Jr. who would take everyone through the future developments happening in the city over the next calendar year and beyond.
The pair kept the audience is stitches all night, as they would cut to “live shots” of representatives of each project, with their timing on the pre-recorded messages at occasionally being comically off.
So, what are the new ventures taking place in the city?
* Apartments at Surfside & Veterans
228-unit “luxury, upscale” apartments on Southwest 23rd Place. Studios, 1,2, or 3 bedrooms. Onsite resort style pool, clubhouse. Expected completion in 18 months.
* Santa Barbara & Veterans
Lucky’s Market, a supermarket that offers organic and natural selections. The 30,000-square-foot store is set to open in early June and bring 150 jobs to the Cape. WaWa and Aspen Dental also coming to the area.
* Cape Coral Animal Shelter
Set to open this November. Be able to house 80-100 animals
* Mercola
Health product company at Pine Island Road and Nicholas Parkway. 17 acres. 100-plus new employees.
* Nissan Car Dealership
Sutherlin Nissan is set to open a new 43,000-square-foot location on the Pine Island corridor, across from the Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership, by the end of the month/early December. The $19 million facility will welcome new customers, as well as existing Nissan customers in the area.
* Fairfield Inn
109-room Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott at the southeast quadrant of Pine Island Road and Del Prado Boulevard on Old Pondella Road. Broke ground on Sept. 18. The approximately $14 million project is expected to take 13 months to complete, and is scheduled to open in the fall of 2020.
* Pine Island Village
The village will be anchored by “triple-A” office space, surrounded on both sides by retail. Up front and center will be fountains on four corners, centered by a gazebo. Pedestrians will be able to walk across and through the gazebo to get to different sections of the village.
* Prime 239 and Sky Bar 26
Four-story restaurant/bar/office space at 1413 Cape Coral Parkway. Hopes to open by November of 2020. Open roof on top level. Two stories of office space, steakhouse on ground floor, and martini “skybar” on the top. It will feature lofted skylight windows, indoor and outdoor seating and views of the Caloosahatchee River.
* Chase Bank
Near 3,500-square-foot Chase Bank at 119 Cape Coral Parkway E at the corner of Vincennes Boulevard.
* Southwest Four Corners
Upscale apartments on three corners of Beach Parkway and Aqualina Boulevard. Swimming pool, amenities. Fourth corner “up in the air, maybe mom-and-pop type restaurants.”
* Del Prado Boulevard & Cornwallis Parkway
Site ready, zoning in place. Looking for tenants currently. Expected retail space.
* Cape 84 Apartments
Luxury townhouse project set to start in 2020. 320 units. Single and multi-family development. 84.7-acre parcel east of Veterans Parkway next to Sandoval near Surfside Boulevard. Most properties would surround two large lakes.
* Pine Island Road & Del Prado Boulevard
Removal of the Circle-K and Shell Station at the corner of Pine Island and Del Prado to usher in a restaurant, retail, and maybe a bit of office space. 12-13 acres. $30-plus million dollar project is slated to break ground by early 2020.
* Judd Creek
The Springs: 229-unit apartments in east Cape Coral off of Pine Island Road. Studios,1-bedroom and multi-bedroom.
* La Placieta
Mixed use development in the South Cape. 18,600-square feet. Unique architecture, covered courtyard. Permitting by end of year, looking to open by first quarter of 2021
* The Caves
An exclusive group of luxury vehicle parking condo spaces designed as hangouts and a place for a “man cave.” Near 1,500-square-foot facility in southwest Cape Coral.
* Coral Ridge Event Center
Held grand opening Sept. 26. 8,500-square-foot facility on their Cape Coral property that is designed to host a myriad of different functions, gatherings and ceremonies.
“I hope everyone finds out who’s moving into Cape Coral, what kind of job opportunities are going to be there and how exciting all of the new types of residential properties are coming in, as well as commercial,” Tate said. “I think what everyone will take away from tonight is that it’s not about dollar stores, retirement homes and 7-Elevens.”
Coviello said he’s also excited about what the next year and beyond will bring for one of the fastest-growing cities in America.
“What’s exciting is that there’s so much for them to report on, and this is great for the real estate industry to be able to see many of the developmental things that are happening in Cape Coral,” Coviello said. “Between the multi-family dwellings that are coming, attainable housing that is going to be built, the commercial projects that are coming forward, the restaurants — there’s just so much going on that it’s nice to be able to come to one place and find out some of the amenities that are coming down the road.”
Coviello is encouraged by the progress of the city since he took office.
“I look back and I say to myself, ‘I’ve only been in office two years,’ and when I see the amount of progress that we’ve made in a relatively short period of time, I only know that there’s more to come, and there’s more good things that are going to happen for our city, and I’m just happy to be a part of it,” Coviello said.
The mayor noted the constant construction occurring in the city, pointing to the never-ending growth Cape Coral seems to be experiencing currently.
“There’s a lot of things happening,” Coviello said. “I can’t drive down a street, where I don’t see some type of house being built, some kind of construction being done, it’s an amazing time in our city — and like I said, I’m just glad to be at the helm.”
Mazurkiewicz, a former Cape Coral mayor in his own right, said the event is a great way to show residents what they can expect in the future, and that the time is now to grow the city to keep up with the rapid population growth.
“This gives everybody a comprehensive view of what’s happening in the Cape,” Mazurkiewicz said. “Particularly, this year, why it’s so exciting is there’s cross-generational changing going on. We’re actually becoming a multi-generational city.
“Also, the big change this year is the quality of the commercial. When you see what we’re putting up there this year, there will be a distinct difference of what we’ve done in the past and what the city has been building in the past.
“Instead of strip centers, we’re building little villages — commercial villages and campuses. Places with a common area within commercial developments for people to sit and socialize. It’s going to be really nice. It’s what Cape Coral has deserved for years.”
Mazurkiewicz said he may have expected this growth a little sooner, but nonetheless is happy that the city is expanding and developing in a way to accommodate for the youth-movement.
“I always thought when we hit 100,000 people we were going to make this change, but it took until we hit 200,000,” Mazurkiewicz said. “So as we approach 200,000 this next year, it’s kind of cool — 2020, we’re 50 years old as a city, 200,000 people and all of the changes are coming at one time.”
City Manager John Szerlag spoke following the presentation of the new prospective businesses to discuss challenges, accomplishments and how to continue to attract businesses to Cape Coral.
Highlights of his chat with Mazurkiewicz included the continued need for clean water and positive environmental practices, Cape Coral’s encouraging safe-city rating and the need to continue to adjust the residential/commercial land use percentages in city that has the largest land mass between Tampa and Miami.
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