Great article on Cape Coral and Fort Myers in the May 2008 Issue of Boat US magazine.

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From the News Press, March 2008

As the economy hobbles along, developers are eyeing the hiatus in housing development as a window for commercial growth in the Cape.

Plans for mixed use and massive commercial projects dominated discussions Tuesday during Futurescape 2008. The event, sponsored by the Women’s Council of Realtors, attracted hundreds of real estate brokers, developers and investors to the First Baptist Church of Cape Coral to share plans and ponder the future of Cape Coral’s growth.

“It’s an exciting time to be in Cape Coral,” said Carl Schwing, Cape Coral’s assistant city manager. “We’ve got a lot of opportunities. I know what the real estate market is like and I’m excited that we’re seeing some additional activity.”

Helping accommodate commercial growth elsewhere, the city is looking to annex up to a square mile of property in several parcels north of Cape Coral. The city hopes it can zone large swaths of land for commercial development making the parcels an attractive investment for developers.

Recently annexed property in the city includes a 2,500-acre parcel in the north owned by the Zemel Trust. Annette Barbaccia of AMB Planning Consultants is working with Zemel Trust to develop a portion of the property. The parcel, Barbaccia said, holds the potential for 11 million square feet of commercial development and the possibility of environment-friendly industry.

Downtown
Capitalizing on the Cape’s abundance of waterfront property, developers are eyeing property in the southwest Cape for extensive redevelopment. Barbaccia, the president of AMB Planning Consultants, detailed her client Tom Cirrincione’s plans for a $500 million project to reshape downtown.

AMB has finished conceptual plans, Barbaccia said, on the Piazza di Venezia, a mixed-use
development that would feature 1,000 residential units, 91,000 square feet of restaurant space,500,000 square feet of retail, a 2,000-seat theater, two five-star hotels, a convention center and a boat barn.

“It’ll change the face of downtown,” Barbaccia said. The project along Cape Coral Parkway stretches from Coronado to Triton Court and will include a new east to west road parallel to the parkway to handle traffic increases. Another of Barbaccia’s clients, Robbie A. Lee Jr. of Island Development, is working on $300 million worth of downtown development in the Village Square and Venetian Towers. His company recently finished the Entrada project in north Cape Coral.

More condos to come
Even with the slowdown in residential building, developers are still floating plans for condominiums and gated communities. The Cape Grande group is looking to build four developments with a total of 522 residential units. Among the developments is a 14-story high-rise near the Cape Coral Bridge off of Cape Coral Parkway overlooking the Caloosahatchee River known as La Brise.

Tuesday night, consultant Joe Mazurkiewicz spoke of plans for expanding office space near City Hall and constructing gated communities in the north of the Cape. Those properties, azurkiewicz said, could be ready for construction when the city expands utilities. Mazurkiewicz highlighted walkable, sustainable communities with light commercial intermingled with residential.

Pine Island Road

Despite boasting a population of over 170,000, developers have historically “missed the mark” on Cape Coral’s potential for commercial growth, according to Dale Hafele, a partner with the North American Properties development group. Hafele’s company brought a BJ’s wholesale store to Pine Island Road about three years ago, where it stood as an island of commerce in an otherwise undeveloped area.

Speaking Tuesday evening, Hafele credited the store with fueling a flurry of economic development along the Pine Island Road Corridor including a SuperTarget and several restaurants such as Panera Bread, which has the distinction of the highest volume of sales in the national chain’s stores. “Why has our company invested so much in Cape Coral?” Hafele said. “The Cape is a market we still consider to be underserved by national retailers, because of this wonderful climate we live in, because of this City Council’s commitment to smart growth.” Restaurants Chili’s and the Olive Garden also will open in the same Coral Walk plaza as Panera.

North of Pine Island Road on the corner of Diplomat Parkway and Del Prado Boulevard, Garrison development is planning to build the Diplomat Shoppes at Del Prado shopping plaza.The project highlights the difficulty of building commercial property by accumulating smaller residential properties. During a City Council meeting earlier this month, council members made clear their intentions to reject the project if the Garrison group could not secure a purchase agreement with a homeowner whose house would have been surrounded by the development. The homeowner and the developer signed a purchase agreement that night.

From the News-Press, Originally posted on February 16, 2008

Economy gripes are common these days.

But in the last three months of 2007, there were 83 new businesses that moved to Cape Coral. That doesn’t even account for the home-based businesses, which make up 65 percent of the total operations here.

Still, the city wants more.

Mike Jackson, director of Economic Development, is kicking off a new, national ad campaign to get the word out that businesses can flourish here — and workers can have fun doing it.

“Work. Play. Repeat. Now do both in the same place.”

That’s the slogan. It’s designed to promote the city’s tenant-ready commercial properties and market niches, as well as the waterfront lifestyle. It’s set to be unleashed later this year at business conventions, in trade magazines and in a television commercial airing on CNBC and MSNBC.
“When people think of Florida, they think of retirement and old people,” Jackson said.

“So when I go to these conventions in Chicago or other big cities, people are always surprised to hear that we’re the fourth-fastest-growing city in the country, and that our median age is 43. We want to try to change those perceptions.”

Specifically, the target is the smaller businesses that can afford to quickly pick up and move, and for whom quality of life is a big factor in where they do business.

Elmer Tabor, owner of Wonderland Realty, said the draw for many new business owners is the sunshine. But the Cape is also attractive because the market hasn’t fallen completely flat, he said.

“I always like to ask people why they moved here, and it’s almost always, ‘I was sick of shoveling snow,’” Tabor said. “And regardless of what the economy is, we still have a greater place to live than Ohio or Michigan or Minnesota. Southwest Florida still provides jobs, still provides growth. We’re in tough economic times, but we’re not near as bad as some places.”

Northern areas are dealing with redevelopment, and what is commonly referred to as “The Brain Drain,” in which younger workers move out after being educated in search of better jobs. In the Cape, the challenge is more first-time, smart development rather than redevelopment. Jackson said his office is constantly trying to find solutions to the fact that 90 percent of the city’s developable land is pre-platted residential. When the city was first built, it was broken up into small, residential-sized plots. For years, anyone could build a house almost anywhere they chose.

“The result is not only that utilities and services have to catch up,” Jackson said. “But also we are running into a commercial land use shortage.”

In a future land use analysis report, Jackson indicates that if the city does nothing, it will face a 2,526-acre shortage of commercial land by the time the population is built-out, roughly in about 60 years. Annexation of the Zemel property would reduce that shortage to 1,754 acres, but it won’t eliminate it. To combat this, Jackson is proposing to convert residential land use to commercial/industrial, increase annexations for commercial/industrial development, increase commercial/industrial densities, increase the size of existing commercial/industrial zones and acquire and develop parcels for commercial/industrial uses.

But some might wonder why the city would push for more commercial land when roughly 430,000 square feet of office space is currently vacant. But Jackson sees that vacancy not as an omen of a stagnant economy, but rather a draw for new business owners.

“New companies generally don’t want to move in to a place where they’re going to have to deal with the hassle of building their new office space,” he said. “They want to go somewhere it’s already waiting for them.”

Another tool his office is using is the Cape Coral Prospector Web site, at bizcapecoralgis.com, which was launched in December. With just a few clicks, interested parties can research brokers, building vacancies, see satellite and interior pictures, check out the structure’s proximity to other businesses as well as bus stops and traffic lights.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for people,” Jackson said. “It’s like free market research.”

While it will be difficult to measure the city’s direct success with the advertising campaigns and land use restructuring, Tabor said educating people about what Cape Coral is — and isn’t — can only help.

“In the early days in development in Cape Coral, it was the young, gutsy pioneers who came down to establish businesses,” he said. “When they started seeing they could enjoy it, that’s when the retirees started moving in. They brought their money, and then there was a need for younger employment. So we hope that’s a trend that continues, because it really is an overall great place to live.”

One of the reasons we chose Cape Coral was our excitement about the long-term vision of the Cape Coral Redevelopment Agency (CRA) for the downtown area of the Cape. While we are frustrated that the CRA’s progress has been slower than anyone would like, we are glad to see them dogging it along and making some progress.

The mission statement for the agency is that it “will facilitate the emergence of a vibrant urban village where people of all ages will live, work, shop and be entertained.” The master plan adopted by the CRA and City Council designed the Downtown as a compact urban village.

The primary goal is to create a high-intensity pedestrian friendly urban area with open spaces and a system of both pedestrian and traffic circulation so that visitors, employees, and residents alike can easily find their way, park, and enjoy their walk to their destinations. And the CRA aims, through development incentives, to assist in the development of plazas and covered pedestrians walkways that improve access to waterways and the riverfront.

Visit the Cape Coral CRA website.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting Bob Hensley, CEO of Grosse Pointe Development Company, and the developer of the beautiful Tarpon Point Marina community in Cape Coral. What a breath of fresh air. Bob is one of the few developers in the Cape that is still making significant investment in his holdings and he’s got the passion, vision, and resources to get the job done. Soon Grosse Pointe will break ground on Marina Village, a condo-hotel project on the waterfront with full resort services along with retail and office spaces.

Tarpon Point Marina is a luxury waterfront community on the Caloosahatchee River, with full service marina and many other amenities. Shown here is Tarpon Landings, the most recently completed project in the community.

It’s heavenly now and with Marina Village built-out fall of 2009, it’ll be one of the most spectacular waterfront resorts in South Florida. Oh, and Brenda was happy to confirm what we’ve long suspected: yes, that’s Bob’s helicopter that passes over our neighborhood every Friday afternoon on his way home from his commercial projects in Orlando.

Can’t wait until 2009? Check out current resales in Tarpon Point Marina.

Thinking about purchasing a wet slip or dock in Southwest Florida? This slip comes with a 16,000 lb lift and a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo with community pool. So after a long day of fishing or cruising and all that fresh air, you can stumble up to your 1,100 SQFT condo and crash or take a refreshing dip in the pool.

The condo’s dedicated slip can accommodate a 38′ boat without the lift. With the already-in-place 16,000 lb lift, it will accommodate about a 30′ boat.

This Cape Coral, direct (sailboat) access property is located literally just a minute or two from the Caloosahatchee river and is on a wide 200′ canal. No bridges, no locks, no marina fees. Just one low price and low condo association fees, and a place that is your own.

Compare the price and value of this property with slips nearby…..

• This Beach Parkway condo and its dedicated dock with lift: $239K. Monthly condo association fees $300. No extra fees for dockage.
• Gulf Harbour 38′ marina slip: $225K. Monthly association fees $250.
• Sanibel Harbour 30′ dry (rack) slip: $120K. Monthly association fees $250.

Oh, and bear in mind that there is property tax on standalone deeded slips. For example the 2006 taxes on the Gulf Harbour 38′ slip were just over $2000. The 2006 taxes on the Beach Parkway condo with slip (non-homesteaded) were $4500.

Beach Parkway in Cape Coral is a popular location for boaters. It’s close to area shopping, dining, and the wonderful riverfront Jaycee Park is just down the street.

Sound interesting? View more details about this well-priced condo.

While helping a family member to relocate from St Paul, Minnesota to Florida, we recently had the opportunity to get familiar with a little-known 55+ community in Fort Myers called Seven Lakes. It’s a tucked away hidden gem in the heart of Fort Myers.

Seven Lakes is a retirement golf community for active seniors, and boy are they active. Golf leagues, tennis, pools, bridge clubs, bingo nights, poker rooms, ceramic and woodworking hobby rooms, exercise classes, beach trips, shopping trips, casino trips, dancing and entertainment… the list of community activities goes on and on.

All that and it’s also surprisingly affordable to live there. There are small 1 bedroom, 1 bath condos under $100,000 (not a typo) and larger 2/2 condos or villas ranging from $120,000 to $289,000. Association fees (about $400-$600 monthly, depending on the location) include bundled golf and all the other amenities.

Most residents zip around the community on their golf carts. All in all, a friendly, active, well-managed 55+ neighborhood… we’ll be visiting often.

More About Seven Lakes, More Communities, Search All Area Listings

By Don Ruane
druane@news-press.com
Originally posted on May 09, 2007

A proposed lock on a busy Cape Coral canal may be abandoned because its cost jumped $12 million in four years.

The proposed lock on the south spreader waterway may cost about $15 million, up from $3 million when the city started planning for its construction in 2003.

So instead of building an expensive parallel lock to the Chiquita lock, city officials are preparing to drop the project and ask the state for permission to remove the existing lock.

Boaters with river access from the city’s southwest area must pass through the lock.
About 40 boats use the lock on a daily basis and about 100 per day on weekends, according to Karl Brauer of the Public Works Department.

Long lines often form while boaters wait their turn. A second lock would allow more and larger boats to pass through the barrier.

The proposed lock will be able to handle 60 boats per hour compared with 20 with the existing lock.

Removing the lock would eliminate the delays, too, but it also would allow the river and canal waters to mix. (more…)

INC Magazine rates Cape Coral-Fort Myers #1 for 2007 in its Best Cities to Do Business annual report. The magazine rates the Cape Coral-Fort Myers as #1 for mid-sized cities and #4 overall (all cities, no matter the size).

Read the full story: INC’s Best Mid-Sized Cities for Doing Business

Related posts: Lee County Homes Sales Belie National Trend

Live, work, shop, play all within walking distance from your new home. Bell Tower Park is an amenity-rich gated community in the heart of Fort Myers, Florida. This 2nd floor Devonshire unit has sweeping views of the lake and common grounds.

This contemporary floor plan of over 2300 SQFT under air has 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, media room (a.k.a. den/office/guest room), great room, lush master suite, and a wrap around lanai that’s heavenly for entertaining and taking in the sights. You’ll find beautiful tile, crown molding, solid surface counters, and more details to appreciate. And room for all your toys in the 2 car garage.

Relax or entertain at the resort-style pool (shown above), clubhouse, and game room and there is plenty to keep you active: tennis, walking paths, billiards, and more.

View Details and more photos on this property. Search the Local MLS.

View more featured properties.

Normalcy is returning to South Seas Island Resort.

A year after reopening on a limited basis, the Captiva resort pummeled by Hurricane Charley in 2004 has undergone an estimated $140 million makeover.

“It’s a rebirth,” said managing director Craig Schwan. His biggest challenge, Schwan said, “is really getting the word out that we’ve reopened.”

To that end, owner LXR Luxury Resorts will throw a grand reopening celebration tonight for about 250 local movers and shakers. A separate party and open house for neighboring Captiva residents is planned for April or May. After the VIP party, Schwan will go to New York City to meet with key travel publications.

Schwan estimated 1,600 to 1,800 people will stay at the resort this week. That’s about half the population Schwan’s predecessor said filled the resort during a weekend in the high winter season before Charley. Schwan said the pre-Charley estimate probably included non-overnight guests who used to be permitted on the property to shop and dine. With weather up north still chilly, this week is one of the most desirable and pricey.

Accommodations range from about $300 a day at the Harborside Hotel to $1,300 for a three-bedroom condo at Seabreeze overlooking Pine Island Sound on the resort’s north end.

About 529 out of 579 lodging units in the resort rental pool are restored and ready for use, Schwan said. The rest, all privately owned condos, are close to completion, he said.
With about 700 workers on the 330-acre property, the resort is close to pre-Charley staffing.

New owners, new look
Owner LXR is an affiliate of The Blackstone Group, which bought South Seas and nine other Florida properties in early 2005 for $367 million.

LXR took over South Seas in the middle of post-hurricane repairs and injected its ideas into the evolving plans. Choice property along Pine Island Sound was stripped of damaged and outdated meeting spaces and a couple of older pools.

In their place: The Pointe Restaurant & Grill and two pools ringed with cabanas that are soon to have LCD and plasma TVs as well as high-speed wireless Internet access.

With the exception of the clubby old King’s Crown restaurant — now reserved for private social functions such as weddings — group meeting space is concentrated away from the water and closer to the public Captiva Drive. In January, LXR “privatized” South Seas. That means only overnight guests and community members of the resort’s club are able to dine and shop behind the security gate.

Schwan said privatization is working out better than he expected.
“It provides exclusivity, and allows us to provide the best service possible,” he said.

Memberships for people who aren’t property owners start at $500 a year for access to all restaurants and shops and the on-resort trolley service.

A second level at $2,000 adds use of the fitness center and golf course. A $3,000 premium membership includes all available amenities such as a private stretch of beach with comfy chairs and beach toys.

Steep adjustment
Michigan resident Edward Thomas said he doesn’t mind privatization, but noted there aren’t as many dining options as before and “the food prices are high.” “Four dollars for one scoop of ice cream, $10 for a hamburger. I can afford it, but I don’t need to pay $10 for a hamburger.”

As he watched his 21Ú2-year-old grandson, Carsten Melbye, play in one of the new swimming pools, Thomas said he’s most impressed with the new landscaping.
On the golf course alone, that included adding about 200 coconut palms, 330 sabal palms and 7,000 shrubs, along with 5,000 aquatic and dune plants.

Thomas has been coming to South Seas for more than 30 years and especially prizes “the relaxed atmosphere, the weather and meeting good people who have become friends.”

This is Thomas’ first visit since Hurricane Charley because he couldn’t bear to see the resort in tatters. Plus he had health problems to overcome.
Now, he said, he’s well and the resort is, too.

“Some things have a different flavor, but that’s all right,” Thomas said. “I just hope the prices don’t drive away the families.”

From the News-Press, March 2007

This impressive Lake Finisterre pool home is THE best lake property value in Cape Coral, Florida. Not only can you enjoy boating, fishing or skiing on the lake, but also boat out to the Gulf of Mexico. This property is Gulf Access, no locks or lifts, 20 minutes to the Caloosahatchee River/Gulf, and one bridge (10′25”). Check out the view from the huge lanai and pool area!

A rare find that’s right-price and move-in ready. The savvy buyer will have it all at an unbeatable price:

• wonderful 3-2-2 pool home
• enviable corner lot with 140′ of waterfront
• spectacular views
• tranquil and private setting
• mature landscaping
• fantastic boating

This home is sold turnkey—fully furnished right down to the silverware. So bring your toothbrush and move right in. 

Home features include cathedral ceilings, pocket sliders (living, kitchen, and master bedroom), large kitchen, in-residence laundry, new roof in 2005, new screening, and beautifully decorated. Priced at just $425,000, there is not a Finesterre house or even a lot that comes close to this value!

Related Links: View Details on This Listing, Search Cape Coral-Fort Myers MLS, Learn More About the Waterfront 

Along the San Carlos Canal, this condo offers great dolphin watching and you’ll enjoy watching the boaters cruise by too.

It’s a Gulf Access 2/2 condo in Southern Cape Coral Florida. Ground Floor with a large comfortable lanai with expansive canal and pool views. Impeccably maintained and updated with top-quality materials: new appliances, raised white panel cabinets, new lanai tile, wonderfully rich Pergo wood floors, new Lexan Glass sliders, new air conditioner, new hot water heater and more.

Lush Master Suite with sliders to the lanai. Only 32 units in the building, with wonderfully maintained exterior, lush grounds, and LOW monthly fees of just $186/month. Just 15 minutes and one bridge (10′) to the Caloosahatchee River and Gulf of Mexico via the San Carlos canal.

All this for just $269,000. 

View details, or email us if you are interested in knowing more about this property.

We would not want to live in Key West, but we sure are glad it’s any easy trip to get there. With our freinds visiting from Stillwater, Minnesota, we boarded the Key West Express ferry boat at Salty Sam’s marina on Fort Myers Beach for a short weekend trip.

The big twin-hull ferry boat impressed us both in comfort and speed. Once we got on the Gulf of Mexico, we cruised at about 45 mph and could hardly notice any movement nor did we see anyone get sea sick. Our morning cruise was about half capacity (capacity is about 500 people) with a wide variety of passengers, from boomers like us to seniors and toddlers.

During the journey, we roamed about the three decks for different vantage points and alternating between sun and wind (the upper open-air deck, at 45 mph is very windy) and the calm of the air-conditioned interior on the main level.

About 3 1/2 hours later, we were in Key West, armed with cameras and comfortable shoes and ready to play our roles as tourtistas. True to our roles, we took the Conch Train for a guided tour of the island’s rich history, then headed out to the famous night spots for some drinking, dancing, and good food. (Our 60-something friend won the hula-hoop contest on the dance floor, and even though she was the only contestent, we still think her technique was the best. In fact, later that evening she was giving hula lessons to touristas from Germany.)

After contributing to the local economy on Sunday afternoon with lots of shopping, we boarded for our trip home Sunday evening. By midnight we were tuckered out and glad to be tucked away for the night.

Next time we head that way, we plan to travel there in our own boat and stay longer so that we can tour more of the area and take advantage of the fishing, water sports, and wonderful sights. 

One of our favorite local spots for a stop off when we are boating is RumRunners at Cape Harbour. But it just got better. Now there are two more restaurants at the marina.

The Joint has the look of a hip South Beach bistro and open kitchen, with gourmet pizzas and more. The outdoor Cabana Bar sits facing the marina, has large televisions for sports viewing, and live music on Tuesday nights. A third restaurant, Run Agrounds, serves coffee, gelato, and pastries.

UPDATE: We hopped on the boat Tuesday night to check out the live music at the Cabana bar, a spectacular blues band that had eveyone tapping their toes and a few of us dancing. And it’s already a popular spot. Here are some snaps.

If you are interested in purchasing property in the Cape Harbour Development, we can help. Contact us to get started or learn more or visit our site to learn about this and other communities. Here is a link to the location.

SageRealtor Group welcomes Shane Ball and Sandra Avant as contributors to our SouthWest Florida Blog. Shane and Sandra recently relocated from Bakersville, California to Cape Coral, Florida. Shane will be joining SageRealtor Group as a sales agent this month. Sandra works in Public Relations.

Now living their dream, they share their experiences exploring SouthWest Florida and becoming immersed in the Florida lifestyle in this “SouthWest Florida Living” series of posts.

Not a beach lover? No problem. You don’t have to like sand between your toes or water splashing against your feet. Walk in your shoes, jog along the shore or even ride your bike on Fort Myers Beach. Take your pick – sunrise or sunset. I guarantee you’ll keep going back for more.

Still feel safer on dryer land or maybe you just can’t swim. Then just hang out in Fort Myers, Cape Coral or some of the other surrounding cities like Punta Gorda. The area is filled with beautifully landscaped homes, friendly neighbors and merchants and interesting sites such as the homes of Edison and Ford. Oh, and if you love to shop like me, it will take you months to visit all the conveniently located malls. That’s a good thing.

Shopping and site seeking are bound to make you hungry. So don’t forget to eat out a lot. Southwest Florida has some of the best restaurants that offer a variety of mouth-watering foods. Just name the cuisine that stimulates your palate. I love all kinds of food, but two of my favorites are hot wings and down-home cooked vegetables like turnip greens. Within weeks, I had located one of the best hot wings restaurant and of course “Cracker Barrel.” Chose a seafood restaurant, an Italian deli or eat pizzas that make you drool.

To go along with those delicious meals, you’ll find a load of hospitality and customer service the good old fashion way. It doesn’t matter whether the cooking originated from New York, Georgia or Germany. It’s all good. I may never cook another dinner.

Sincerely,

Sandra Avant

Two sailboats passed my line of sight, gliding through an intersection of shimmering water cast by the midday sun at Fort Myers Beach. A boy no more than 8 years old dug hurriedly, creating a huge mound of sand, which he later dived onto like the pelicans soaring above the water before me.

The temperature felt perfect at “Junkanoo” restaurant, where I sat eating delicious grouper nuggets. Golden sunrays covered my feet – a balance to the slightly cool breeze from the Gulf’s shore. I found myself smiling – as I have every day since moving here from California two months ago. The promise of another spectacular day was at hand … and I knew it would come true.

Shane

Fishermen’s Village is a waterfront retail and yacht basin complex in Southwest Florida is located on the Charlotte Harbor in beautiful downtown Punta Gorda, Florida.

And finally, the full-service marina is now open for business.

The marina closed in May of 2003 due to structural problems on the 25 year old docks. Now completely renovated, they opened the fuel dock and have a total of 111 permanent slips, 97 are available for public use, and approximately 31 temporary, free docking areas for day use of boaters visiting the Mall, shops and restaurants. They are also constructing a new dinghy dock for boats that anchor in the Harbor and wish to use facilities.

Now SouthWest Florida boaters can once again take advantage of the shops, entertainment, dining, and nightlife at the village and in downtown Punta Gorda. It’s a good thing!

As boaters are well aware, local knowledge is a key ingredient to a safe journey. And that’s also true for real estate—local knowledge (product knowledge + market knowledge) is key for our customers’ “safe journey” in a property transaction. Because much of our business involves waterfront properties, a boat outing often is part of our job, either conducting research or showing properties. But it can’t be called “work” in the Webster dictionary sense of the word.

Recently we held one of our team meetings on the water, at our other “office”, a 31’ express cruiser. (Pictured below: Shane with our Yorkie Dutch and Mark at the helm… looks like they are working hard, yes?).

One of our objectives for this meeting was to learn more about a couple of the canal systems that lead into the Rubicon canal, one of the most beautiful canals in Cape Coral. The Rubicon is about 220 feet wide and curves and meanders through the Southeast part of the Cape.

We were previewing waterfront properties for two clients interested in purchasing Gulf Access homes in the Southeast area. We checked bridge heights, depths, and trip duration for various homes. We had pre-screened the properties based on price, square footage, age, and other features, but we wanted a close-up look before showing the properties to our clients. After the trip, we eliminated some of the properties due to location, condition of the structure, or absent property features such as pool, dock, or lift.

At the end of the day we had a dynamite short list of properties that we knew our clients would want to see. It was a tough, brutal day at the office.

While I’m a certified diver, I have to admit it’s been a long time since I’ve been on a dive. In the local paper today, a great article by Cheryl Wood of the Caloosa Dive Club in Cape Coral caught my eye and got me thinking it’s time to start diving again (after a refresher course to get my skills back in check!).

The Dive Club includes members from all walks of life and age groups with a variety of interests. They organize dives in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida Keys, and Florida East Coast. Visitors are welcome to their web site and club meetings, which are held at the Cape Coral Yacht Club.

Other SouthWest Florida scuba diving resources include: Seahorse Scuba in Fort Myers, and Dean’s Dive Center in Fort Myers, and FantaSea Scuba in Port Charlotte, all of which offer courses, scuba trips, and gear.

It’s that time of year, our favorite in SouthWest Florida.

Here are a few reasons why (in no particular order):

* Goodbye air conditioning. The humidity is all but gone, the temps cooler. Today we opened all the windows, doors, and sliders, turned off the air conditioning and let the breeze drift through the house.  While it’s 85 degrees in the sun, it’s cool as can be inside; the breeze is playfully tossing paperwork off my desk.

* Our 5 lb Yorkie, Dutch, has the run of the house and with everything wide open, he can now run back and forth from the living room, to the lanai, to the office, to the pool (and into the pool, he’s a great swimmer)… all day and all night long. An occasional bark at the neighbors completes his day. Ahhh, the life.

* The top on our convertible will stay down for some months, going up only when there is the infrequent rainstorm.

* Our visitor log is building up, and we are once again using the white board to keep track of who is visiting when. We look so forward to the arrival of friends, family, and clients.

* The SouthWest Florida real estate market is picking up speed. Buyers are coming back, prices are getting real, and well-priced inventory is moving.

* Our “Sno-bird” neighbors and friends are coming back from their summer get-aways and we’re delighted to have them back.

* The best boating season for SouthWest Florida begins now: warm days, cool nights, fantastic sunrises and sunsets.

It’s paradise!

NEW YORK — Oct. 4, 2006 — A first-time public opinion survey asked the question: Where do you want to live? Americans picked Florida as their third favorite state, with North Carolina first and Virginia second. Internationally, Florida ranked No. 2, surpassed only by California.

The Anholt State Brands Index — http://www.statebrandsindex.com/ — recently looked at the responses of 9,000 U.S. citizens and more than 12,000 foreigners regarding the appeal of all 50 U.S. States. The poll, created by government advisor Simon Anholt and powered by global market intelligence solutions provider GMI, found that American panelists ranked North Carolina and Virginia as the top two states where they would like to live, while neither state made it into the top five of the global ranking.

Foreign panelists ranked the big-name states — Florida, California and New York — in the top five, while home-turf panelists reserved the top five slots for some of the smaller-name states, such as Colorado and the afore-mentioned North Carolina and Virginia. In fact, some of the more obvious big names did not make the overall domestic top five, and Florida was the only state to make the top 5 on both rankings.

For instance, foreign favorites California and New York ranked nine and 39 respectively to Americans, while foreign panelists ranked them four and one. In some cases, the foreign panelists chose American states based on misperceptions. Generally, they judged all of New York State, for example, based on the image they had of New York City. And many mistakenly believe that Washington, D.C., is located in Washington State.

The study looked at each states’ “brand,” or the perception of that state held by residents within the U.S. and throughout the world. It looked at six perception areas: tourism, exports, people, governance, culture and heritage, and investment and immigration. In tallying the total marks for each state, the study finds “a big gap between the megabrands of California, Florida” and the other states. “Hawaii and New York are in the second league of brand power,” the report notes, “and then there is another sizeable gap between them and the remaining 46 states.”

“The brand images of U.S. states, as a rule, are more up to date, more detailed, and more likely to be based on fact than fiction amongst domestic audiences than overseas respondents,” says study author Simon Anholt. “The most noticeable difference between how Americans rank the importance of their states and the way foreigners do so is the presence of Virginia and North Carolina in the U.S. panel’s top 10, and their absence from the non-U.S. panels’ list. The high domestic profile of these three states probably has much to do with their relevance to American history, which is not as familiar to foreign audiences as it is to domestic ones.”

“Brand image is critically important to the prosperity of all communities, yet it is hard to identify, hard to explain, and remarkably hard to alter,” says Anholt. “It is critical for the political, cultural, social, educational and business leaders of each state to understand their brand, and to see how potential visitors, investors and future citizens view them. If the image doesn’t match up to the reality, they can decide what to do to close the gap.”

Top five ranking

Responses of U.S. residents:

1. North Carolina
2. Virginia
3. Florida
4. Colorado
5. Oregon

Responses of foreigners:

1. California
2. Florida
3. Hawaii
4. New York
5. Washington

The survey was conducted between May 25 and June 12, 2006. A representative sample based on age, gender, and where applicable, geographic region, race and ethnicity, was collected in the United States (9,000 completes) and the top 15 inbound tourism markets (12,410 completes) for a total of 21,410 completes.

© 2006 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

Related Posts: SouthWest Florida Market Cycle, Still Sunny, Long-Term Outlook

Search the Local SouthWest Florida MLS for properties.

Learn about SouthWest Florida lifestyle, economy, beaches, and more.

Last weekend, we took a road trip to visit friends at the Grand National Paso Fino horse show in Perry Georgia. (Years ago, we were in the Paso Fino breeding and showing business. Now, as our horse friends fondly say, instead of throwing money into the horses, we are dumping money down another hole… our boat.) 

We struck up a conversation with a Georgia property developer who, gasp, did not know where Fort Myers was. Naples? Nope. Sarasota? Nope. Miami? Yep.

Fair enough. Before moving here, we did not know much about the geography of Florida either. So where is exactly are we? We define SouthWest Florida as encompassing Charlotte, Lee, and Collier Counties. The primary cities, from north to south, are Punta Gorda, Cape Coral, Sanibel-Captiva, Fort Myers, Estero, Bonita Springs, Naples, and Marco Island.

This illustration shows where the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan areas are in relation to well-known Florida cities: Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and Key West.

This is a chief advantage of living in or visiting SouthWest Florida: proximity to other Florida attractions, whether the night life in South Beach, the beautiful bay at Tampa, the beaches of Sarasota, or the family fun in Orlando. They are all within 2 or 3 hours driving distance, close enough for a day trip or an extended weekend get-away.  The playground of Key West is also in our “backyard,” a 1/2 day trip of about five and a half hours.

All this in addition to the arts, recreation, boating, fishing, and sports right here in SouthWest Florida. Whew! So much to see and do.

Related Posts: On the Water, Why We Chose SouthWest FL Part 1, Part 2,

Good links for more about SouthWest Florida: Lee County Visitor Guide, Charlotte County Visitor Guide, Collier County Visitor Guide, SouthWest Florida International Airport

Florida real estate may be in a slump, but its future is golden. That’s the good news former Wall Street economist Richard Hokenson delivered last week to Tampa Bay’s Chartered Financial Analysts.

“Ride the wave,” he told them, but he wasn’t talking about surfing. Hokenson, who runs a demographics consulting firm in New Jersey, said the wave of baby boomers rolling into retirement provides an investment opportunity.

“There’s a baby boom tsunami and a fixed supply of coastal land,” he said at the meeting at the University Club. Whether boomers can afford a Florida retirement may depend on whether they can shed their NIKEs, the acronym Hokenson bandied for “No Income Kids with Education.” Hokenson says population trends explain 70 percent of what happens in the economy.

Sep 18, 2006, from the St. Petersburg Times

In local SouthWest Florida MLS listings, there are two measures of a home’s square footage. The first is the area “under air” (the portion of the home that is air conditioned and heated).

A newer 3 Bedroom, 2 Bath home in the price range of $275,000 to $500,000 typically is 1500 to 2300 square feet under air. Property taxes are based on the under-air square footage (a good thing!).

The second measure is the total living space. This total adds the lanai, pool, patio, and garage. The lanai and pool area are almost always screened (or “caged”) for 24 hour, 365 days a year comfort, keeping out the pesky mosquitoes and no-see-ums that show up at dusk in the summer. An under-truss lanai (pictured here) is a 4 season room that is either used for dining or as an outdoor living room. Here in SouthWest Florida, our living space most definitely includes the lanai and pool/patio area. It’s where we spend the majority of our time.

Total square footage is the better measure for evaluating a property. A large pool and patio area and/or a large lanai adds significantly to the property’s value and marketability.

Consumer sites such as realtor.com pull in the first measurement, the under air square footage, which can be confusing to shoppers comparing living space in a northern home to living space in a Florida home.

Case in point, after browsing homes on the Internet, a couple from Minnesota presumed they’d be looking at small living spaces. Needless to say, they were amazed at how much true living space there is. The home they purchased has 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and a 2 car garage. It’s 1800 sqft under air but overall has 3700 sqft total living space. Their patio area has room for an outdoor living room, outdoor kitchen (or four-burner-TV-chef-style-barbecue), outdoor dining for eight, and several chase lounges.

The other night while grabbing a snack and beverage at one of our favorite outdoor bars, we struck up a conversation with the gentleman sitting next to us, whose profession is that of a termite service technician.

His chief complaint and rationale for imbibing was that he’s bored. “Bored?” we asked. Affirmative. But, we wondered, every property that sells in SouthWest Florida has a termite inspection before purchase. Surely he must be very busy?

His problem is not getting inspection jobs, it’s that there he rarely finds any termites.

Which is true enough. Because most construction is now concrete block, and since nearly all property owners have routine termite treatments (perhaps overkill, but these days everyone is schooled in prevention-is-the-best-medicine), there just aren’t that many of ‘em. The termite-fear-mongers are living in the good ole days of wood-frame structures.

So for someone in the profession of getting rid of termites, we can see how that would be quite tiresome. Where’s the excitement? Where’s the job satisfaction? Maybe, he wondered, it was time to back to San Diego, his home town, where termites were plentiful.

So do you need a termite inspection before purchase? It’s always a good idea. There are still wood doors and door frames, for example, and older homes might have legacy issues. Also, wood frame structures are still prevalent on Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Beach, so for anyone considering a purchase there (or any wood frame house), be sure to have a thorough professional inspection and be sure that you (or a representative) are present to monitor the inspection and see any issues first-hand.

What makes a city a city? Is it a population of 150,000? Having a large police force and lots of new public schools opening? A downtown area? A hospital or two? City beach? Parks? Golf courses? Water parks?

Nope. None of the above, according to many local java junkies.

What makes a city a real city is the arrival of Starbucks. Following article after article and letters to the editor in the local papers, the pining for a Cape Coral Starbucks is finally over. (Mind you, the Cape has plenty of locally-owned coffee shops that are fantastic. In fact, most of the Cape’s non-fast-food dining options are locally-owned).

The Cape’s very own Starbucks will be along the Pine Island Corridor, an area in the NorthWestern and NorthEastern sector that is booming in commercial development (other plans include Super Target, Chilis, Olive Garden… the usual suspects). 

Residents of Cape Coral are excited about the commercial boom, not only because of the additional shopping and entertainment options, but also as a boost to the tax base. In the Cape, residential owners provide 92 percent of the city’s tax base — an unusually high percentage. Most city’s have a tax base that is 75 residential and 25 percent commercial.

In the last Cape Coral Vacant Lot Update, we wrote about lot prices for high-end Direct Access (“Sailboat”) lot prices. In this update, we cover upper-end Gulf Access lots with these characteristics:

• Gulf Access (one or more bridges to pass under)
• Seawall in place
• No locks to pass through
• No lift to pass over

The lots with these characteristics are generally in southern parts of SouthWest and SouthEast Cape Coral. Our analysis of recent activity included active listings, pending sales, and closed sales. We threw out some very high priced lots (exceptional lake views, oversized parcels) and some very low priced lots (frontage on a major thoroughfare, less than 80’ of seawall).

The analysis shows that the average asking price for Gulf Access lots is $369,000. The average sales price (pending or closed sale) is $315,000. The lot pictured here is in the SouthWest portion of Cape Coral, has a partial view of Lake Finisterre, and sold for $320,000.

For more information on the types of waterfront property available in SouthWest Florida and the characteristics of each, visit Waterfront Types on SageRealtor.com.

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again… there is so much to explore on the waterways of SouthWest Florida, it’s hard to get it all done.

Here’s a great web site for learning about SouthWest Florida anchorages with great details, waterway maps, images, and location characteristics. 

Pictured here is an image from the Sea Grant site showing the path into Glover Blight, just off of Tarpon Point in Cape Coral.

Visit SouthWest Florida Anchorages from Florida Sea Grant.

August is rainy season and boating excursions can be hit or miss (mostly hit). Afternoon storms lasting about an hour are common each day.

Saturday we toured properties with a client from California visiting to buy a single family home and some 4-plex investment properties. After a steamy day property-hunting, the three of us (well four of us, counting Dutch, our Yorkie) headed out in our ‘31 Tiara Express cruiser for the afternoon and a break from the road.

While idling out of the canal, we looked behind us to see the clouds forming and turning very dark. We knew a lightning storm was on its way, but decided it was safe to keep going and that we could get ahead of the storm. We headed up the ICW toward Sanibel/Captiva and managed to stay ahead of the storm cruising at a comfortable 18 knots. When we reached Redfish Pass (pictured here), we left the ICW and headed out onto the Gulf of Mexico and then a bit further north to North Captiva.

Anchoring off the beautiful beaches of North Captiva, we kept our eyes on the storm but meanwhile enjoyed a light snack and a refreshing swim. Our California friend was, to quote him directly, “like a Labrador that has just been asked to chase a ball,” lapping up the sunshine, salty air, and stunning contrast of the east and west horizons. Our friend had many other witticisms, keeping us both laughing and nostalgic for how fortunate we are to call SouthWest Florida our home.

At about 6:30, we pulled up anchor and started heading back, wanting to ensure we reached Tarpon Point before dark. As we re-entered our canal, there was a light misting rain and the dark part of the storm has passed. (We learned later than it had poured rain for an hour on land.)

A wonderful cruise, in spite of the summer rainstorm threat. Perfect timing all around by Cap’n Dave. Back at the house, we fired up the grill, jumped in the pool for a quick swim, invited some more friends over and enjoyed some great conversation and refreshments.

For more information about Sanibel-Captiva, visit the official tourism site.