The Estero Village Council gave its OK on Wednesday for rezoning the final piece of the development puzzle at U.S. 41 and Coconut Road.
Council members unanimously approved the rezoning request for Woodfield Estero.
Woodfield Development, based in Charleston, South Carolina, plans to build a mixed-use project on the 45.6 acres at the northwest corner of Coconut and U.S. 41.
The plans call for
- 596 units, 538 multi-family apartments and 58 townhomes
- 42,000 square feet of general and medical office space
- 82,000 square feet of retail and dining
- A hotel with 260 rooms
- 3,000 square feet of civic space
- And a public park.
The property has been used as a dumping site for Hurricane Ian debris.
Lee County approved the rezoning of the property in 1998 to allow for a retail shopping center along U.S. 41 and light industrial along the western portion, according to a staff report by the Estero Village Council. A road was built through the property but nothing else was constructed.
Lee Health purchased the property after it was foreclosed on and hired an urban planner to design the project.
Lee County’s largest health care provider, however, decided to sell the land to Woodfield instead.
Woodfield is incorporating much of the urban planner’s ideas. Woodfield had to get the property rezoned because the vacant land was in Estero’s boundaries when Estero incorporated in 2014.
Council members mostly praised the project, but they did have some concerns. They thought the civic building, planned for about 3,000 square feet, was too small.
“I’m encouraging you to increase the space of that,” said Vice Mayor Joanne Ribble.
She thought it was too small to have a wedding reception. Council members were asking for 6,000 square feet.
Ross Abramson, a partner with Woodfield Development, said the building will cost between $1.5 million to $2 million, so doubling the size would double the cost. There also would be extra costs because parking spaces would have to be added to the parking garages.
“That’s a substantial budget impact,” Abramson said.
Mayor Jon McLain said the extra cost would be less than one percent of the project’s estimated price tag of just under $400 million.
“I’m not trying to force you into that,” the mayor said. “We’re trying to tell you that it’s too small for the development and the community we’re in.”
Council members questioned why developers wanted to reduce the number of spaces from 2,107 to 1,872.
“America has overbuilt parking, especially the Walmart-type parking,” said Elizabeth Suarez, a traffic planner for the project. “Extra parking is really a waste of resources and space.”
Woodfield Estero will have excess of 400 spaces even during the busiest hours, she said.
Traffic remained the council’s biggest concern. Coconut Road is close to being rated a failing road by the state.
The developer’s analysis projects the development will create 10,400 to 11,800 daily trips.
Plans call for two additional entrances from U.S. 41 and one from Coconut Road. The Florida Department of Transportation needs to approve the ones on U.S. 41.
The development will be required to add a traffic signal or roundabout at Coconut and Walden Center Drive.
The Village, developer and the state will determine if the signals need to be retimed and if a second left-turn lane from U.S. 41 to Coconut needs to be added.
Estero resident Francisco Figero was one of two citizens to speak about the project. He asked the council to delay approval until an independent traffic study could be done.
He questioned the accuracy of the developer’s study because it was done in September and not in peak season.
Mary Gibbs, Estero’s community development director, said she thought the developer’s traffic study was accurate because it compared favorably to the Village’s most recent Coconut Road traffic study.
The project still has a long way to go before breaking ground. Woodfield’s request on the Construction Journal website for bids said construction is expected to begin July 2024.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.