Estero Development ReportVolume 8, Number 8, Issued January 2009
January Opportunities for Citizen Participation
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Date |
Time |
Event |
Location |
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Wednesday, January 7th |
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Joint Meeting of
Estero Leadership and the |
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Tuesday, January 13th |
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Monthly Meeting of the Estero Fire Rescue District. For further information see http://esterofire.org/ |
Estero Fire
Rescue Headquarters… |
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Tuesday, January 13th |
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Public Hearing on the Fire District Merger Study
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Estero Fire
Rescue Headquarters… |
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Tuesday, January 14th |
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Mediators Hearing on the Estero Group Mine Zoning |
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Wednesday, January 14th |
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Estero Design Review Committee review of the following projects: See the full agenda at http://esterofl.org/edrc/agenda.asp. |
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Friday January 16th |
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Estero Council of Community Leaders (ECCL) meeting. See the full agenda at: http://esterofl.org/eccl/minutes/index.htm |
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Monday, January 19th |
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Estero Community Planning Panel meeting. See the full agenda at http://esterofl.org/ecpp/ecpp_meetings.htm |
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Thursday, January 22nd |
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Index
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Page |
Subject |
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1 |
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2 |
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2 |
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6 |
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7 |
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8 |
The Widening of US 41 and the Federal Economic Recovery Program |
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8 |
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8 |
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9 |
ECCL to Testify at the Legislative Delegation Hearing for the 2009 Legislative Session |
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11 |
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11 |
Estero Community Website
From January through October about 81,200 persons visited this site to learn about Estero. During the same period in 2007 only about 66,400 persons visited the site, thus our website traffic has increased by 22% year to year. The community groups sponsoring the site are:
Estero Community Planning Panel
(ECPP)
Estero Civic Association (ECA)
Estero Design Review Committee
(EDRC)
Estero Council of Community Leaders
(ECCL)
Greater Estero Cultural Arts Council
(Arts Estero)
The Emerging Economy in Estero
The Estero Housing Market Since 2000
Throughout the past decade the Estero real estate market has been a shining
example for
Just
ten years ago Estero was a sleepy rural community located midway between
Since then about 13,500 new homes have been constructed in spite of the recent slowdown since 2006, of which 6,350, or 47%, are single-family homes. Today the average building value of newly constructed homes in Estero, (excluding the land beneath the structures), is $338,000. That's more than double the 2000 value.
In these eight years, 23 new residential communities have been completed containing about $2.6 billion of new homes, (again excluding the value of the underlying land.)
Some of the largest and best known residential communities in Estero are among those built during that period, including Pelican Sound, Grandezza, Rapallo, The Cascades, and the four communities of The Brooks -Shadow Wood, Copperleaf, Spring Run and Lighthouse Bay.
Between 2000 and 2004 the demand and supply of new housing in Estero seemed to be in equilibrium with an average of 1,800 new homes a year. The absorption rate was higher in 2000 and 2001, declined about 30% after 9-11, but recovered in 2004.
In late 2004, and the first three quarters of 2005, speculative fever struck the Estero housing market. The number of homes permitted in 2005 increased by nearly 1,200 over 2004. This speculation created an oversupply of more than 1,000 new but unoccupied units, (mostly condos), in Estero.
As a result of this overbuilding the number of new homes permitted declined dramatically during 2006, 2007 and 2008. However, this three year slowdown has provided the Estero housing market the time to absorb much of its unsold or vacant homes.
Today housing demand and supply in Estero are almost back in equilibrium.
An
At
the same time the 2008 Resale-Attached closings are expected to be 499 homes
in
In addition the number of 2008 closings in Estero increased 72% over 2007.
This all bodes well for the Estero condo real estate market in 2009.
While both the
In
fact, Estero may be the best real estate market in
Residential property values have declined in Estero since 2005 - as they
have throughout
The October 15th Resale-Attached Housing Study also indicates Estero’s “sales price to asking price” ratio actually improved from 92.1% in 2007 to 93% in 2008.
That 93% ratio is equal to the 20 year average for the area and confirms the current demand/supply equilibrium in Estero.
Meanwhile, the
In
addition, the average price of Resale-Attached housing declined 13% in
In conclusion, Attached-Residential, the weakest segment of the Estero housing market, appears to be at or near the point of Demand/Supply equilibrium in this housing down-cycle. And based on these recent numbers and previous real estate cycles, Estero’s residential values and absorption rates should start to increase in the near future.
The Community’s Commercial Real Estate Market
Since 2000, over $700 million has been invested in Estero's numerous commercial developments, both large and small.
The first major Estero commercial development during this period was the Hyatt Coconut Point Resort which had the misfortune of opening shortly after 9/11 but recovered quickly.
The Miromar Outlets Mall expanded throughout this period and is now in it sixth phase with a total of over 600,000 square feet of shopping and 140 stores.
Estero’s commercial development peaked in 2006 when $185 million was
permitted by
At
present the Estero community contains about 3.6 million square feet of
commercial space with over 2.1 million located along US 41 and 1.5 million
along
In addition four hotels containing 825 rooms were built in Estero in these eight years.
While much has been developed since 2000 Estero’s current zoning would
permit an additional 6.5 million square feet of commercial development and
1,670 more hotel rooms so there is lots of room for growth. It’s expected
the addition of the Boston Red Sox training facility in
Early Community Input and High Standards of Planning and Design Underlie the Quality of Estero’s Development
The
high quality and consistent, outstanding architecture and landscaping of
Estero’s commercial corridors is the result of the development and adoption
of the Estero Community Plan in 2001. The framers of the plan,
all community volunteers, foresaw the future commercial development of
Estero and wanted the
The Estero Community Plan established the community’s vision as follows:
“Estero’s growth will be planned as a village, establishing defined areas for tasteful shopping, service and entertainment, while protecting and encouraging residential neighborhoods that encourage a sense of belonging. Weaving the community together will be carefully crafted limitations on strip commercial uses, inappropriate signage and certain undesired commercial uses, while additional design guidelines will be established to ensure attractive landscaping, streetscaping, architectural standards, and unified access points.”
Shortly thereafter Estero’s community leaders obtained Lee County Board of
These regulations create “overlay districts” along US 41 and Corkscrew governing the appearance and location of buildings and, most importantly, their compatibility and connectivity with one another. Other regulations govern the location and treatment of “big box” stores and the types, size and architectural standards of signage and lighting as well as road and building setbacks.
In addition to these high design standards, new mandatory opportunities were created for community input on all new Estero projects prior to the developer’s application to the County for zoning or development order.
As a
result, the Estero community has had a valuable extended period of time to
constructively work with developers to meet or exceed the community’s needs
and, if unsuccessful, to appeal for changes to
Meeting the Infrastructure Needs of Rapid Growth
Over
the past ten years Estero’s infrastructure has kept pace with its
exceptional residential and commercial growth.
Estero’s north-south corridors have been greatly expanded: the widening of
US 41 to six lanes, the new four-lane Livingston/Imperial/Three Oaks
corridor and the four-lane Via Coconut Point from
What were four north-south lanes through Estero ten years ago are now 14 lanes.
Other major projects currently underway in Estero will improve traffic flow
even more. They include the
widening of
Estero’s recreational amenities have also been greatly expanded. The 65 acre
The Estero community is also working cooperatively with the City of Bonita Springs to obtain a 24/7 Freestanding Emergency center for the area, probably on land now owned by Lee Memorial Health Systems in the South Village of Coconut Point.
Convenience of Major Regional Anchors
No
other southwest
The
newly expanded
The
region’s largest sports and attraction arena, 7,000 seat Germaine Arena,
home of the minor league Florida Everblades hockey team, is a short walking
distance from Estero's 140-store Miromar Outlets Mall and
The
130-store
In
addition,
Red Sox Spring Training Site
On December 9th
On December 23rd 14 landowners or their representatives filed site proposals with the County, four of them in Estero. The proposed Estero sites are:
Midtowne Estero and Midtowne Estero Village…these
two properties across
North Point…this property consists of 102
acres located just north of Coconut Point on the northeast corner of
University Highlands Ltd. Partnership…this 210 acre site, owned by Nassif Development of Naples, is located immediately north of Germaine Arena between I-75 and Ben Hill Griffin Parkway. It will soon be bordered on the north by the Estero Parkway Flyover. The Grandezza community is located immediately across Ben Hill Griffin from this site.
Most of the applicants have not provided the public
with any information about their proposal. The County’s contract requires
that the proposals be made pubic no later than
Background
On November 1st
Early in November the BOCC voted to allocate one cent (out of 5 cents) of the proceeds of the Tourist Development Tax Revenues to help finance the Project
The Project Site must be
south of
Owners of large
properties located within the “Project Boundaries” have until December 23rd
to submit proposals to
The Red Sox contract
contains a very aggressive schedule. It calls for the two parties to approve
a 30 year lease and for the County to prepare a preliminary cost estimate
for the project by the end of the year. A detailed financing plan is
required by
The site selection criteria in the contact states that “the cost of land acquisition will not be the sole determining factor…but will serve as one of many factors considered…” Other factors to be considered include: existing and/or needed infrastructure improvements; environmental impacts; timing and availability; proximity to full service hotels; proximity to other complementary and accessory uses such as number and size of retail, commercial, restaurant, sports and entertainment venues; prospects for complimentary development on nearby property; acquisition cost and the economic impact generated by the project.
The location of the Red
Sox site and the development that it will stimulate will have a great impact
on south
Fire District Merger Study Gets Underway
On January 13th from
Background
On June 17th the three Fire District Boards, Bonita Springs, Estero and San Carlos Park, voted to approve a contract with System Planning Corporation, Tridata Division to evaluate the merger of the three districts. During July each of the three Fire District Boards voted to approve funding their share of the cost of this consulting contract. Each district will pay $40,162.
During August each of the Board’s approved the contract with System Planning Corporation, Tridata Division. The consultant will begin work on the study early in 2009 so that widespread public input can be obtained prior to their analysis of the issues involved in such a merger. The study is expected to be completed in about six months, or about mid-2009.
The Widening of US 41 and the Federal Economic Recovery Program
On December 19th
the Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) approved a list of
transportation projects to be forwarded by the Florida Department of
Transportation (FDOT) to the Federal government for possible inclusion in
the infrastructure component of the Economic Recovery program proposed by
the Obama transition committee. The ECCL urged the MPO to add the
widening
of US 41 between
South Lee County Hospital
Members of the Needs
Assessment Sub-committee of the
South Lee County Hospital Committee met on
December 4 and December 11 at
The Committee Co-chairs and the Needs Assessment Sub-committee will be
meeting with members of the "Executive Staff" of Lee Memorial Health
System in late January to discuss the Committee’s concerns and to gain
knowledge of what Lee Memorial‘s present plans are as it relates to the
healthcare needs of South Lee County. In February the same group plans
to have a similar meeting with
Arts Estero 2009 Update
A core group of Estero leaders of non-profit and civic organizations are in the process of setting the agenda of the day's events. Appointed by the ECCL, Bev MacNellis will be the chairperson of this celebration. "Pulling in several community organizations to take the lead in organizing this event is in progress at this time. The committee will be contacting cultural organizations, artists in all media and performers in music, song, dance and theater to consider being a part of this celebration of the arts," said Ms. MacNellis.
"We are also looking for an outstanding creative young writer. We hope to receive entries from children in the 6th to 12th grade to participate in "Florida Stories" sponsored by the Gulfshore Playhouse".
Participation will include on-stage or walk-about performances by local talent, an exhibit table to showcase an organization's offerings, or marketing goods and services to the arts community to raise money for their not-for-profit organization. The park's outside amphitheater-style stage provides attendees with a true lawn setting experience.
Vendors of
arts and crafts may sell their wares for a nominal donation of only $35.
Applications are available on line at
http://esterofl.org/new/arts-estero-2009.htm . We are looking for
artists and crafters at this time. A GREAT opportunity to sell to the
thousands we are expecting.
Anyone interested in participating should contact Bev MacNellis at 498-0678
or by email at
Beverlyann@comcast.net.
ECCL to Testify at the Legislative Delegation Hearing For the 2009 Legislative Session
On December 12th the members of the Estero Council of Community Leaders (ECCL) voted unanimously to authorize the leaders of ECCL to present the following testimony at the January 22nd Public Hearing of the Southwest Florida Legislative Delegation in Fort Myers. Such a pubic hearing is conducted each year in order to provide an opportunity for all local organizations and citizens to present their needs and concerns to the region’s Representatives and Senators.
The ECCL presentation is as follows:
“Oppose Local Government Pre-emption
“Mining Permitting and Regulation: We urge you
to discourage and oppose efforts by the mining industry to reduce the
authority of local governments to permit and regulate mining within their
jurisdictions. For the last 25
years the Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource (DR/GR) area within
Local Fertilizer Ordinances: We urge you to
reject any legislation that would preempt the authority of local governments
to adopt strong fertilizer ordinances in order to protect the quality of the
water supply within their boundaries.
Any statewide standards adopted by the
In principle the larger cities and counties of
The
current economic slowdown offers you a unique opportunity to support and
expand
As you know
Support Comprehensive Planning and Growth Management
During periods of economic distress like the present,
persistent efforts to water down
The undersigned organizations oppose any Legislative changes that would weaken the authority of the DCA to act as the oversight agency for local growth management planning. Good growth management policy and planning requires a system of checks and balances through a tiered approach of local, regional and state oversight. DCA fulfills the important role of ensuring that amendments to comprehensive plans are internally consistent and appropriate through their review and with their authority to determine compliance. We will support Legislation that reinforces such oversight authority for safeguarding our planning process.
Funding for the
Finally, we want to underscore the prime importance of
advocating funding for the
During the last three years four new fire stations have
been constructed in Estero, two on US 41 and two on County roads. At present
none of them have emergency traffic signals. As a result the response time
of fire equipment responding to calls from all of these stations is delayed
trying to enter the major roadways adjacent to the stations. Since 80% of
the fire district’s calls are medical emergencies, this situation poses a
major threat to the health and life of many of our citizens. No doubt all of
At present emergency traffic signals at Police and Fire
stations and Schools must be financed by those institutions, mostly from
property tax revenues. We urge the Southwest Florida Legislative Delegation
to take the lead in sponsoring legislation requiring that these signals be
installed and financed as part of the contract for construction or widening
of the roadway on which these facilities are located. Thus FDOT, County and
Municipal governments throughout
Estero’s Housing Permits Continue Slow Pace
During November one housing unit, a single family home, with a value of $431,680 was permitted in Estero. The first eleven months of 2008 continue the downward trend in new housing construction in Estero that began nearly three years ago, in the spring of 2006.
Until now housing unites permitted during 2007 were by far the lowest in the 9 years that the County’s system has tracked Estero’s permits. It would appear that 2008 will reach only about one-third of that prior minimum performance. The County permitting information used in this report may be found at http://www.lee-county.com/dcd/Reports/EsteroReports.htm
The following table shows how the first eleven months of 2008 compare with the prior eight years:
|
Month |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
|
Jan |
77 |
146 |
83 |
109 |
153 |
176 |
75 |
59 |
9 |
|
Feb |
252 |
143 |
108 |
267 |
95 |
315 |
90 |
80 |
28 |
|
Mar |
177 |
295 |
101 |
156 |
123 |
392 |
404 |
79 |
3 |
|
Apr |
227 |
159 |
161 |
162 |
135 |
178 |
79 |
40 |
7 |
|
May |
125 |
292 |
146 |
178 |
125 |
214 |
54 |
28 |
9 |
|
June |
116 |
155 |
191 |
98 |
165 |
190 |
139 |
90 |
18 |
|
July |
148 |
209 |
115 |
63 |
253 |
180 |
128 |
8 |
33 |
|
Aug |
202 |
221 |
90 |
97 |
106 |
279 |
117 |
21 |
9 |
|
Sept |
386 |
128 |
129 |
125 |
98 |
349 |
105 |
2 |
4 |
|
October |
151 |
115 |
231 |
49 |
140 |
288 |
44 |
9 |
23 |
|
November |
95 |
207 |
63 |
61 |
92 |
138 |
33 |
12 |
1 |
|
December |
132 |
34 |
82 |
60 |
161 |
134 |
42 |
4 |
|
|
Annual Total |
2088 |
2104 |
1500 |
1425 |
1646 |
2833 |
1310 |
432 |
144 |
Not only are this year’s
total housing units far below all prior years, they equal only 10% of the
comparable number in 2002, the season immediately following the tragedy of
Permitted Commercial Building Values Continue Slow Growth
Building permits of all types issued during the first eleven months of 2008 continued at a very slow pace. The value of commercial buildings permitted in Estero during the eleven months totaled $38.8 million.
|
Year |
Year to Date |
Annual Total |
|
2000 |
$75,191,144 |
$77,250,835 |
|
2001 |
36,770,251 |
44,116,526 |
|
2002 |
21,575,789 |
23,135,139 |
|
2003 |
17,809,178 |
23,234,725 |
|
2004 |
40,832,565 |
60,859,820 |
|
2005 |
71,014,931 |
111,037,977 |
|
2006 |
177,322,397 |
184,709.240 |
|
2007 |
152,471,225 |
157,614,045 |
|
2008 |
38,765,644 |
? |
As the right hand column of the above table indicates Estero’s commercial development started to expand rapidly in 2004, peaking in 2006 with a total of $184.7 million (All figures are exclusive of the underlying land). The 2000 calendar year was exceptional because it was the year that the Hyatt Coconut Point Hotel and Resort was permitted.
2007 was Estero’s second highest commercial development year, far ahead of
the third place year, 2005. Thus far 2008 is Estero’s sixth ranked
commercial development year out of nine years. While Estero’s commercial
development has slowed considerably since last year, many commercially zoned
properties along US 41 and
During the first eleven months the major projects that contributed to the year to date totals are:
$10.19 million for the Hyatt Garden Hotel at Coconut Point
$8.0 million for Extra Space Storage in Coconut Point
$7.07 million in the
Coconut Point Town Center;
$5.17 million for
Miromar Outlets
expansion
$1.7 million for Finemark National Bank at the
$1.06 million for Lee County Utilities
$950,000 for Wachovia Bank at Coconut Point
$549,510 for Chick-Fil-A in
$450,382 for 24231
$376,000 for Estero Chevrolet
$300,000 for
$245,000 in the
$241,600 in Estero Town Commons
$648,000 in the
Brooks Town Center (retail) at
$209,000 in the International Design Center
REMINDER: The building values understate the cost of each residence or commercial building because it excludes the value of the underlying land.
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