Watch as John Bashaw the president of the Northwest Cape Coral Neighborhood Association, INC., gives an introduction to the organization and explains our mission within the community.
New NWNA Presidents Message to Members
NWNA Members,
Greetings and Happy New Year!
The first 2023 NWNA board of directors meeting was held on January 3rd. The newly elected officers joined the existing treasurer and committee chairpersons to conduct business as usual, assist with the transition and establish contact communications.
Reporting on focus projects and new development applications in our community will keep our volunteer group very busy. Content published by the NWNA is the number one trusted source of information pertaining to development in and around Northwest Cape Coral, according to Google and local news networks. We could certainly use more volunteer assistance from a writer or journalist to help regularly publish content and information to our members. Please contact me directly at president@nwcape.com if you would like to assist.
The push forward to transform Seven Islands into a “Gulf Gateway” is underway. This project weighs heavily on the collective minds of our community. Specific updates on this anchor project will be communicated through our website www.nwcape.com, our APP – NWNA Member App, or Facebook at NWNA Nonprofit Organization.
Toward this end, the NWNA is currently working to secure a venue for a general membership meeting in late February or early March 2023. The announcement of the date and time will be forthcoming. Please join us to meet newly elected officers and to listen and contribute to ongoing projects and neighborhood initiatives. Our membership is over 1850 strong and continues to grow, a new meeting facility will be needed to accommodate our members.
One of the ways we are expanding our reach is by attending neighboring civic organizations' meetings. The Pine Island, Matlacha, St. James, and Mullet Runners Greater Pine Island Alliance Civic Associations meet weekly. During a recent meeting, we obtained concept renderings of the Matlacha waterfront district which we will share at the UPCOMING general membership meeting. Renderings give us all hope of what could be. While most of our membership in Northwest Cape Coral sustained significant wind damage, residents of Pine Island, St. James City, and Matlacha were impacted by catastrophic flooding.
In a meeting with the Lee County commissioner and FEMA, we learned about the ongoing critical need to place impacted residents in temporary housing and travel trailers. Companies, charitable organizations, churches, and volunteers are donating time, labor, and building materials. Additionally, Ian has gained national attention, and deployments of carpenters and volunteers on a long-term basis are coming to help rebuild replacement homes. These volunteers need temporary housing. We have an army of neighbors boarding this area, wouldn’t it be wonderful to help?
These neighborhood communities are coming together to plan and rebuild waterfront dining, retail shops, art galleries, and recreational water activities that we ALL lost. NWNA members were a huge part of driving the economy in this area. We embraced it. It was part of us. Please visit www.nwcape.com and click on the Calendar of Upcoming Events for dates and times of fundraising and volunteering events in our neighboring communities.
I look forward to meeting you and learning more about your passion for the community, so we can advocate with a collective voice.
Kind regards,
Jerry Smith, President NWNA
“Coral Grove at the Cape” Promises to Be Special
Here We Grow Again!
We’ve been following the Cape Coral Town Center project for well over a year as we’ve heard this could be a game-changer for not only the NW Cape but the city as well. Developers have worked through the planning process and have just now submitted permit requests for site development and commercial construction under the name “Coral Grove at the Cape”.
The 131-acre site is located along the north side of SW Pine Island Rd. from the electrical power station, east to Bubbas, and then up and behind the German American Club. A public relations and branding campaign is providing a hint of what’s to come. Developers want to establish an active and exciting community center in Cape Coral with housing, retail, restaurants, hotel, and entertainment. They believe SW Florida’s Mediterranean Revival style of architecture is a timeless tropical style, uniquely suited for the laid-back Florida lifestyle, as well as the coastal landscape. You’ll see a modern approach to the area’s vintage style keeping it contemporary and comfortable. They call it - Cape Nouveau.
The developer, L&L Development Group, part of L&L Holding Co. of NY City, has a record of success in building and renovating structures from Broadway to 5th Ave. to Times Square. Its two leaders, Robert Lapidus and David Levinson were listed as #10 on the Commercial Observer’s Top 100 in Commercial Real Estate for 2022. Their first South Florida venture is the mixed-use Wynwood Plaza in Miami. It appears Cape Coral will be home to their second venture.
They’ve hired the firm Authentic, which connects brand, design and technology to real estate development. They’ve successfully been attracting businesses to the project
There are several phases with infrastructure and a 300 unit Multi-Family development as Phase I. Permit valuations show this first phase comes in at about $70 million. To give you an idea of what this phase could look like, the construction contractor is Brooks and Freund, who built some of the most familiar projects in our area. This includes The Palms of Cape Coral, Midtown Apts., Aspire Apts., Savonna Apts. and Madison Square along Cape Coral Pkwy.
For more information or email updates go to these two websites: coralgrove.com and authenticff.com.
Development Review Committee Update – 2022
Here We Grow - December 2022
Hurricane Ian was devastating to Cape Coral so you would think that it would put a damper on development projects in our area. But it appears that what attracted many of us to Cape Coral is maintaining that attraction for developers. In other words, they know a good thing when they see it.
For instance, Wisconsin based developer Continental Properties has broken ground on the Springs at Coral Shores apartment complex per a Dec. 2nd article in Gulf Shore Life Business.
The complex of just over 300 apartments will replace the open storage facility that sat to the east of McDonalds and will stretch over to the west side of the rehabilitation facility on the north side of Pine Island Rd. There are plans for two restaurants at the front of the project with tenants to be named later. Pre-leasing will begin in summer 2023 and the first residents are expected in the fall of 2023.
Another project that broke ground is a 444-unit apartment complex on the east side of Chiquita between Embers Pkwy. and Pine Island Rd., just visible behind a row of houses. As we reported several months ago, the Latigo Group bought out the Noble Vines planned development and moved quickly to get this project going. Latigo Group is a high-end builder out of Los Angeles and had been busy in Florida over the last few years. This complex will be known as The Hadley and is expected to be completed in 2024.
One other sign that developers aren’t skittish about building in the NW Cape after the hurricane is Sovereign Properties is moving forward on permitting for their 380-unit apartment complex known as “The Atlantica at Cape Coral” which will sit east of the rehab facility and Springs at Coral Shores. The project is valued at $80,000,000. It too will feature commercial entities along Pine Island Rd.
There’s also a proposed plan on the table for a mix of multi-family and single family homes on the north side of NW 40th Lane, west of Old Burnt Store Rd. in the far north of our area. Called for now, the “Old Burnt Store Rental Community”, the plan by AJW Development out of Dallas, calls for 300 units of garden-style multi-family and 210 units of single family homes. Keep in mind this is only in the discussion stage, but it was submitted well after the hurricane so, again, it shows the continued interest in Cape Coral not only from in-state developers but those from across the nation.
Environment Committee Update – Dec 2022
Leaders Against Litter Program
Concept for a program to plan, schedule, and conduct twice yearly (as a minimum) city-wide neighborhood cleanups (like the NWNA trash bash) has been accepted by City Council.
The program is on the back burner until hurricane recovery issues are completed. Each district council person will identify and appoint a district captain and together with the Keep Lee County Beautiful (KLCB) organization , city code enforcement, and public works crews will conduct the cleanups according to the program requirements.
Anticipated kickoff for this program is end of 1Q 2023.
Median Beautification
1. Minor damage to the Demonstration Median on Ceitus Parkway occurred as a result of hurricane Ian. NWNA members have conducted a cleanup here and the city has been in touch to identify the issues including plants that need re-staking or removal and replacement of the Experience Real Estate donor sign. It appears that all Royal Palms will recover. City maintenance will be addressed at the appropriate time, likely in 1Q 2023.
2. Discussions on improvements to the median in front of Joe Stonis Park (currently planted with 12 Adonidia Palms) were conducted with the City and Danny Yates Landscaping in September. Several questions were posed to the city on curbing, irrigation, plants selection, etc. that will affect what can be accomplished with limited resources. Still waiting for responses to the questions posed but this project is on the back burner and unlikely to be activated before 2Q 2023
3. Median beautification projects in SWCC on Sands, Agualinda, and Savona Parkway are approved and funded but on hold pending completion of hurricane recovery efforts by the city. These projects are anticipated to get underway in 1Q 2023.
4. A $6500 median beautification grant was received from LCEC for projects in SWCC. Grants requests from Cape Coral Community Foundation and Smith Family Horticultural Trust were unsuccessful. Additional fund raising activities are being planned.
UEP Progress by the City of Cape Coral – 2022
This past year saw the City of Cape Coral make considerable progress of the Utility Expansion Program (UEP). Unfortunately, Hurricane Ian has slowed progress and the UEP has taken a backseat to repairing other critical infrastructure needs within the City. Rest assured; the project will move forward.
Work completed in 2022 included the following:
- Completion of construction and most punch-list items related to construction of utilities in North 2.
- Completion of much of the design of utilities in North 1 and bidding of several of the construction contracts.
- Completion of the overall City-wide UEP Master Plan.
A map detailing the utility areas is as follows:
Each of the above completed tasks is discussed briefly below.
Completion of North 2
While there are still some minor items to be repaired, installation of utilities in North 2 was essentially completed in 2022. Water, sewer and reclaimed water lines were brought to all residential and commercial properties within North 2. Roads have been reconstructed, landscaping repaired, and currently there has been a good response from homeowners required to hook up to the new utilities. For practical purposes, we are calling North 2 complete.
Completion of Design of Area 1
The City used much of what was learned in design and construction of North 2 and incorporated much of that into the design of North 1. North 1 will be broken into 12 different construction contracts, all of which will be considerably smaller than those of North 2. To date several construction contracts in North 1 have already been bid and the remaining ones will be shortly after the new year. Construction in North 1 can be expected to be in full force in 2023. Please keep in mind that North 1 is completely in the NE section of Cape Coral.
UEP Master Plan
The UEP Master Plan is necessary to prioritize future areas for utility expansion, to identify existing infrastructure needs necessary to accommodate future expansion, to establish realistic schedules, and to establish preliminary cost estimate. Please note that dates presented below are from the UEP Master Plan and will likely be adjusted due to Hurricane Ian impacts.
The following is brief summary of the findings and recommended improvements within future service areas.
- North 3 will be the next area to receive utilities after North 1. This area is west of Burnt Store Road, north of the recently completed North 2 area, and extends north to Kismet Parkway. North 3 is expected to be complete by 2025.
- Also expected to be complete by 2025 is expansion of utilities north on Burnt Store Road to the city line. This allows the planned Hudson Creek development to move forward and will spur commercial development along Burn Store Road. Much of this expansion may be funded by the Hudson Creek project. Finally, by 2025 a new 22,000 linear foot sewer main on Veteran’s Parkway will be constructed which is necessary for future sewer expansion.
- By 2027, the existing North reverse osmosis water plant on Kismet Parkway needs to be expanded from 6 to 18 million gallons per day.
- By 2030, the city intends to construct utilities in the North 4 and North 5 areas. Also, a new water storage tank will be constructed in the northeast section of the city.
- By 2035, the city intends to construct utilities in North 6 and North 7 areas. The city also intends to build a new water reclamation facility (wastewater treatment plant) in the northwest. The site is adjacent to the existing reverse osmosis water plant on Kismet Parkway near Chiquita Boulevard.
- By 2040, the city intends to construct utilities in North 8 and North 9 areas.
- North 10 through North 12 areas are planned for 2045.
The City is progressing well on the UEP, although recent weather impacts have certainly impacted the planned schedule. If you have comments or questions on work completed or on planned work, please contact me at publicworks@NWNA.com.
Don Freeman, P.E.
NWNA Public Works Committee
Seven Islands Changes – Breeze Editorial
NWNA Members,
Please see the recent Cape Coral Breeze Editorial on the Seven Islands Project. I will update you as this situation unfolds, but I find this change in plans disheartening, and all of the points made by the Breeze to be spot on.
Make your voices heard.
Send an email to citycouncil@capecoral.gov.
