Trends, tips & forecasting — this year’s Cape Coral Catch the Vision fulfilled its promised look forward and more.

Cape Coral is set to see projects that will provide the type of business and economic growth that would have seemed to be more dream than vision as little as a decade or so ago.

Master planned, mixed-use projects that provide housing accessible to shopping and dining; both luxury and affordable multi-family complexes; additional health care infrastructure including office space, expansions and new facilities; new hotels and, yes, more retail and restaurants.

Those who wish to “keep it in the Cape” will have a greater ability to do that, thanks to the billions of dollars — yes, billions of dollars — of private investment coming into our city.

The 13th annual rendition of Catch the Vision, emceed by traditional hosts, former Cape Coral City Council member Gloria Tate and Bill Johnson, long a leader within the building and construction industry, offered updates on all the major — and some of the smaller but nonetheless impactful — development projects in the queue.

Among the big ones?

Gulf Gateway Resort and Marina Village, a mixed-use project planned for the 48-acre Seven Islands property in the northwest Cape.

According to information provided at Catch the Vision by Peter Baytarian, the “destination resort” project will feature a 240-room hotel, a lagoon pool, restaurants, retail, condos and 72 “fish houses,” along with public docks, a community center on the project’s public island and multiple amenities for families and residents.

The resort and all of the islands will be open to the public, Mr. Baytarian said.

Conceptual plans, with “draft status” dated Jan. 23, 2024, show a marked change from earlier renditions for the site sold by the city which had gone out for requests for proposal based on a Cape Coral City Council adopted concept.

The revised plans reinstate the community center, deleted in an earlier rendition, on “Island 7,” one of the seven “hammerheads” connected to the roadway off Old Burnt Store Road in the northwest Cape. Island 7 is directly across from the city’s Tropicana Park, separated by a small inlet, the St. Michel’s Canal, to the North Spreader Waterway.

A public marina is also among the planned amenities.

The hotel, including the large resort-style lagoon, is planned for Island 6.

According to the city’s Economic & Business Development Office’s first quarterly report for ’24, which was issued Feb. 2, architects are under contract for all of the planned island structures. Applications to the Army Corp of Engineers were submitted in January with an anticipated review window of 18-24 months.

It’s an exciting project and the re-submitted concept plans address earlier concerns about the community center and marina.

We look forward to additional details.

Also among the larger-scale projects is Victory Park, a 138-acre master development adjacent to the VA Health Care Center, Hope Hospice and the Army Reserve Center that will include medical, office, specialty education and industrial space; two housing complexes and a hotel with “top amenities.”

The city has been awarded $4 million from the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund to increase access and infrastructure to the project which is planned to include supply and distribution; equipment rental; logistics center; veteran senior housing; multi-family of 402 units and 112 units; office tech; cyber security cluster; Al & robotics school; culinary arts school; nursing school; medical office; Mt. Carmel Veteran Center; Wyndham Garden Hotel and retail, according to information release earlier by the city.

The project is expected to generate 1,100 new jobs, 42% of which are projected to have a median wage of more than $80,000, which is more than 50% greater than the Lee County average wage.

Also among the major projects presented as part of Catch the Vision Monday night were the Gilbaine Development Company’s Project Pine Island Road West, which calls for a 120-room hotel, restaurant, 10,000 square feet of commercial space and 600 housing units; The Cove at 47th, a $103 million plan to construct 327 luxury apartments, 19,000 square feet of ground-floor retail or office space, and a 585-space parking garage; Bimini Square near Four Freedom’s Park offering 218 luxury apartments with multiple amenities, restaurants and health services in partnership with Lee Health; and Cape Coral Groves, a $920 million project to include 70 buildings; 350,000 square feet of commercial retail and dining space, 125,000 square feet of office space, a 125-room hotel, and 1,500 multifamily units.

Why is the city attracting these types of projects and developments?

Growth and economic climate.

Cape Coral continues as one of the fastest-growing communities not only in the state, but in the country.

The city’s key economic indicators are good.

Very good.

According to that first quarter report by the city’s Economic & Business Development Office, vacancy rates for available retail, office and industrial space are low as are unemployment rates while developed — and new leaseable space — is booming.

The takeaway from Catch the Vision: The city’s vision is focused on the future.

For more details on what’s coming, we invite you to read more in our Catch the Vision story in today’s Breeze on page 19 or online at capecoralbreeze.com.

Breeze editorial