News-Press 3/8/11
by Christina Cepero
Lee County commissioners on Monday
embraced a project that sprinkles
apartments with shops, offices and a hotel
in the heart of Estero.
Brian Bigelow, Ray Judah and John Manning
voted 3-0 to rezone 34 agricultural acres
on Broadway Avenue east of U.S. 41 for
Downtown Estero, a mixed-use project that
will feature up to 310 homes, 200,000
square feet of stores and offices, and a
four-story hotel with a maximum of 125
rooms.
"This is really a quality project," Judah said.
The developer has the option to build an
assisted living or continuing care facility
with up to 200 beds.
Owner Paul Roberts transferred
development rights on another property to
be able to build 104 more homes than the
206 that would normally be allowed.
Estero resident Dan DeLisi, representing
the volunteer Estero Community Planning
Panel, wants the project.
"They moved from that initial vision of that
strip mall type development on 41,
something we didn't want to see ... to
something where they truly bought into the
Estero vision," DeLisi said.
"We need these
downtown spots to build as a community. I can ride my bike here, shop
there with my son." Click here to continue reading the article.
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