Focus on Downtown Fort Myers

Downtown Fort Myers" has been almost an oxymoron. "Quaint and historic" was the pleasant way of putting it. "Blink-and-you-miss-it" was the practical way.

But when enough forces are in place to create a rapid transformation, sometimes all that is needed is a nudge. That nudge was provided last year and now a dramatic revolution-and that is not too strong a word-is under way in downtown Fort Myers. Within just a few years, it will look nothing like it does now.

Once a sleepy backwater, it is seeing a half-billion dollars of investment in residential development alone, almost overnight by downtown renewal standards. Downtown Fort Myers is on the verge of becoming an eye-popping part of Southwest Florida. Waterfront towers soaring up to 32 stories have already been approved.

"We had no idea we would have this many projects. It's been a little overwhelming," says Don Paight, executive director of the city's Downtown Redevelopment Agency.

Ah, the good-new days. But Paight was around for the not-so-good days, when downtown almost fell into the abyss. He recalls the times when retail left downtown, offices left downtown, and county, state and federal government offices almost left downtown, which could have been a deathblow. With development, population and service needs having bypassed the central city area, the downtown area's failure as government center would have doomed it.

The redevelopment agency put together financial packages to keep government facilities downtown. But that only stopped the city center from going comatose; it did not awaken the city from its slumber.

"We had a negative [image]. People did not look at Fort Myers. We were not on the radar screen for developers," Paight says.

Trickle-Down Waterfront

Throughout much of the 1990s, extensive development was taking place along Lee County's Gulf coast, in Naples to the south and Sarasota to the north, absorbing most of the demand for upscale residences in Southwest Florida.

"We are kind of sandwiched between Sarasota, which we look at as being a very successful community, and Naples being a very successful community, and we're finding we're just now being discovered," Paight says.

Downtown Fort Myers had potential, but it was not being realized.

Part of the problem was simple geography. Waterfront property is prime in Southwest Florida, but not all waterfront property is created equal. Naturally, the most attractive locations for development are along the Gulf; Naples has boomed along its beachfront. Second in development interest are bayfront properties, which have been key for Sarasota, as its downtown abuts Sarasota Bay. Third is riverfront. Downtown Fort Myers fronts the Caloosahatchee, and property values relative to other waterfront areas have become fairly attractive.

Property values in Naples and Sarasota have soared in the cities' cores, shifting relative desirability to Fort Myers. It is probably not a coincidence that downtown Fort Myers is taking off at about the same time that downtown Bradenton, on the Manatee River just north of Sarasota, is seeing its first major residential developments.

Historic Values

Also critically important to downtown Fort Myers are the renovations of historic buildings in the city, spearheaded a few years ago by German-born Dominik Goertz, who saw the value in the run-down buildings.

"It was like a sleeping beauty," he says.

Recognizing the potential of downtown's historic buildings, he began in 1997 with the 45,000-square-foot Patio De Leon, investing $4 million into it and showing that a mixed-used downtown could work economically. In fact, it has worked so well that he has renovated nine buildings, including the Earnhardt Building. He plans to continue and to fill in open places downtown with historic-styled buildings of brick and glass.

Aside from the ground floors, most of the space in Goertz's buildings is filled with residences, as are riverfront structures going up just a few blocks away.

"There is competition, but it is healthy competition," he says. "It's good for the consumer."

The result is a renovated stretch along First Street that is both attractive and profitable.

Restoring the historic structures first was critical; without it, the structures might have been replaced, and Goertz and others recognized their potential as downtown enticements.

Enter Duany

In addition to the historic restoration that was going on in a small but important way, the city invested massive amounts in public projects. From 1985 to 2004, more than $116 million in public money was spent on construction and renovations. This included $25 million for a state regional service center, $24 million for a federal courthouse, $12 million for Lee County constitutional offices, nearly $8 million for what is now Harborside Event Center, and $6 million for a city parking garage.

Another $80 million was spent on infrastructure such as roads, sewer lines, bridges, drainage projects, a riverwalk and beautification projects, and the city is preparing a plan for substantially more infrastructure improvements.

The groundwork was in place. The final nudge needed to push the city squarely into the sights of developers was the downtown master plan developed by famed Miami über urban planner Andrés Duany.

"Bringing Duany in, because of his reputation and his planning skills, really kind of unleashed development that we think has been pent up for a while," Paight says.

It was not just the Duany name, however. Pretty severe development restrictions were in place on prime waterfront properties due to density caps. In the city's old zoning regulations, a category known as Waterfront Development District capped residential density at 25 units to an acre. In the new Duany plan, those properties were redesignated Urban Core and density was increased to 50 units per acre. Further, bonus density allotments allow a development up to 100 units per acre. And that started making a lot of bottom lines brighter.

"That was a significant difference where prior to that, when somebody owned a piece of property, they were somewhat limited as to how many units they could put on it," Paight says. Effectively the density limits meant it would be impossible to build taller than 18 stories, and sometimes not even that. The new plan also called for setbacks, shorter "liner buildings" along sidewalks to mask the high-rises, and other requirements to make downtown pedestrian-friendly and attractive for living.

Plan in Action

City Council committed to the plan, laying the groundwork for needed public improvements to handle the influx of new residents and improve amenities. Putting its money where its vote was further solidified developer faith in downtown, says Councilman Randy Henderson.

"That instilled great confidence for outsiders."

There has been some opposition to taller buildings, however. Some folks see them as out-of-scale with the rest of downtown, particularly the historic areas where most buildings are two to three stories.

"There are a lot of people who still oppose going above 18 stories," Paight says. "There are still a lot of people in the community who feel the scale is getting too big for Fort Myers."

What is referred to as the "old business district," in the center of downtown between the two bridges, will maintain a similar scale of low- to mid-rise buildings under the new plan, nothing more than five or six stories. The high-rises will be on the east and west sides of that district.

There is a hitch. The coastal high-hazard zone, classified as such because the properties would be prone to flooding during hurricanes and tropical storms, covers the entire waterfront. The area within that zone falls under the state law saying that zoning in the coastal high-hazard zones cannot change to increase development, effectively capping the city at a total of 2,777 units along its downtown waterfront.

In an ironic twist to the city's sudden success, about 300 more units are on the table than are permissible under that coastal high-hazard cap. So either some projects will not be permitted, or others will have lower densities in order for all to move forward.

But that still leaves a problem for the remaining four or five properties with development potential. The question Paight asks is: "How do we get the state to allow us to go with higher densities?"

The Downtown Redevelopment Agency and city might pursue various options, including legislation that would allow more development if evacuation and safety could be proven, or simply improving the methods for evacuating swiftly.

Rebirth of a City

Redevelopment of downtown came down to a combination of timing catching up with geography, rehabilitation projects, and a new downtown plan that offered the Duany mystique and higher allowable densities, coupled with financial commitment for infrastructure.

What that successful mix has brought is eight luxury high-rises on the downtown riverfront, ranging from 21 stories up to 32 stories. The first, the 22-story Beau Rivage, which pre-dates the Duany plan, was scheduled for completion in October. The other approved project, High Point Place, is a set of five towers up to 32 stories on a West First Street site.

Where does downtown go from here? Onward and inward.

The expectation is that with thousands of new residents downtown-residents with significant disposable income-retailers that fled downtown 20 years ago will take another look. Paight says there has been some early interest, but none will put bricks and mortar down until most of the buildings are up and filled with wallet-stuffed condo dwellers.