The last legacy lands of a long-time Miami investor who once owned large swaths of Fort Myers sold Friday for $9.1 million. HCA Healthcare, under the Hope 97 LLC name, purchased two adjacent parcels combining for about 12.27 acres at the southwest corner of Colonial Boulevard and Plantation Road, amounting to about $16.50 per square foot or $741,646.29 per acre.
The company also paid $15 million in November for about 40 acres between Colonial and Winkler Avenue, just east and across Colonial from the newer purchase site. It plans to build a 275,870 square-foot, four-story hospital between Colonial and Winkler by 2025.
No plans have been announced for the 12.27-acre parcels on the south side of Colonial, which were the last remaining land of about 640 acres purchased in 1952 by Frank Waldo Roth Sr. and his son, Frank Waldo Roth Jr. Roth Sr. died in 1995 at 92 while Roth Jr. died in 2006 at 78 with the land going into a trust for Roth Jr.’s surviving wife and family.
Chuck Mayhugh, a Fort Myers real estate broker and founder of Mayhugh Commercial Advisors, was born the same year the Roths bought the property and relocated to Florida after selling a Colorado ranch. He worked with the Roth family for more than 30 years selling their lands, working to get agricultural exemptions on most of the property and allowing the Roths to receive tax breaks.
“Their 640 acres ran from the Seaboard railroad tracks to the east, all the way to what is now McGregor Baptist Church and the social security office. About one square mile, all on the south side of Colonial,” Mayhugh said. Little by little, the 640 acres started selling. Some of it became a 7-Eleven gas station at Metro and Colonial. Car dealers, hotels, the church and the social security office filled in vacant slots through the years, especially since 1980, when Mayhugh got involved.
Now, the addresses of 3360 and 3300 Colonial Blvd. could be developed into something health care related. HCA Healthcare could not be reached for comment.
The Roths also had owned about 360 residential lots to the south of the property with Mayhugh spending years working with them to sell those lots while waiting for roads to be built and improved. The extension of Plantation Road north to Veronica Shoemaker Boulevard across Colonial was pivotal in boosting the value of the Roths’ final parcels, Mayhugh said.
The family granted Lee County access to some of its lands for the road extension in exchange for impact fee credits, which even further boosted the property value, Mayhugh said. Plus, these recently sold lands came with pre-approvals to develop from the South Florida Water Management District and the Army Corps of Engineers.
“It’s a bittersweet last sale,” Mayhugh said. “It was a long relationship. Thirty-five years for me. They’ve been great people to work with. We made them quite a bit more money than if they had sold the whole chunk.”
