Lee Health sold 45.6 acres fronting U.S. 41 and Coconut Road in Estero for $32 million.
Coconut Road Estero Apartments LLC, which is owned by South Carolina-based developer Woodfield Development and ELV Associates, bought the land, looking to build an apartment complex and town center.
Gary Tasman and Shawn Stoneburner of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the transaction, which closed on Monday.
The Estero land at 23281 Lyden Drive, which sold for more than $700,000 per acre, is just across the street from the Coconut Point shopping center.
“It’s a big number for sure,” Tasman said. “It does have entitlements. But it also has a significant amount of infrastructure in place. There’s utilities there. There’s sidewalks. There’s curbs. There’s fill dirt. There’s a lot of that that’s already there.”
Lee Health bought the property at the northwest corner of U.S. 41 and Coconut Road as an investment while Lee Health Coconut Point, a 163,500-square-foot outpatient facility, was under construction.
“The property was never intended for a hospital,” said Mary Briggs, a spokesperson for Lee Health. “Lee Health Coconut Point was designed with an option to build a hospital tower, but with the current facility meeting 95% of Estero’s medical needs, it was not in our short-term plans to construct a hospital there.”
Lee Health assembled the land beginning in November 2017 with purchases of $8.8 million and $732,540. It added another parcel in March 2020 for $950,000. That $10.48 million in land value grew by 205% percent to the current price.
“Over the past several years, Lee Health has been working collaboratively with a variety of stakeholders, including the Village of Estero, to develop a conceptual plan for a mixed-use development on the land,” Briggs said. “Lee Health never envisioned being the ultimate developer of the property, as that is not our core business, but rather to bring an established developer to carry the vision to fruition.”
In February, the Lee Health board of directors voted to market the property.
Woodfield was happy to buy it, said Ross Abramson, who oversees multifamily development.
“We are strong believers in the Estero area,” Abramson said. “There has been great job growth, population growth and rising property values. We see a tremendous opportunity in the U.S. 41 corridor. Our location in the heart of the Village of Estero is positioned well to take advantage of the continued growth in the region.”
Because it’s Estero, Mediterranean-style architecture will be required.
“Living in the Coral Gables area in South Florida for the last 20 years, I have a great appreciation for Mediterranean-style architecture,” Abramson said. “We have engaged Dover, Kohl & Partners Town Planning. They are extremely experienced with this style of architecture and even wrote the code for the Mediterranean Village in Coral Gables. Their design provides for street-facing buildings, screened-structured parking and high-quality public spaces to create a walkable and diverse environment.”
The land will have to be rezoned for mixed-use planned development for Woodland to create a “town center destination.”
Woodland hopes to break ground within two years, Abramson said. It will be a luxury, market-rate apartment complex with surrounding retail and restaurants. The number of units and other details have yet to be determined.
“We are interviewing potential retail tenants to create an exciting and fun-filled shopping, dining and entertainment experience, targeted directly at Estero’s growing population,” Abramson said.
