Although negotiations between city of Fort Myers and Miami-based developer Tre Bel Housing for the purchase of the city-owned former site of The News-Press started in September, the sides haven’t been able to agree on a purchase price for the land. 

City Manager Marty Lawing provided an update to City Council on March 4 on the progress of negotiations. 

Tre Bel’s proposal for the site at the southwest corner of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Fowler Street consists of a mixed-use project with multifamily development, including designated units for attainable housing. 

Lawing said neither party has been willing to budge on the land’s calculated appraised value.  

“The highest value that was generated by the appraisal contracted by Tre Bel Housing was about $11.5 million,” Lawing said. “The appraisal contracted for the city was about $15 million.” 

Notably, the highest value generated for Tre Bel was calculated by excluding the affordable units and only considering market-rate units for the project.  

Each appraisal considered the omission of 2.47 acres for the city’s police department headquarters, as agreed upon when the city ranked the developer founded by former NFL linebacker Jonathan Vilma as first in line for negotiations in August 2023. 

On Feb. 8, Lawing said the city and Tre Bel discussed if there was any way they could add more units, increase density or make any other changes to the development to justify paying the market value that the city’s appraisal indicated. 

Ultimately, Tre Bel said the most it could pay for the property was $19,000 per unit, equaling about $11.4 million for the property. 

“I’m sure they’ve got their reasons they want to stick at this level, and we need to get as much as we can for the site,” Lawing said. “As we’ve said before, this is a catalyst site, one of the two catalyst sites the city controls. We hope to see a development there that will spur additional development.” 

Lawing also said Tre Bel does not plan on including a grocery store as part of the development at this point, which some council members cited as a reason for not accepting the current purchase price offered by Tre Bel. 

“I have concerns not with the housing, but the amenities that support the people who live there,” Council member Liston Bochette said. 

Council member Teresa Watkins Brown made a motion to accept Tre Bel’s appraisal value so the project can move forward, however the motion failed in a 4-3 vote. The nay voters were Bochette, Darla Bonk, Fred Burson and Mayor Kevin Anderson.  

One of the main reasons some council members and community members advocated for Tre Bel was the affordable housing component of the proposed development. Developer BluMark Capital proposed building luxury high-rises on the property. 

With the failed motion, Brown expressed disappointment. “It’s a shame that we bring forth these developers that want to do good for our community, especially adjacent to the Dunbar community, and we’re always voting these projects down,” she said. “For us to sit here and talk about, all of a sudden, it’s important for my community to have a grocery store, you should have been able to do this prior to now.” 

Council member Terolyn Watson echoed Brown’s sentiments. “Dunbar’s been treated wrong for decades,” Watson said. “Now, we have a developer that’s going to come in and suit the entire city. He’s building for the entire city, different income levels, and we still can’t come to agreement. We’re worried about a grocery store, they can use the grocery store off McGregor. We’ve been using that for years anyway.” 

The discussion ended with Lawing seeking more direction from Council as to its flexibility on price and deviating from the city’s appraised value. No direction was given before adjournment. 

At this point, negotiations between the city and Tre Bel are ongoing, with council member Johnny Streets leaving the city manager with a final comment. 

“Just continue to see what we can do and what we can come up with rather than just walking off,” he said.