Coral Gables-based Colfax Development has discovered Southwest Florida. The real estate and development company purchased two properties in southern Lee County and plans to build two small shopping plazas, with the first expected to begin in February and the second sometime in the spring. 

Alico L-7 is on the south side of Alico Road almost across from the Amazon warehouses. The second, Estero Plaza, is on Three Oaks Parkway just north of Estero Parkway. 

The plan for Alico L-7 has 19 units, each about 1,500 square feet. Colfax seeks to sell the units for $600,000 each.  

“Our idea is to provide services to the neighborhood behind,” said Tammy Roitman, one of the partners in Colfax Development.  

“You know there’s a huge neighborhood behind, and also you have the industrial neighborhood in front, so there are many services that can be there,” she said.  

She envisions a nail salon, hair salon, barbershop, a dentist office and a corner coffee shop as possible businesses. 

Joe McHarris, who is the architect on the project, said the plaza will have a modern look with elegant and clean lines.  

Estero Plaza will be smaller, with five storefronts that will be leased. Roitman said the corner unit will have a drive-thru. They are negotiating with a coffee shop, she said.  

McHarris, who also designed Estero Plaza, said the building will match the nearby storage facility, 7-Eleven and apartments. His firm, McHarris Planning & Design, was the architect for the Reef Apartments across from the plaza. 

The Colombian-born Roitman found Southwest Florida by accident. Roitman, 43, lived in Costa Rica for 20 years before moving to Miami around 2018.  

She was 26, living in Costa Rica, when she made her first development deal.  

The only way she could get a loan was having a male friend tell the bank that he was the decision maker, even though Roitman was. Roitman was able to see the project through even during the 2008 real estate meltdown. The banks never again asked who would be making the decisions. She said she went on to develop 20 strip malls in Costa Rica. 

Carmen De Jongh

She joined with real estate broker Carmen De Jongh when she moved to Miami. They bought land near Miami International Airport and built 14 warehouses and sold half of them within the first three months, Roitman said.  

They found Southwest Florida while looking for their next project. 

It was impossible to buy land in Miami, Roitman said. There was a lack of available land, and the land available was too expensive.  

They started looking north of Miami, but then a friend told her about the state’s Gulf Coast.

“We did research for more than 1 year, and we paid market analysis that gave us enough data to confirm what the west coast was growing and that this was the perfect location to build.”

Land in Naples and Bonita Springs was too expensive. Alico Road was perfect.

“I just saw there was the Amazon warehouses, I saw that Home Depot was coming in front. I saw the Wawa. I saw the neighborhood behind, and I saw that Alico Road was a very busy road. 

“And I said, ‘this land is a great price, let’s do it.’” 

The parcels for the Alico Road plaza cost about $1.57 million, according to Lee County property records.  

She doesn’t think Alico L-7 and Estero Plaza will be her last foray into Lee County. 

“I’m so shocked that I want to buy more land,” she said.