Randy Krise, the owner/broker of Krise Commercial Group, and his partner Bahram Khoobehi, have announced plans to develop 5.42 acres in midtown Fort Myers. The property is located between Central Avenue, Market Street and Fowler Street. Inspired by the Midtown Fort Myers Integrated Redevelopment Plan Vision, their project, ALDEA, is one of the first planned for Midtown and is expected to transform the landscape of the surrounding area. ALDEA will occupy an entire city block while still maintaining an intimate urban lifestyle experience with two separate residential buildings that look inward to multi-functional courtyard spaces. The development will include 300 rentable multifamily units with a mix of studios, one and two bedrooms, several of which offer additional dens. ALDEA, estimated to cost nearly $65 million, is expected to break ground in fall 2022. The team working with Krise and Khoobehi Krise includes Dean Martin with TDM Consulting; Ron Reitz, and Cathy Roche with Studio for Architecture Inc., and DeAngelis Diamond as the construction manager. The owners will be applying for tax increment financing (TIF) grants through the Fort Myers Community Redevelopment Agency. 

 

The 5,000 vaccine appointments allocated in Lee County for this week are all booked. Still, many people told WINK News they were supposed to receive a callback but still haven’t heard anything. The company in charge of the call center for Lee County vaccine appointments said, if you were already in the queue from calling Monday, you are pre-registered when the county gets more vaccines. There were appointments for 2,000 COVID-19 vaccinations scheduled Wednesday and another 2,000 scheduled Thursday in Lee County. DOH-Lee asks people don’t arrive for their appointment until 45 minutes before it’s scheduled. Snowbirds visiting their homes in Southwest Florida, who meet the criteria for the current rollout of the coronavirus vaccine, can get vaccinated. Visit WINK‘s COVID-19 vaccine schedules and information for vaccine updates.

 

Bonita Springs-based Herc Holdings Inc., a leading North American equipment rental supplier operating as Herc Rentals Inc., announced Monday that it has acquired substantially all the assets of Houston-based Champion Rentals Inc. Terms were not disclosed. Champion is a full-service general equipment rental company with about 100 employees and four locations serving contractors and industrial, manufacturing and government customers in the Houston metropolitan area. The addition of Champion expands Herc Rentals’ Houston-area presence to 12 physical locations, which collectively provide general and specialty equipment rental solutions and related services, the company reports. The transaction is Herc Rentals’ first multi-location acquisition since it became an independent, publicly-traded company in 2016. The company expects the acquisition to be accretive to its earnings in the first year. 

 

COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Collier County began Sunday. While the appointments are all already filled, there are some things residents can do to be prepared. The drive-thru site is at the Collier County Government Center in Naples. But there will be consequences for anyone who shows up without an appointment. Collier County has enacted the appointment and waitlist system, as are many others, WINK News reports. 

 

Every county in Southwest Florida now has the COVID-19 vaccine for the general public. Gov. Ron DeSantis reminds Floridians that there are limited vaccines available – not enough for everyone, for now – so, people should be patient. Collier County was the last county in Southwest Florida to get vaccines for public distribution, and it only took minutes for the health department to be all booked up at its three sites. People weren’t happy that appointments went so fast, but by making appointments, the county could avoid the long lines that plagued its neighbor to the north. Vaccinations in Collier began Sunday (Jan. 3) and will only be given to high-risk frontline health care workers and people 65 years of age and older. Three hundred people signed up but the county will continue to receive the vaccine in the following weeks and will announce further dates, WINK News reports.