Key Bimini Basin area pieces in the transformation of the south Cape Coral region and the downtown core area that leaders have been desiring since last century are emerging and coming together.
Ric Rolon, the drone pilot for The News-Press and Naples Daily News, documented the progress on June 6 with the video at the top of this page and the photo gallery below.
Here’s what to know about the projects.
What are first steps in opening of Bimini Square in Cape Coral?
Decades in the making, the first of the apartments in $125 million Bimini Square are slated to be completed in the summer, with residents moving in the autumn, with commercial pieces also evolving.
The “project is still under construction,” City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn said June 5. “We’d like to have it sealed by January.”
What’s Bimini Square featuring diners, housing in Cape Coral?
Part of an urban village concept, the mixed-use multi-family development has been rising at 440 Cape Coral Parkway, about a mile west of the Caloosahatchee River. The six-acre site falls within the western side of what is known as the parkway corridor’s Bimini Basin District that runs east to Coronado Parkway.
The Crown Development concept has included about 200 apartments, 47,000 square feet for Lee Health medical space, the waterfront Deep Lagoon restaurant, the Omelet House diner, about 25 boat slips and a 625-stall parking garage including 125 for the public.
What’s happening east of Bimini Square in SWFL’s Cape Coral?
To address blight and foster economic growth through new housing, commercial spaces and public amenities, the city spent more than $43 million for close to 50 structures on nearly 19 acres that had not recovered much since Hurricane Ian’s 2022 devastation, according to officials.
Known as the Bimini East area, crews have been finishing the demolition and clearing of structures on the property, according to Community Redevelopment Agency Project Manager Zachary Gogel.
What will become of Bimini East in SW Florida’s Cape Coral?
The goal has been to begin the initial Request for Proposal stage this month, inviting developers to come forward with what they might like to do at the site as part of purchasing it. The plan would be for the city to review those proposals in late July or early August and then negotiate contracts staff members hope would be complete by the end of the year.
“Bimini East hasn’t even started construction, (and) it likely won’t be” ready until at least 2030, Ilczyszyn said of a region that would allow up to 12 stories and 125 units per acre. “The idea for the downtown core area is an urban, walkable environment, (We) really have to do a different mixed use type of project, (and) would be looking for commercial, retail, housing, structured parking.”
What’s emerging nearby with Cove at 47th & food truck park?
About 1,200 feet northeast of Bimini East, residents began moving into apartments this year at the $103 million Cove at 47th, which features nearly 300 units, 18,000 or so square feet of retail and a 525-space garage, with 125 spots reserved for public use. There’s construction of a 1,359-square-foot Big Nicks BBQ while an 8,240-square-foot Oak & Stone restaurant is in the permitting process there, according to the city’s second quarter development reports.
And Slipaway Food Truck Park & Marina announced that it plans to open later this month with 10 food trucks at the foot of the Cape Coral Bridge although on June 9 it said it didn’t have a specific date yet.
Columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@gannett.com), who has led Pulitzer Prize-winning efforts, writes In the Know for the USA TODAY Network. “Free speech, exercised both individually and through a free press, is a necessity in any country where people are themselves free.” ― President Theodore Roosevelt. Support democracy. Subscribe to a newspaper.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: With a view from the sky, what’s latest on Bimini Basin area development in Cape Coral?
Reporting by Phil Fernandez and Ricardo Rolón, Fort Myers News-Press / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
