In the Know: Cape Coral slated to land Victory Park hotel, office, warehouse space project
In the Know: Cape Coral slated to land Victory Park hotel, office, warehouse space project
Plans are in the works for Cape Coral to get a massive, 140-acre commercial development project called Victory
Park.
Blue Waters Development Group LLC announced the plans last week to anchor the project with a 125-room
Wyndham Garden hotel, commercial space and 110,000 square feet of warehouse and medical office space at
2313 NE 24th Ave.
“The VA medical center is bringing over 350,000 patients per year on a regular basis,” said Danny Aguirre,
manager of Blue Waters Development, which was established in Cape Coral about two years ago. Aguirre said
he previously developed projects on the east coast of Florida. This will be the group’s first project in Cape Coral.
“The army reserve base is doing reserve troop training on a monthly basis on the weekends,” Aguirre said of
another draw to the hotel. “That is a driver that we felt competent in being able to service them by putting a
quality hotel product there.”
Aguirre said he wasn’t sure on a timetable for breaking ground. He remained hopeful to do so by mid-summer
if not sooner.
“With COVID going on, it just set the permitting process in a tailspin,” Aguirre said. “We really don’t know. With
some of the workers working remotely, it’s going to be what it needs to be. I wish I could set a timeline to it. If
we can get it taken care of by the second quarter or third quarter, we’d like to move forward in that direction.”
The hotel would be the first phase of what could become a major development, as the land stretches north to
where Kismet Parkway becomes Littleton Road at NE 24th Avenue. The property continues east to Corbett Road.
The northernmost lot sold for $2.3 million in July 2019, purchased by Alex Diaz Trust according to Lee County
property records.
The same trust went on to purchase the southern two parcels for $5 million and $3.6 million in September
2019, records show.
The northern lot serves as home to burrowing owls, with five burrows marked by the city as to not be disturbed.
“We love our owls,” Aguirre said. “We’re not disturbing them any time soon. We’re not touching them. That’s
going to stay the way it is.”
The site plan is being reviewed by the city, and an environmental survey is part of the requirement.
Real estate broker Steve Komondorea of Real America Realty is handling pre-leasing for the office and
warehouse space.
The new development will feed off the V.A. clinic and form a synergy with it, he said.
“It has the second-highest volume of veteran appointments in the state of Florida,” Komondorea said. “We have
had conversations with the people who are directing the V.A. Clinic. We wanted to be a compliment to them. So
veterans who come with family members, they will have a place to put up their heels. That was one of the main
inspirations to do this at that location.”
Blue Waters is marketing the development in preparing for groundbreaking.
“We want medical professionals to know that we have this medical facility coming up,” said Komondorea, who
hopes medical professionals will recognize that area could fulfill a need.
“There’s some things the VA does, and there’s some things the VA doesn’t,” he said. “We’d like to be able to
generate interest to compliment what they do. We’ll be working real hard to develop a quality product.”
Gates Construction will manage the hotel project, which will begin the first of several phases of construction.
“They have met with certain people to be able to provide a top-notch facility to provide LED lighting with the
latest technology,” Komondorea said. “They’re trying to make it as affordable location for people to come.”
Hotel development still hopping
The Hampton Inn by Hilton at the corner of McGregor Boulevard and Cleveland Avenue soon will see some
intensive construction activity, with the walls slated to start going vertical by the end of February, said Nicole
Miskovic, director of public relations for Firmo Construction.
The Sarasota-based company is managing the project.
The Hampton Inn will have 118 rooms and four stories with a pool and patio area, board rooms and conference
rooms and a breakfast area and parking for guests.
The COVID-19 pandemic has not impacted the construction company in terms of landing more projects, she
said.
“Recently, we’ve seen an uptick in the amount of hospitality development,” Miskovic said. “That’s what we’re
overloaded with right now. We also have a lot going on with renovations and office development. With a lot of
companies going remote, a lot of companies are taking this time to upgrade their offices. It was something I
didn’t expect to happen. But it kind of makes sense with the future mindset of investors. We start at ground up
now. That can take up to two years of time. Hopefully by the time construction finishes, this will blow over.”
Firmo Construction also will be renovating the Hotel Indigo in downtown Fort Myers. Each of its eight stories
will be getting a new look, and the hotel will have a new brand by the end of the year: Tapestry Collection by
Hilton.