Estero on the River Zoning-Endorsed

Village-style project planned on 85 acres

By Chelsea J. Samuel
March 31, 2007

When the Koreshans settled in Estero, they built their community’s center around the Estero River.

Now, a project bringing more homes, businesses and art has cleared its first hurdle. The Department of Community Development recommended rezoning the northeast corner of U.S. 41 and Corkscrew Road for an 85-acre mixed-use development called Estero on the River.

The project, developed by J.E.D. of Southwest Florida, will bring 530 residences, 300,000 square feet of commercial space and a 550-seat regional theater to the area.

“It’s pretty much what we expected,” said Betsy D’Jamoos, president of the D’Jamoos Group. J.E.D. of Southwest Florida is a part of the D’Jamoos Group.

The non-gated community will use on-street parking and sidewalks to create a pedestrian-friendly, villagestyle community. Four-story buildings will have stores and other businesses on the first floor and residences above.

The project will also bring regional theater, The Gulfshore Playhouse, to the area, filling an artistic gap between community theaters and larger venues like the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers that house touring companies.

As a regional theater, The Gulfshore Playhouse will join a network which includes 77 other theaters right now.

The Gulfshore Playhouse will have a 550-seat auditorium, a 150-seat theater and an education wing.

The county also recommended approving 181 more units than allowed. To receive the extra units, developers must designate those units as affordable housing units or make a contribution to the county’s affordable housing fund. Right now the contribution rate is $11,400 per extra unit.

The D’Jamoos Group has pledged it will make a donation for each unit and designate 10 percent of residential units as moderate-income housing on its first sale.

Construction, however, is not likely to begin soon.

Although county staff recommended the project, no building permits will be issued until work widening U.S. 41 from Corkscrew Road to San Carlos Boulevard has begun.

According to a traffic impact statement from Lee’s Department of Transportation, the development will bring 10,475 new trips to local roads, 1,025 of them during afternoon rush hour.

D’Jamoos said they understand work on U.S. 41 could begin in 2010 or 2011 and said they have a lot of work to do in the interim.

The D’Jamoos Group entered into a contract to purchase the land from the College of Life Foundation, with the provision that the sale wouldn’t close until rezoning was approved. But D’Jamoos said confidence in the project made them move the official purchase up.

They plan to close on the property within the next few days.

“This is a project whose time has come,” she said.