Lee Commission says OK to huge development near FGCU, Miromar Lakes

Bill Smith
The News-Press
CenterPlace concept.

The Lee County Commission has approved a large housing and commercial community near Florida Gulf Coast University and Gulf Coast Town Center.

CenterPlace will include 1,950 units, some in multifamily buildings, with plans to rent or sell some of the units to FGCU students or their families. It will also include multislip boat docks for properties on Center Lake, which is also accessible to residents of Miromar Lakes and to students at FGCU.

Commissioners unanimously approved the development Wednesday, with Commissioner Frank Mann absent.

The property is located east of Ben Hill Griffin Parkway and south of Alico Road.

Rendering of CenterPlace

More:CenterPlace, other projects, threaten FCGU rental income

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Covering 886 acres, including a large lake, the property could also become the site of a 250-room hotel and more than 170 acres for parkland and open space. The developer will reserve 40 acres for use by FGCU.

FGCU helped make Ben Hill Griffin Parkway a destination

Single-family homes will include a boat dock with up to two slips. A boating management plan will be required to protect boaters on Center Lake and to preserve the water quality and shoreline. 

Approval also means the property owner can build 200,000 square feet of commercial development and 110,000 square feet of office space.

PDF: Final illustrative plan for CenterPlace

Until about five years ago, the property was the site of a rock mining operation.

Alico West LLC, the developer, has had to wage multiple court battles over the project. The developer of the neighboring Miromar Lakes LLC and Miromar Development lost a suit in Lee Circuit Court over the project and appealed.

Two property owners in the neighboring Miromar Lakes community challenged the project, claiming it doesn't comply with the county's land use plan.

In June, a  Second District Court of Appeal panel unanimously upheld a ruling by Judge Elizabeth Krier rejecting the complaint. County attorneys say the reasoning in the case is a "valuable precedent"  for future challenges to county land use decisions.

Sarasota Attorney Robert Lincoln, who represented the neighbors, would not comment on the ruling.

Only two members of the public spoke at the Lee hearing examiner proceedings on the project, and neither spoke at Wednesday's commission hearing.