New ‘rooftops’ drive commercial boom
North Fort Myers has become a go-to community for residents and businesses alike.
Gary Tasman, CEO & principal broker for Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Property Southwest Florida, said residential rooftops get developed in areas where land is available.
“North Fort Myers is that area right now. I think what you are seeing is the convergence of all the rooftops being developed is creating demand for commercial real estate activity,” Tasman said. “The Pine Island Road corridor from Del Prado to I-75 – that is what is driving that growth. That is where the land is available.”
People buy in communities with vacant land, which will develop the market, he said.
“The key is Lee County — our Board of County Commissioners will make sure that we are supplying the right infrastructure to keep up with the growth. The way that happens is through impact fees and development,” he said. “I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect to see that growth and it is going to be planned and developed in a sustainable way.”
He said you would expect that rooftops, and all the other economic activity that follows population growth, will also grow.
“Everything follows population growth — in North Fort Myers that is happening. It is going on beyond that going to Charlotte County. This region from Naples to Tampa will be completely filled in.”
In 2024, Florida grew another 2%, nearing 23.4 million residents. In Southwest Florida, since 2010, the area grew by more than 400,000 people – nearly a 37% growth rate. Lee County made up more than half of that with 251,000 new residents.
“You are seeing people move because you get a lot further with your money down here. The rent – the housing was a lot cheaper than where they were living. That is why we saw that robust migration,” said Eric Messer, Cushman Wakefield Senior Research manager. “The advantage –southwest region between Sarasota and Lee County — more developable land. You guys have developable land with technology advancements for building codes, environmental friendly codes — opportunities to take advantage of that combination to create sections, towns, and areas that people want to move to.”
The driver for Florida’s economy is tourism with nearly 132 million visitors and more than $127 billion spent in 2024.
The main activity is at Victory Park and the development around the VA hospital and Lee Health, Tasman said, adding health care, education, and multifamily apartment complex is going to drive more retail centers and grocery stores.
“North Fort Myers will ultimately have an interchange around Slater Road that will provide further access into Cape Coral,” Tasman said. “All that land available will become more desirable around that interchange.”
That interchange is expected in the next 10 to 20 years.
There is an unidentified easement through the Conservation 20/20 land that is 25 acres north of Slater Road which is granted to the Department of Transportation for the placement of the interchange.
“This region is going to continue to grow because it is very desirable,” Tasman said. “What residents should demand is a responsible approach to that growth. You have a Board of County Commissioners that are 100% engaged in that.”
Messer said for all of Southwest Florida the majority of growth is on the commercial sector with multi-family development with a lot of re-imaging markets.
“We are seeing a lot of development that has a multi-facet component — a retail component — some office space component and some medical and retail,” Messer said. “Those kind of projects that promote live, work and play are really kind of dominating developments throughout the state.”
The trend is people want to either walk, and drive a short distance to go to work and shopping.
“The traditional large office buildings that are built in a business district — we are seeing older properties be bought up and redeveloped with the mixed component of the multifamily, retail, office. That is the winning combination,” Messer said. “People don’t want to spend a lot of time in traffic. These developments pop up and it promotes being caught in less congestion. I think that is going to be the continued trend within real estate for quite a while.”
He said there was a combination of construction cost increases from inflation in 2021-2022 and also the amount of development that came online in the region in 2022-2023.
“It’s a natural real estate cycle – a slowdown in growth – let things level off and trough and start to peak back upward,” Messer said, adding that it’s a normal real estate cycle. “You will start to see growth tick back upward in 2026-2027.”
Messer said what they are seeing throughout the nation, including Southwest Florida and the Treasure Coast, is the outward sprawl from the key markets.
Messer said Florida is pro-business, and business friendly with an incentive to move their business to the Sunshine State.
Although North Fort Myers is being sought for commercial, the acreage properties for homes are also desirable.
As far as rooftops, Liz Williamson of Four Star Homes and Realty One Group MVP said acreage property is a draw of North Fort Myers. Such properties tend to be selling within three to four months if priced correctly.
“I see that real estate in North Fort Myers with acreage as stable,” she said, adding there is more interest in acreage properties. “A lot has to do with all the subdivisions and all the communicates coming in – losing that country feel and that is what people are really gravitating towards. There is a lot of building taking place.”
She said everybody wants to spread out and enjoy the birds chirping, green land and the sense of peace that comes with property.
As of Feb. 24, for manufactured or a single-family home, there were 30 properties listed that had an acre or more. The price range is from $330,000 to $3.7 million for a 10-acre parcel with three bedrooms and two bath.) — NFMNL