Local map for Bimini East real estate. City of Cape Coral
Both the Cape Coral Community Redevelopment Agency and the Cape Coral City Council have approved a contract to purchase 43 lots – 19 acres – for Bimini Basin East valued at over $40 million.
The Cape Coral City Council serves as the governing body of the CRA.
The vote to purchase the properties located south of Cape Coral Parkway between Tarpon Court and Coronado Parkway was unanimous.
“We do not intend to be the developer, nor do we intend to hold the property – we want to put it back on the market at the price of the property so that someone can buy it,” said CRA Executive Director Michael Ilczyszyn, who also serves as the city’s manager.
The request to the CRA Board was to provide the financial mechanism to finance the purchase of the Bimini East properties.
The intermunicipal agreement between the two companies provides for the execution of a purchase agreement with the Bimini Center of Cape Coral and the Four Palms Condominium Association to acquire Bimini East for $40,089,504.
“The purpose of the CRA is to be a catalyst for remediation,” said Ilczyszyn. “We want to get into this property that has been built up by an individual and his family over several decades and buy the properties.”
Ilczyszyn said they would put the property back on the open market, giving private developers the opportunity to purchase it and develop a much larger construction project.
Bimini East, as a private investment of over 73,000 square meters, has the potential to be worth more than a quarter of a billion dollars, Ilczyszyn said, adding that if the project becomes taxable, the new value would benefit the CRA to develop additional projects within the district.
Ilczyszyn said that when buying developed land, some people have to bear the demolition costs and the associated loss in value.
“That’s why Bimini West and The Cove were successful. They go into undeveloped land,” he said. “The owner of the property was a willing person. He wanted to sell. No developer was going to pay him what the property is worth today. The CRA is an entity that the state created, and we chose them, along with the county, as a catalyst to take on the cost of demolition and turn around and sell and get money (from tax increment financing).”
A report was prepared which separated the developed properties from the undeveloped properties.
He said the owner left $5 million worth of land undeveloped and $35 million was spent on developed land.
“We pay the fair market value,” he said.
The roads cannot be bought, said Ilczyszyn.
He said that if the city buys all the property on both sides, it could give up that public right-of-way, which would then be converted to private right-of-way, making $3.5 million worth of land inaccessible.
“The chances of finding someone to buy the entire property are slim,” said Commissioner Dan Sheppard. “By clearing the site, the city has several options for developing it and involving more than one developer.”
Councillor Tom Hayden, CRA Commissioner, said this is an important piece of land that can be further stimulated by increasing its attractiveness.
“I think it continues the growth we are seeing in a very popular part of town,” he said.
Councillor Richard Carr asked during the City Council meeting following the CRA meeting how the management of some of the currently occupied properties would be handled.
Ilczyszyn said all leases include a 90-day clause in case the owner sells the property.
“If we implement this when the property closes, he, as a property management company, will drive the termination of these leases and the vacating of these buildings so that we can proceed with the redevelopment,” he said.
