Alta Resources moving to build-to-suit

Alta Resources Corp.’s pending Fort Myers expansion into a new building capable of accommodating more than 1,000 workers caps a three-year effort by the Wisconsin-based company to find a permanent home in Lee County.

The outsourcing support company intends to relocate from two existing Fort Myers offices to a new $21 million building it will develop in the Skyplex business park adjacent to the Southwest Florida International Airport by the end of next year.

The three-story, 90,000-square-foot project ratifies the company’s “long-term commitment” to the community, says company Chairman and CEO Jim Bere, and comes as a result of a deal struck between the company and Skyplex land owner the Lee County Port Authority, Lee County and Enterprise Florida, which provided financial incentives for the build-to-suit project.

Under terms of an agreement with the port authority, which owns the roughly 1,000-acre Skyplex property, Alta will lease a 12.1-acre tract for at least 25 years and own its building, which will be surrounded by walking trails and a landscaped pond.

If growth warrants it, the company could develop a second 90,000-square-foot office building adjacent to the one it is about to begin constructing. 

“I think you’re going to see Alta Resources rise to become one of the largest employers in Lee County as a result of this effort,” says Dan Miller, a Colliers International Southwest Florida executive managing director of land and industrial services, who represented Alta Resources in the transaction. Miller first began working on Alta Resources’ behalf to locate new space in 2016, he says.

Last year, the company renewed a lease for 68,025 square feet at 12451 Gateway Blvd., which represented the largest office lease in Fort Myers, according to commercial real estate researcher CoStar Group. Miller says Alta Resources will likely relocate from those offices when its new building is completed.

Alta Resources’ deal marks the latest economic development coup for the port authority, as well. Near the outsourcing company’s project, consulting firm Gartner Inc. is developing a potential three-building office complex that would at build out double the company’s footprint in Lee County. Gartner is currently constructing a 143,000-square-foot office building on land the port authority also owns. That building is scheduled to be completed in October. At present, Gartner occupies four buildings totaling about 300,000 square feet at 12651 Gateway Blvd.

Also adjacent to Southwest Florida International, Iowa-based Principal Real Estate Investors is developing a 225-acre tract called the Premier Airport Park. When completed, the business park is expected to contain 1.87 million square feet, says Miller, who is representing Principal Real Estate in the roughly $200 million project.