Developer adds 2,000 acres to planned community, crosses county line

Naples/Fort Myers

Can you believe the hype: A local custom homebuilder has finished a model home in Cape Coral that it says “will usher in a new era of Southwest Florida home design with an array of innovative features.” That’s a pretty big statement, but Beattie Development thinks it can back it back it up. The 2,814-square-foot model home, grandly called The Arcadian, is at 1410 Cape Coral Parkway W. The three-bedroom, three-bath and two half-bath home comes with a stone entryway, 41-foot-wide great room with floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall glass, master bedroom closet with an island, an outside office cabana, Tesla chargers and, for couples who need their own space, his and hers garages. The first six people to sign a contract can get The Arcadia for $769,512 — $60,000 less than the starting asking price. Beattie’s president and founder says the home brings “a sort of Texas flair to Florida.”

Warehouse wanderlust: The industrial boom in Southwest Florida continues. HSA Commercial Real Estate of Chicago has started work on a 481,933-square foot industrial facility at 16500 Oriole Road in Fort Myers, off of Interstate 75 at Alico Road. The spec building, expected to be finished later this year, joins several other large industrial developments around the area that has some worrying that a recently underserved area may soon be oversaturated. When complete, developers say the new facility, called the Highland Commerce Center, will have 36-foot clear heights, 96 dock doors, four drive-in doors, 181 parking spaces, 138 trailer spaces and a building depth of 500 feet. Multiple tenants will be able to use the space.

Tampa/St. Petersburg

Bring on the acreage: A master planned community in Pasco County is adding 2,000 acres to the development. The community, with the additional acreage, will expand into neighboring Hillsborough County. The developers behind the community, Two Rivers in southeast Pasco, will use the added land to build three villages with homes, a private country club with a spa and an 18-hole golf course. With the additions, when complete, the community will have 6,000 residences and four amenity centers with playgrounds, pavilions and pools. There also are plans for a K-12 school, regional park and 3.3 million square feet of office, retail, commercial and industrial space. A spokesperson for the developer, Tampa-based Eisenhower Property Group, says the company paid $35 million for the 2,000 acres, increasing the total acerage of Two Rivers to 6,000 acres.

Meet the manager: A Chicago commercial property management firm has been hired to manage four properties totaling almost 200,000 square feet  in Pinellas County. The properties’ owner, Hollywood-based Hersh Equity Group, has hired Hiffman National to run the day-to-day operations and manage rent collection, accounting, financial reporting, engineering, maintenance and capital improvements. Hiffman  manages 130 million square feet in 27 states, including 3.1 million square feet in Florida.

The properties are:

• 8800 Office Park, a 47,003-square-foot office park at 8800 49th St. in Pinellas Park.
• Park Place Industrial, a 77,149-square-foot warehouse at 3851 62nd Ave. in Pinellas Park.
• Park Village North, a 35,598-square-foot flex/industrial building at 11350 66th St. N. in Largo. 
• Plaza Center, a 36,470-square-foot office building at 1301 Seminole Blvd. in Largo.

Feed the need 1: Construction has started on an affordable housing complex not far from the University of South Florida. St. Petersburg’s Blue Sky Communities, the developer, is building a 128-unit apartment community called The Adderley. The complex is at 9300 Nebraska Ave., near Busch Boulevard. Interestingly, this will be the first development inside Tampa city limits for the prolific affordable housing developer.  The Adderley will include one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments for people earning less than 80% of the area’s median income.

Sarasota/Manatee

Feed the need 2: A 13.4-acre parcel on U.S. Highway 301 in Parrish has been sold. The northeast Manatee County property, on the corner of Fort Hamer Road, was bought by Casto Development. Casto, which plans to build a retail development on the site, paid $4.09 million for the property, according to a statement. Tony Veldkamp of SVN Commercial Advisory Group, which represented both parties, says in the statement that when the county built a new bridge it had to reroute Fort Hamer through the property. The road is now being extended to the county line and he says the work “puts this site on a major thoroughfare full of growth potential.” It’s not known yet what the retail project will consist of. Columbus, Ohio-based Casto has four offices, including one in Sarasota.

Gone grocer: Winn-Dixie is closing its east Manatee County store in Lakewood Ranch. The store, in The Green shopping center, will shut down less than three years after opening its doors Nov. 11, 2020, according to the East County Observer, sister publication of the Business Observer. Southeastern Grocers, which owns Winn-Dixie, did not return calls or emails from the Observer but the store’s management confirmed the closing. And if that isn’t proof enough, there are signs up announcing the closure. Previous to Winn-Dixie, Earth Fare, a specialty natural and organic grocer, was in the space. It too lasted about two years.

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This story has been updated to include how much the developer behind Two Rivers paid for the 2,000 acres it purchased.