Texas developer pays $100M for nearly 1,750 acres in Cape Coral

Forestar Real Estate Group, a residential developer in Arlington, Texas, has bought 1,745 acres in Cape Coral and is planning a major development on the land.

According to LSI Cos., the Fort Myers commercial real estate firm that brokered and announced the deal late Thursday afternoon, Forestar paid $100 million for the property at 4101 Burnt Store Road.

While details of the company’s plans for the property weren’t immediately clear and a spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment, a PowerPoint presentation before Cape Coral’s City Council in March 2023 describes the scope of the project.

It shows that the development could include a maximum of 3,500 residential units (up to 2,500 of those single-family homes); 425,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space; up to 150,000 square feet of office space; and a maximum of 500 hotel rooms.

The project, which was greenlit by council members that day, is also approved for an assisted living facility of up to 800 beds.

Forestar, which was founded in 1954 and merged with builder D.R. Horton in 2017, is one of the largest residential developers in the country. It, as of Sept. 30, 2024, has 59 active projects in 24 states, including several along the Gulf Coast.

The sale is just the latest big-dollar deal to close in Lee County in the past few months.

In late October, a Chicago real estate investment firm bought Tri-County 75, a Fort Myers industrial park. According to Lee County records, the firm, Walton Capital, paid $155 million for the 818,000-square-foot park at Luckett Road and Interstate 75.

And in November, Amazon bought 143 acres at 10631 State Road 82 near The Forum in Fort Myers. It paid $66.5 million for the land and is planning to build a 650,000-square-foot robotics fulfillment center.

Justin Thibaut and William Rollins of LSI brokered the deal for the Cape Coral land. Thibaut also brokered the sale to Amazon last month.