Fort Myers office to be demolished to make way for apartments

The Garrett Cos., a suburban Indianapolis multifamily developer, has bought a Fort Myers office building at a deep discount and is converting the space into apartments.

The purchase was of a two-story, 63,261-square-foot building at 12600 Gateway Blvd. built in 1997. The 10.1-acre property was originally listed for $10 million but sold for $8.95 million.

Lee County property records show the previous owner was a Baltimore real estate firm that paid $12.4 million in 2015.

According to Cushman & Wakefield, which listed the property and announced the sale, Garrett will demolish the existing building in order to build 256 luxury rental units on the site.

A Cushman & Wakefield spokesperson says in an email that the plan is to begin the demolition within the next 90 days and construction is expected to begin approximately 90 days after the demolition is completed.

According to a site map, the community will be named Gateway Sentosa and be made up of six buildings, including a clubhouse.

The property is in Gateway, a 3,000-acre master planned community just off of Interstate 75 between Daniels Parkway and Colonial Boulevard.

Garrett is national developer with 70 projects in 17 states totaling 18,307 units, according to its website. It has four projects in Florida, including Drift at the Forum in Fort Myers and Maeva in Pasco County’s Lutz.