Fort Myers has an opportunity that few cities its size have a chance to seize. More than 60 acres of empty buildings, a deteriorating stadium, an aging hospital and a battered marina will be gone from downtown and the neighborhood to the south known as Midtown in the next half a decade. If all goes as planned, the city will reap the benefits of $6 billion in capital investment for residences, offices, retail, commercial space, a hotel, an expanded marina and possibly a sports facility.
“If Midtown works, the city will thrive; if we wait another 20 years, the city will be moving not in a positive fashion,” says Councilman Liston Bochette, who represents the ward where half a dozen projects could change the face of the city.
“When you look at the cities of our population size, around 100,000, I could not find another city in the continental U.S. that has this much redevelopment opportunity within the heart of the downtown and midtown core area — which is great for us, especially in this time of wanting to grow jobs and our economy and our tax base,” says Steve Weathers, the city’s economic development director.
Six properties are within an easy bike ride of one another: the former News-Press property, City of Palms Park, Lee Memorial Hospital, the police headquarters building, City Hall and the Fort Myers Yacht Basin.
“This is a unique opportunity for the citizens and the elected body and the community to do something that will stand for the next 50-plus years as the face of this community,” Weathers says. “What I like about the diversity part of it is that economic development is all about diversity of portfolio.”
The 10-acre site at Fowler Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard will be the first redeveloped after its $11.5 million sale to Catalyst Community Development. Construction is expected to begin in late 2026 and finish by 2029.
Brian Tietz
The Former News-Press property
The property at the southwest corner of Fowler Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard will be the first to be redeveloped. The city purchased it in 2019 with plans to turn it into a police headquarters, but sold the 10 acres to Catalyst Community Development for $11.5 million last March after determining a police building was cost prohibitive.
“We have a qualified and proven developer who’s local, so he has his heart in the game,” Bochette says.
Catalyst has finished the site plan and begun the rezoning process. Construction is expected to begin in December 2026, with the first building completed in December 2028 and the full project finished by the end of 2029, said Joe Bonora, Catalyst’s president.
Catalyst’s plans have changed slightly. The developer added 100,000 square feet of commercial space, reduced the number of residences from 580 to about 350 and eliminated the grocery store. The 50,000 square feet of retail, 150,000 square feet of office space, 140- to 160-room hotel and two parking garages remain unchanged, Bonora said.
“I think having a project like this, like the News-Press site and what is planned there, is really going to set the standard for Midtown,” says Mayor Kevin Anderson.
City of Palms Park could get new life under a Card & Associates mixed-use proposal anchored by an indoor multiuse facility. City leaders are considering adding arts and community elements to boost long-term value.
Brian Tietz
City of Palms Park
Extra innings are not in City of Palms Park’s future. The former spring training home of the Boston Red Sox will be demolished in early 2027, Anderson said. City Council has requested that some of the park’s history be preserved.
The baseball stadium south of downtown has been a conundrum since the Red Sox left for greener Lee County pastures in 2011. Two deals to turn it into a soccer complex fell through. The stadium costs $500,000 a year to maintain.
The latest ray of hope came in October, when Card & Associates, an Indiana-based developer, pitched a plan to build an indoor multiuse facility as an anchor, along with retail, a hotel and single-family and multifamily attached homes, as well as a community-centric reconfiguration of Broadway that would allow for a linear park and a pedestrian-friendly streetscape. City Council directed staff to continue talks with Card & Associates.
Bochette said he would like to see more than a sports facility and favors adding some kind of performing arts center.
“If you’re going to put in all the infrastructure, sewer lines, power, parking garages, you might as well put a performing arts center in there,” he says.
A performing arts center might add 20% to the cost, but it could quadruple income potential, Bochette said.
The future of the current Lee Memorial Hospital site (top) remains uncertain as the new facility prepares to open in 2028.
Brian Tietz
Lee Memorial Hospital
One thing is certain: Lee Health’s new hospital at the corner of Colonial and Challenger boulevards will open in 2028. What isn’t certain is what will happen to the Lee Memorial Hospital site on Cleveland Avenue near downtown. The decision is up to Lee Health, but the city remains in constant communication.
“I look at this property as a catalyst property,” Anderson says. “The proper development of that piece of land could spur redevelopment up and down Cleveland Avenue, which is much needed.”
Bochette said he has spoken with Lee County school officials about using the site to expand or build a new Fort Myers High School.
Lee Health said in a written statement that no decisions have been made about the property: “Our goal is to reimagine this historic site in a way that continues to benefit the community and complement the growth and vitality of downtown Fort Myers.”
Fort Myers’ existing police station faces likely demolition due to its specialized design.
Brian Tietz
Fort Myers Police Station
The building housing Fort Myers police on Widman Way likely will be demolished after the department relocates to a new headquarters at the southwest corner of Fowler and Market streets sometime in 2027.
“It’s hard to convert a building that was designed to be a police station. It’s hard to convert it into something else,” says Anderson, who once was a city police officer.
The city previously had a developer express interest in buying everything between Hendry Street and Broadway and asked whether the city would be willing to vacate Widman Way in front of the station to assemble a larger property for an apartment complex, the mayor said. That plan never advanced.
Stan Stouder, a real estate consultant and founding partner of CRE Consultants, doesn’t think the property has a future by itself. He said it will need synergy from the News-Press block redevelopment and City of Palms Park. He believes the apartment market is oversaturated and said offices would make the most sense because the property is so close to the central business district.
Fort Myers City Council plans a needs assessment for the outdated, undersized, 50-year-old City Hall.
Brian Tietz
City Hall
City Council agrees that something needs to be done with the 50-year-old, outdated and undersized City Hall on the south side of Second Street between Hendry Street and Broadway. The council also agrees that a needs assessment should be completed before a decision is made.
Council members are leaning toward keeping City Hall where it is for convenience, because county, state and federal offices are nearby. Keeping City Hall downtown also benefits downtown businesses. Bochette said the city owns the block from Second Street to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, so there is room to build a new City Hall or an annex and rent out the lower floors for retail.
Anderson, though, isn’t among council members who think City Hall needs to stay downtown: “As time goes on, there’s going to be less and less need for people to go physically to City Hall,” he says, adding that the city should consider placing City Hall at the Lee Memorial site and selling the existing block.
“In my mind, that is a prime piece of real estate. I envision multifamily, whether it be condos or apartments, with retail lining the street,” he says.
Fort Myers Yacht Basin awaits approval of a Suntex proposal for 280 slips, retail, dining and a riverwalk.
Brian Tietz
Fort Myers Yacht Basin
Redevelopment of the Fort Myers Yacht Basin is waiting on approvals.
Suntex Marina, a Dallas-based company, won the contract in 2023 to redevelop and operate the city-owned marina that anchors the northeast corner of downtown. The company has resubmitted its plans to the Fort Myers Historic Preservation Commission and the city for approval, but more importantly, it is waiting for state and federal agencies to give the go-ahead to dredge and fill a portion of the basin, said David Filler, chief development officer.
“The [Army Corps of Engineers] review is a lingering process,” Filler says.
His best-guess timeline is receiving approval this summer at the earliest and by the end of 2026 at the latest. Once Suntex gets approval, construction is expected to take about 18 months to two years, he said.
Suntex plans to build as many as 280 slips, a boat club, a marine store, fuel facilities, a riverwalk and about 40,000 square feet of space for restaurants and retail on the area to be filled.
Anderson spoke with the director of intergovernmental affairs for the White House in late October about the urgency of getting the permits issued.
“We got three things that are happening because we’re waiting on those permits,” he says. “One, we have a constant reminder of the devastation and destruction that [Hurricane] Ian caused as long as that fence is up. That’s prime access to the water that people don’t have because of the lack of permits. And the final thing, it’s a negative economic impact to the city.”