A rendering illustrates the proposed Bimini East mixed-use development in Cape Coral. Plans call for hundreds of residences, retail, office space, a hotel, parking garages and waterfront amenities over an estimated eight-year buildout.
In February, the $125 million Bimini Square community opened to fanfare in the South Cape entertainment district. That may have been merely a warm-up act for developer Larry Nygard, president of North Dakota-based Crown Development, and his partners.
At a Cape Coral City Council workshop July 29, Nygard proposed Bimini East, an adjoining mixed-use community four times the size and cost of Bimini Square. The $500 million, eight-year project would combine up to 900 residences, hotel rooms, shopping, offices, infrastructure improvements and waterfront amenities.
Like its smaller counterpart to the west, the proposed project would combine public and private investment — including land swaps, tax-increment financing and grants — subject to approval by Council and the Community Redevelopment Agency at future public meetings.
The Bimini East plan would fill out the city’s Bimini District, transforming 34 acres along Cape Coral Parkway East from Coronado Parkway to Four Freedoms Park and the Bimini Basin waterfront overlooking Bimini Square. Today, the area includes vacant land surrounded by construction fencing, existing apartments, businesses, such as an ice cream shop and auto repair business, and a protected burrowing owl habitat.
A presentation map identifies the boundaries of the proposed Bimini East development near the Bimini Basin in Cape Coral. The mixed-use project would span about 34 acres east of Bimini Square.
Matt Simmons, managing partner of the real estate firm Maxwell, Hendry & Simmons, praised the project as another example of public-private partnerships, such as Bimini Square and Slipaway Food Truck Park & Marina, serving as catalysts for economic growth.
“The energy along Cape Coral Parkway in the Community Redevelopment Area is, I think, the best example of that,” he said.
Simmons added, “You now have proof of concept with Bimini Square and other projects that are along that corridor.”
Cape Coral Mayor John Gunter, councilmember Bill Steinke, whose District 1 includes the Bimini project areas, and other officials also voiced support for the project.
Development around the Bimini Basin has been in the planning stages since at least 2018, when officials identified the waterfront area as a potential South Cape town center.
The proposed $500 million Bimini East development would extend from Cape Coral Parkway East to the Bimini Basin waterfront, where developers also plan improvements to nearby Four Freedoms Park and public amenities.
Evan Williams
In 2019, Cape Coral created a special mixed-use Bimini District allowing construction up to 160 feet, or 12 stories, and 125 dwelling units per acre.
In 2024, the South Cape Downtown Community Redevelopment Plan identified Bimini Basin East as “an ideal location for an institutional, commercial or mixed-use project.”
The city and its Community Redevelopment Agency purchased part of the proposed Bimini East property in 2024 for $43.1 million.
Florida cities establish Community Redevelopment Agency districts to revitalize blighted or underdeveloped areas. A CRA’s budget is funded by property taxes generated by new development within the district. Those funds are then reinvested into additional projects, ideally creating a cycle of investment and growth.
The CRA Board of Commissioners — in this case the same members as City Council — uses the budget to incentivize projects, such as Bimini East, through tax-increment financing. Under that model, CRA funds are offered as incentives based on the tax revenue the project generates.
A rendering shows a waterfront view of the proposed Bimini East development, which includes residential buildings, commercial space, a marina and expanded public gathering areas along the Bimini Basin.
City officials began negotiations on the Bimini East project last year. Under the proposed terms, the developers would receive $45.75 million in CRA tax-increment rebates, $5 million in impact fee credits and other incentives.
Nygard and his partners estimate Bimini East would generate $751 million in economic output and $80.6 million in combined tax revenue while serving as a catalyst for future development in the area and along Cape Coral Parkway.
“The [return on investment] is businesses all around this development are going to up their game and real estate values are going to be enhanced because of that,” Nygard said.
Although he has experience developing the various components of Bimini East, the project as a whole would be the largest of his career.
“I can tell you that none of them have been this large,” he said. “We really feel this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to set the stage for some downtown redevelopment growth. Bimini East builds on top of those and amplifies the success of those so far.”
Nygard’s Crown Development would partner with Alessio Companies and Superhost Hospitality to develop Bimini East.
Vacant land within the proposed Bimini East redevelopment area stretches east of Bimini Square in Cape Coral. Developers envision a mixed-use district with housing, retail, offices and a hotel.
Evan Williams
Initial plans call for Bahamian-themed architecture with 700 to 900 multifamily units for rent and sale, 250 hotel rooms, 130,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, entertainment and hospitality space, 55,000 square feet of office and medical space, four parking garages and a 45-slip marina.
The project also would “reimagine” Four Freedoms Park by building a bandshell, relocating the existing playground and adding a nearby police substation.
The developers estimate major work benefiting public spaces — including park improvements, utilities, roads, parking and the marina — could be completed as early as 2028, with the full project finished by 2035.