A proposal to demolish the former Regal Cinema at Coconut Point mall and replace it with 365 rental units drew sharp criticism from Estero\u2019s Planning, Zoning & Design Board.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Simon Property Group, owner of Coconut Point, and Waypoint Residential, a multifamily developer, made an informal presentation to the board Jan. 13. The proposed development would span from Cinema Way on the west to Via Coconut on the east and include two five-story apartment buildings, one four-story apartment building and a five-story parking garage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Regal Cinema closed more than three years ago. Simon representative Scott Richardson said the apartments would be constructed behind the former theater, on a little-used parking lot, while the demolished theater site would be converted into additional parking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Simon is seeking changes to the mall\u2019s original development agreement to allow higher residential density and a reduction in required parking. Final approval would rest with Estero Village Council.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Board members raised concerns about the project\u2019s scale and intensity. Planning board member Jim Wallace said the request represents a 60% to 70% increase in density per acre if the project moves forward with 365 units.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first looked at this application, I thought, how could you possibly get any more units in there,\u201d said board member Michael Sheeley. \u201cIt\u2019s about as aggressive as anybody could propose. That\u2019s proven by the fact you need to get variances or exceptions on height, parking and density.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sheeley said the development would appear disconnected from the rest of Coconut Point.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just have a monster sitting back there,\u201d he said, referring to the placement of the four- and five-story buildings closest to Via Coconut. \u201cYou\u2019ve placed basically a 500-foot, 65-foot wall across a parking lot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Project planner Jeremie Chastain said the maximum unit count would not increase external vehicle trips, a claim Wallace disputed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s a rental then you have a high propensity of people leaving for work in the morning and coming back at a similar time in the afternoon,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cSo, if you have 700 cars coming in and out of one little entrance it impacts the immediate arterial roads and other roads around the entrance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Board members also questioned the request to reduce parking requirements from two spaces per unit to 1.5. Chastain said that figure was not final and was based on Waypoint\u2019s experience with other projects. Waypoint develops and owns more than 30,000 units across the Sunbelt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Building height and potential impacts on the nearby Shadow Wood community in The Brooks also drew criticism. Allan Bowditch, president of Engage Estero and a Shadow Wood resident, said residents he has spoken with strongly oppose the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey describe it as a monstrosity,\u201d Bowditch said. \u201cIn the old English dictionary, what that means is that it\u2019s something very large, very ugly and an eyesore. And based on what I\u2019ve seen I would consider that to be reasonably appropriate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chastain said the development team would revisit the proposal based on the feedback.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know we have work to do after this,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, we plan to meet up and do that and make a better project.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A proposal to demolish the former Regal Cinema at Coconut Point mall and replace it with 365 rental…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,42252,10124,57442,57443,59815],"class_list":{"0":"post-118942","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cape-coral","8":"tag-cape-coral","9":"tag-cape-coral-headlines","10":"tag-cape-coral-news","11":"tag-coconut-point-mall","12":"tag-estero","13":"tag-regal-cinema","14":"tag-simon-property-group","15":"tag-waypoint-residential"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}