{"id":279357,"date":"2026-05-21T11:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T11:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/279357\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T11:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T11:33:11","slug":"estero-board-reviews-plan-for-370-unit-mixed-use-project-lee-county-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/279357\/","title":{"rendered":"Estero board reviews plan for 370-unit mixed-use project | Lee County"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In 1994, a field at the southwest corner of Estero Parkway and Three Oaks Parkway was zoned for a large shopping complex that never materialized.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Today, the Estero property remains undeveloped, but multifamily developer The Residential Group plans to change that.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">At an Estero Planning, Zoning and Design Board meeting May 19, company representatives proposed a 370-unit apartment complex with 33,000 square feet of commercial space on the site.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Company representatives previously met with area homeowners association members to gather feedback. Stacy Ellis-Hewitt, with RVi Planning + Landscape Architecture, spoke on behalf of the developer at the meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"Estero board reviews TRG development proposal\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full blur\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>             <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6a0dfc2f32719.image.jpg\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"113\" width=\"200\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Estero Planning, Zoning and Design Board hears a presentation on The Residential Group\u2019s proposed mixed-use project during its May 19 meeting.<\/p>\n<p>                                    Estero government<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The Residential Group is seeking to rezone the property from Lee County\u2019s existing Commercial Planned Development, approved in 1994 for a 250,000-square-foot shopping center, to a Mixed Use Planned Development. The change would allow construction of the apartment complex and commercial space. The property includes 5.275 acres of wetlands.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">If approved, the developer is requesting several deviations, including reducing parking from two spaces per dwelling unit plus 10% guest spaces to 1.75 spaces per unit.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Hewitt said the proposal would generate less traffic than the 1994 plan and build at a lower residential density than current zoning allows.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"Rendering shows proposed Estero apartment complex\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full blur\" width=\"762\" height=\"276\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>             <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779363191_635_6a0dfc2f29b60.image.jpg\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"72\" width=\"200\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A rendering depicts the proposed 370-unit apartment community with amenities and commercial space planned by The Residential Group.<\/p>\n<p>                                    Estero government<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">According to the developer, the project would generate 3,826 daily two-way trips, compared with 9,908 trips under the previously approved shopping center plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Current zoning allows up to 479 units, or as many as 599 units with density bonuses, compared with the proposed 370 units.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The developer also plans to expand dry detention areas and increase the size of a planned lake to address flooding concerns. Independent traffic and stormwater studies would be required if the project moves forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The development team is seeking feedback from the board and the public on initial design plans, which include 37 studio units, 148 one-bedroom units, 148 two-bedroom units and 37 three-bedroom units. Part of the complex would be gated.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"TRG Estero site plan shows pedestrian circulation\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full blur\" width=\"962\" height=\"541\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>             <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779363191_48_6a0dfc2f2971e.image.jpg\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"112\" width=\"200\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A site plan outlines pedestrian circulation, open space and building layout for the proposed Estero mixed-use project.<\/p>\n<p>                                    Estero government<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Planned commercial areas include retail shops, open-air cafes or coffee shops, shaded walkways and seating areas. Architects described the design as a mix of Mediterranean and modern coastal styles.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">A longtime Fort Myers and Three Oaks Parkway investor based in Miami, Paul H. Freeman, is trustee for the landowners but said he is not an investor in the project. The landowners plan to sell the property to TRG if Estero officials end up approving the project.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cWe look at projects to see if they make sense and would be good for the community,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cAnd if we didn\u2019t think it was, we wouldn\u2019t have signed an agreement with The Residential Group to do a project there. We think it\u2019s a nice project. They think it\u2019s a nice project. Hopefully Estero will think it\u2019s a nice project.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 1994, a field at the southwest corner of Estero Parkway and Three Oaks Parkway was zoned for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[33703,209,211,210,1022,10124,118882,33045],"class_list":["post-279357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-apartment-complex","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-estero","tag-mixed-use-proposal","tag-zoning-change"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279357","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=279357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}