{"id":433835,"date":"2026-10-21T08:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T08:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/433835\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T08:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T08:28:10","slug":"cape-coral-city-council-to-decide-fate-of-bimini-east-project-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/433835\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Coral City Council to decide fate of Bimini East project"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Edward<\/a>CAPE CORAL, Fla. \u2014<\/p>\n

Cape Coral City Council will hold a final public hearing Wednesday to then vote on the proposed $500 million Bimini East redevelopment project at Four Freedoms Park, located off Cape Coral Parkway and Coronado Parkway. <\/p>\n

The project, led by Crown Development and the Bimini Basin Redevelopment Company, would transform the 34-acre site into a mixed-use development featuring two hotels, parking garages, apartments, restaurants, a police substation, and a reimagined Four Freedoms Park. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first park of Cape Coral. So this is where it all started, right here,\u201d said Cape Coral resident Cote Mar about the historical site. <\/p>\n

The Community Redevelopment Agency purchased the land in 2024 for over $40 million.<\/a> The council will vote on a plan to sell the land to the developers for $24 million\u2014a multi-million dollar loss from the original purchase price paid by the CRA. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s insane just the money that they\u2019re throwing, the taxpayer money that they\u2019re throwing away here,\u201d Mar said. <\/p>\n

While some residents welcome the project, others have expressed concerns about its impact on the community. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful project. But I also know that they\u2019ve cleared most of the area for it already. So to see something that\u2019s useful here with shops and restaurants, I think would be a nice addition,\u201d said Lorrie Cummings, who lives next to Four Freedoms Park. <\/p>\n

Despite her support for the development, Cummings remains worried about its effects on nearby properties. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m concerned about its effects on our property and the neighboring properties. I\u2019m concerned about how big it\u2019s going to be and just towering over our small buildings,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Properties that will be affected include the Four Freedoms Preschool, which Crown Development President Larry Nygard said would have to change location<\/a> as a reimagined park and bandshell is planned in the same area. He says the educational program would still continue. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe location of the bandshell wouldn\u2019t change. And that would, part of that bandshell would be where the preschool is. So, you know, that preschool would be impacted,\u201d Nygard said. <\/p>\n

Some residents are urging councilmembers to take more time before making a decision.<\/p>\n

Cote Mar says he prefers the park to be preserved, while a push to nominate Four Freedoms Park as a historical cultural resource by the City of Cape Coral is possible. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot that has to be done here. And, and it shouldn\u2019t be rushed!\u201d Mar said. <\/p>\n

The council\u2019s decision will determine whether the redevelopment moves forward, does not pass, is held, or undergoes modifications.<\/p>\n

DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app<\/a>\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app<\/a> to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CAPE CORAL, Fla. \u2014 Cape Coral City Council will hold a final public hearing Wednesday to then vote…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":433836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[170031,170037,170029,145659,29597,209,5219,211,210,1114,6931,28953,170033,32085,7920,104,170030,28,29600,170032,170035,32082,213,5985,170034,170036,17228,170038,160331,5204,72508,2171,5221],"class_list":["post-433835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-500-million","tag-bandshell","tag-bimini-basin-redevelopment","tag-bimini-east","tag-bimini-east-project","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-city-council","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-cape-coral-parkway","tag-community-redevelopment-agency","tag-coronado-parkway","tag-cote-mar","tag-crown-development","tag-decision","tag-entertainment","tag-final-public-hearing","tag-florida","tag-four-freedoms-park","tag-four-freedoms-preschool","tag-historical-site","tag-larry-nygard","tag-late-news","tag-location","tag-lorrie-cummings","tag-mar","tag-mixed-use-development","tag-nearby-property","tag-police-substation","tag-project","tag-redevelopment-project","tag-resident","tag-restaurant"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433835","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=433835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}