Construction could start on Cape Coral Grove if the council gives the green light during the meeting tomorrow, as development throughout the city continues to explode.
The Grove is being described as a vibrant mixed-use town center on the north side of Pine Island Road between Chiquita Boulevard and Burnt Store Road.
The development will have a variety of dining options, shops, a live music venue, a hotel, and luxury apartments. While some residents say we have more than enough apartments popping up in the city, others think new restaurants and more shopping are what North Cape Coral needs.
"It gives additional options to people," said Jay Johnson, owner of Bubba's Roadhouse, right next to where the Grove development is planned to be built. "There’s been a lot of complaints over the years in Cape Coral that we had to go to Fort Myers to get anything and now everything is in the cape and you don’t have to leave."
With Cape Coral's population expected to reach nearly 300,000 in the next 10 years, construction is happening just about everywhere you look! Many are worried about the city's roads and utilities keeping up with the growth.
The Cove on 47th is another development that includes luxury housing, under construction in downtown Cape. With 327 units and prices starting at $1,700 a month for a one-bedroom, some wonder if the apartments will fill up, and others worry when they do, we'll have even more cars and traffic on the roads.
"Way too many apartments," said Paul Gatto, who has lived in Cape Coral since 1998. "You got a lot of them on Chiquita that are vacant. Ridiculous. Then you just got to go right over the Cape Coral Bridge. There’s thousands more."
Both the Cove on 47th and the Grove are expected to bring jobs to Cape Coral. The Cove on 47th is scheduled to be done with construction and ready for residents to move in by August.
As for the Grove, the city manager says the project is a "once in a lifetime opportunity for Cape Coral," expected to generate big bucks for the local economy.
"It will give us that central point, meeting point, that we can all enjoy," said Michael IIczyszyn, the city manager of Cape Coral. "In the economic impact analysis that we ran, in the first year alone this is going to bring one billion dollars in economic impact alone to the city of Cape Coral."
Council will vote on the Grove's construction agreement, but first, they'll hear from residents at the development's first public hearing during the council meeting Wednesday at City Hall.