Realtors believe home values in southwest Cape Coral will go up by tens of thousands of dollars when the Chiquita Lock is removed. However, scientists warn the environmental impacts outweigh the benefits.
After a yearslong legal battle, the ship could finally be sailing on the Chiquita Lock. Crews in southwest Cape Coral have already removed its house, gates and some of its foundation.
Tim Hoffman is a boater and lives by the lock. He says the lock is dangerous and causes a lot of congestion.
"The lock was slow, slow, slow. You can be 45 minutes to your meetup," said Hoffman.
There could also be a financial advantage to the lock's removal.
Realtor Sam Yaffey says home values could go up by as much as $50,000 depending on how far away you live from the Gulf. "It's going to be a big boost for people who live in that area," said Yaffey.
So why the big jump? Yaffey says it's all about that sailboat access.
"It makes a home more desirable. Sailboat access means no overhead obstruction as well as the fact that there's no barrier for them to go out in order to make it in the Gulf of Mexico," said Yaffey.
However, scientists warn the environmental impacts could outweigh the good.
"We know that our economy, our real estate values, the reason tourists come down here is inherently tied to our water quality," said Matt DePaolis, environmental policy director of the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. People like him argue removing the lock will worsen our water quality and kill off mangroves.
“So if you have one factor that's increasing home values, but if that factor also brings on more red tides, more algae blooms, and overall degradation of the fisheries and the water quality in the estuaries, and the driver for our local economic engine, long-term grand scheme of things that might be difficult to say where we're going to net out,” said DePaolis.
As it stands, construction is set to begin on the lock in April and end in June. That means no boats will be able to pass through for three months.
In the meantime, realtors say home values could be rising as we speak.
“So there may already be some impact for folks because it looked like it was going to get taken out. It's kind of like a gamble for buyers,” said Yaffey.