Just about everywhere you look around Southwest Florida, you see construction: multi-family housing, office complexes, gated communities, warehouses.
Is this a temporary building boom? Or is it the long-awaited diversification of our economy, away from dependence on tourism?
Giant companies are snapping up land along the I-75 corridor, bringing a type of boomtown to Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties.
Amazon just paid $66 million to buy land on State Road 82 in Lee. Amazon said it will build a distribution center on that land. Another company plunked down $155 million to buy an industrial complex at I-75 and Luckett Road.
And those are just two recent deals, as huge corporations invest in Southwest Florida. Why?
“We were and we are still somewhat more affordable compared to California and New York,” FGCU Professor Amir Neto said. He is the director of the Regional Economic Research Institute. “So I think that’s the big reason of why here and why now.”
Neto said corporate giants discovered this area during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were looking for places where they could find land at good prices, and where their employees would enjoy living. He said the pandemic convinced corporate leaders that they could do business outside the super-expensive large metro areas.
Part of the attraction to this area, according to Neto, is that the southwest region is reasonably close to major ports in Miami and Tampa. And this region also is reasonably close to Orlando.
As a result, he explained, manufacturing and logistics, and health care, are driving the current growth.
“We are moving toward higher-paying jobs,” Neto said.
One elected official is pleased.
“If my kids live to age 90, it’ll be the year 2100,” Lee County Commissioner Brian Hamman said. “And I like to think: What kind of life will they be able to build here? Will they be able to do it here or will they have to move away? I think right now, with the rate of growth and new opportunities professionally that we’re seeing, I think they will be able to set down roots here in their hometown. And that’s something that makes me proud.”
20-year-old William Pavela, an FGCU junior planning to become a teacher, feels differently. He said all the growth makes him sad.
“It’s depressing honestly,” Pavella said. He grew up in Cape Coral. “Kind of heartbreaking to see all the changes. A lot of buildings torn down, that I grew up around. A lot of memories that were had there. It’s very destructive to me.”
Grethel Avila is a Cape Coral native and FGCU business major. She said growth represents new jobs to keep her here.
“Especially with FGCU, there are lots of opportunities to help me find employment,” Avila said. “And to help me finding something I like doing in the future. So I have hope.”
Pavela said he may want to move to a less developed area for his teaching career.
“When it’s to the point I can’t get out of my driveway and go somewhere without hitting a traffic jam…I don’t know what I am going to do,” he said.
Commissioner Hamman pointed out that Lee County is focused on improving traffic flow. But he said building new roads is time-consuming and growing more expensive, with some projects doubling in cost in just the past two or three years.
Hamman also noted that Lee has preserved almost 48 square miles of land through Conservation 2020. And Professor Neto said that counties here require new development to have water retention areas and green space, so that even industrial complexes are not all concrete.
Avila said she appreciates the natural beauty that remains here.
“I really do like Florida,” she said. “We’re surrounded by beaches and we have the Everglades right there. Environment is like — so big here, and I like it. I don’t want to move.”
Professor Neto said lack of affordable housing remains a major problem.
“We are getting jobs and amenities to have the young community stay here,” he said. “But then we go into: Can they stay here? Is there available housing? And that, I think, is our next big challenge.”
Neto said he sees two solutions. First, building vertically, which is happening now. And secondly: people moving inland to Hendry and Glades counties.
The bottom line to all this is more jobs, and higer-paying ones, according to commissioner Hamman. The unemployment rate in the coastal counties has been running lower than the national average. It was 3.6% in Lee County in October of this year.
“I think you’re seeing that we’re going to have a more well-rounded and diverse economy,” Hamman said.
It’s also bringing more people to live here. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the current, year-round population at 853,000 in Lee County alone. The bureau predicts 1 million year-round residents likely will live in Lee County in just a few years.
Mike Walcher is a reporter at WGCU News. He also teaches some Journalism classes at FGCU. He can be reached at [email protected].
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