The minnpost.com has a story about a recent speech given by housing researcher John Mcllwain titled, “The Suburban Century is Over.”  Mcllwain predicts a shift in American housing and lifestyle preference away from the white picket fence suburbia towards a more urban lifestyle.

In TV terms the wonderful suburban neighborhoods of Leave It To Beaver, The Brady Bunch and Bewitched are fading and the urban lifestyles of the Odd Couple, Mary Tyler Moore and Frazier are coming of age.

What does this mean for the Southwest Florida and the greater Fort Myers area?  While no one is ever going to confuse Southwest Florida with the Upper West Side, we do have some really dynamic urban areas like 5th Avenue in Naples.  In recent years, a handful of urban-oriented projects have been developed or renovated that address this shifting lifestyle demographic.

Developments in the Fort Myers area offering an urban lifestyle experience include:

High Point Place – Riverfront high-rise in downtown Fort Myers walk to restaurants, Publix, Starbucks, offices, parks, theatres and museums.

Residences at Coconut Point – Condos located on the upper-levels of the Coconut Point Mall which has emerged as the destination in South Lee County.

Rapallo – Gated condos and villas adjacent and very walkable to the dynamic Coconut Point Mall

Cape Harbour – Waterfront boating community with vibrant boardwalk featuring restaurants, retail and community events.

Patio De Leon – Downtown Fort Myers renovated historic condos located above commercial space.

Earnhardt Condominiums – Downtown Fort Myers renovated historic condos located above commercial space

When the market turns and development starts up again, it would sure be wonderful to see more project like these completed rather than starter homes on random 1/4 acre plated lots in the hinterlands.

Cape Coral project open to aclaim

The first tower at Cape Harbour’s 15 story Marina South is completed and residents started moving in on Friday. This project, which features retail establishments on the ground floor, is another notch in Cape Coral’s coming of age. A second matching tower will be opening in May 2007.

Back in March 2005 when the pre-sale was held via lottery, Marina South sold out in just hours. In city yearning for upscale ammenities, Marina South offers a new lifestyle choice for its residents.

Currently Marina South units are available from the the high $300,000s through $1M.

Unique condo community welcomes its first residents [News-Press]

Second tower to be built ahead of schedule

The cranes that are so visible in Southwest Cape Coral are not going away anytime soon. The developer of Marina South at Cape Harbour had such great results in marketing the first tower that they are accelerating plans for a second high-rise.

Condos in the 15 story Marina South II are expected to sell for between $300,000 and $500,000 and have views of the Gulf of Mexico or the Marina. Plans also call for a 100 room hotel to be built on the site.

Great demand leads to Marina South II [News-Press]

Utility expansion funds help keep repaving on track

Cape Coral’s road resurfacing program relies heavily on utility expansion projects to keep roads in good repair, but the paving budget still falls about $1 million short of what is needed, according to a report presented this week to the City Council.

“The current level of funding is not totally effective in eliminating or keeping up with street deterioration throughout the city,” said the report presented by project manager Chris Camp.

Paving program falling short [News-Press]