The most expensive home to sell in Lee County, Florida during May 2011 was a Captiva single-family, waterfront home located within South Seas Resort.  This 3,455 SF home is located at 945 South Seas Plantation Road, Captiva, FL and features 5 BR / 4.5 BA.  The selling price was $4.5M / $1,302 SF, which was 90% of the asking price.

Congratulations to selling Realtors Fred G. Newman and Vicki Panico of Royal Shell Real Estate for closing this transaction.

Honorable mention for 2nd most expensive Lee County residential property sold in May 2011 was a single-family waterfront home located within the Sanibel beachfront Seaspray neighborhood.  This 4,192 SF home located at 1320 Seaspray Lane, Sanibel, FL 33957 features 4 BR / 4.5 BA.  The selling price was $2.5M/ $596 SF, which was 89% of the asking price.

Congratulations to selling Realtor Jim D. Hall of VIP Realty Group, Inc. for closing this transaction.

In May 2011 there were sixteen residential transactions in Lee County with a selling price over $1M, down from 18 in April, on par with 16 in March, down slightly from 17 in February and up from seven in January. In May 2011, the Fort Myers area luxury market had a fourth consecutive very active month.

Here is a resource if you are interested in learning more about Fort Myers luxury homes that are currently listed for sale.

Famed Captiva resort back in business

The much awaited re-opening of South Seas Island Resort, the grande dame of Southwest Florida tourist destinations, is today. The opening is being coined a “soft opening” as some of the resort is still in the process of being repaired from Hurricane Charlie devastation.

There is nothing soft about the full-page advertisements that South Seas is running in some large northern city Sunday newspapers. Certainly caught my attention!

Repairs are not complete at one of my favorite areas of South Seas, Lands End Resort, which is expected to open in the July time frame. There may be no better time than the present to acquire a treasured Lands End condominium. At this time the only Lands End unit on the market is #1654, a 3BR/3BA Penthouse listed at $1,799,500.

South Seas reopens, still work in progress [News-Press]
Resort opening brings hope to island businesses [NBC2]

In an apparent below market valued transaction, South Seas Resort was acquired by Blackstone Group LP for $367 million in cash. In addition to the Captiva and Sanibel assets, the transaction included hotel properties owned by MeriStar Hospitality in Key Largo and Clearwater.

This transaction is certainly a positive for the SW Florida market as the famed resort has been closed since damaged by Hurricane Charley in August 2005. The 3,500 guests that visited the resort on a weekly basis have over the years ignited the SW Florida real estate market.

South Seas resort sold [News-Press]

The grand dame of Southwest Florida resorts, South Seas, is rising from the rubble of Hurricane Charlie and is accepting reservations for its re-opening in February, 2006.

Charley washed and blew much of the 600-unit resort down to the foundation, so owners MeriStar Hospitality Corp. and dozens of individual unit owners agreed to pour more than $140-million into a 17-month rebuilding. Most of the bill is supposed to be paid by insurance, but how much is being negotiated.

“The result is a brand new property,” said Chris van der Baars, general manager of the resort once known as South Seas Plantation. “It’s so different that sometimes I end up in a spot where I have to wonder for a second exactly where I am and what it used to be.”

South Seas is a specialplace for me as it was during a vacation at this resort that I discovered the real estate investing opportunities that exist in SW Florida. I am amazed at just how many SW Floridians first exposure to the region was a vaction at South Seas.

Captiva resort reborn after Hurricane Charley damage [St. Petersburg Times]