The question of what may officially replace what once was Bamboo Village in downtown Bonita Springs may be answered next month as City Council prepares to make a lease agreement with Barron Collier Cos. for a multi-use development of apartments, commercial and park space.
The 5.3-acre property in question, off of Old 41 on both sides of the Imperial River, is seen by the city as a catalyst area that is aimed to spur additional downtown development with the goal of creating a more vibrant area. The city has spent more than $20 million over the years to improve the downtown area through many investments such as on-street parking, stormwater improvements and even a new public library.
What’s in store for the previous Bamboo Village property in downtown Bonita Springs has been a big focus of the town since July of last year when Barron Collier first proposed its ideas for the high-value property. The developer entered an agreement with the city in November for the project known as Imperial Crossing.
Ahead of a final vote by council to either approve or deny the project, Barron Collier had a preliminary lease discussion Wednesday in front of council.
Last month, a concern was brought forth by council member Chris Corrie that if rent given to the city by Barron Collier is solely based on a percentage of rental fees earned, the city has no way of forecasting the amount of money received each pay period.
In response to this, Nick Casalanguida, Barron Collier’s senior vice president, said Wednesday the company will pay the city a base rent of $99,000 for the first year, generated from 2% of the predicted first year’s gross income. Starting the second year, the city will be paid an additional 2.5% of the development’s gross revenue minus the base rent. Every 10 years, the developer will look back at the previous decade and adjust the base rent based off the 2% average.
“Even though we think historically apartment projects throughout Southwest Florida have never gotten to the point of being defunct especially in a location like this, but we cover that as well too,” Casalanguida said.
Additionally, the books that show the gross revenue earned will have open access to the city’s financial staff.
A major aspect of this development is the waterfront park area that will be public access with concession stands on both sides of the river. The conceptual site plan shows how the mixed-use development has a considerable amount of park space on both sides of the Imperial River and wrapping around all the units.
Casalanguida went on to explain that after conversations with staff, they agreed to let the city have more control over the park space instead of leasing all property to Barron Collier.
“We’re only going to lease around the buildings and structures and then we’ll do a common area maintenance association to maintain the property,” Casalanguida said. “I don’t think we have a problem putting two people on staff for that, we’ll make it 50/50. Our goal is to both maintain the property in impeccable condition.”
A challenge faced by the developer is where one of the water and sewer mains of the city is located. When Old 41 was widened, the city placed part of a main in the Bamboo Village Parcel right next to a proposed building.
“That’s one that that is going to come up for a pretty intense review by our team over the next 90 days as we go into the (due diligence) phase of this,” Casalanguida said.
Although Barron Collier is only one step away from getting approval for the lease, there are still many unknowns as to what to expect for the finished product as this will be the first project of its kind in the downtown Bonita Springs area. The city has reached out to real estate service firm CBRE to receive a business analysis of the grounding.
“CBRE will be looking for a couple of different things,” Bonita Springs City Attorney Derek Rooney said. “The Bonita downtown market is an unproven market so it’s very difficult for them to say ‘This is what the rent should be,’ so they’re going to be looking at it from the purposes of pro forma.’”
The purpose of pro forma statements is to foresee ways a company may perform in the future through analyzing what if scenarios. CBRE will be consulting with Barron Collier on construction methods to support rent prices. The developer may be faced with more uncertainties than normal with the Imperial Crossing project.
“We’re a little nervous quite frankly about the pricing but we’re here, we’re not walking away,” Casalanguida said.
Near the end of the discussion, the council appeared in favor of the proposed lease agreement between the city and Barron Collier. “You [Barron Collier], as a company, have gone out of your way at least I believe, to make a really appealing downtown that hopefully works for both parties,” Laura Carr said.
Upon approval of the second hearing of the project Oct. 6, Barron Collier will go into the design and permitting phase, submitting permits to the city by the first of the year. Construction would then begin in the first half of 2024.
