Collier County Planning Commission approved amending the planned Collier Boulevard Commerce Center to allow for multifamily dwelling units. The area is at the northwest quadrant of the Collier Boulevard and Interstate 75 interchange in the eastern part of the county near Paradise Coast Sports Complex and the under construction Great Wolf Lodge. 

Situated in Collier County Activity Center No. 9, the land was approved to be a commerce center in 2001, resulting in the approval of 433 yet-to-be-built residential units on the western 43 acres of the property. The eastern parcel, which currently allows for 240,000 square feet of retail on 25 acres, is what Benderson Development is seeking to amend to allow 16 multifamily units per acre. The two parcels have different owners.  

Although this will bring more traffic to the area, Florida Department of Transportation is in the design and construction phase to make traffic improvements to the Collier Boulevard-I-75 interchange. Additionally, the county has plans to expand Collier Boulevard from four to six lanes between Golden Gate canal and Green Boulevard. Philip DiMaria, representing the applicant, said these improvements demonstrate the project is consistent with the county’s growth management plan.“FDOT and Collier County are both making large infrastructure improvements as it relates to transportation,” DiMaria said. “There are FDOT-planned improvements, including the improvements to the interchange with the cloverleaf that’ll improve access and circulation around the site and near the site.”  

Although affordable housing on this piece of land was considered in the early 2000s, there is now no workforce housing component to this project.  

“During the recession, those pieces and portions of the affordable housing commitment were removed,” DiMaria said. “And now here we are in 2023, staring in the face of potentially another recession. We’ve already been down that path. So at this time, there’s no interest in utilizing an affordable housing commitment moving forward to get the densities requested.”  

The amendment to Collier Boulevard Commerce Center was unanimously approved by the planning commission and will be brought to the Board of County Commissioners at a later date.