A 45,000-square-foot warehouse that had been manufacturing medical masks since the COVID-19 pandemic began will be getting a far different use.  

Tesla, the nation’s market share leader in selling electric vehicles, signed a 10-year lease for the former mask manufacturing warehouse, which will be used as a regional service center.  

Located at 16180 Lee Road, the warehouse is to the north of Alico Road, just west of Interstate 75. It’s part of the Gulf Coast Industrial Campus, which already includes 107 paved parking spaces in a fenced-in, concrete-paved yard, providing security and plenty of parking.   

“This turned out to be a perfect location for them,” said Gary Tasman, CEO of Cushman & Wakefield in Southwest Florida, who brokered the undisclosed deal. “This facility, it’s really ideal for what they do. It was the best of what was available, complimented by the best location in Southwest Florida for a regional service center.”  

Tesla of Fort Myers began reporting its regional sales in April 2021 and finished last year with 1,573 sales. Through July of this year, Tesla has sold 1,235 vehicles, putting it on pace to exceed last year’s total.  

Tesla could not be reached for comment.  

“It would make sense to me that EV will get a quick foothold in Florida, in general, because of how strong our electric infrastructure is,” Tasman said. “Our grid is much stronger. You hear about brownouts and blackouts in California all the time. I don’t hear about that in Florida. Even during a hurricane and after a hurricane, FPL and LCEC really do a great job. Because they’re trained because of the frequency of the storms. They can get us up faster. I would say we probably have one of the most resilient electric grids and one of the smartest electric grids in the country. So it would make sense that electric vehicles would be more accepted and more in demand here, which precipitates the need for a new service center here.”