Q: Are you able to tell us what is coming to the land that is being cleared next to the fire station on the south side of Immokalee Road just west of Randall Boulevard? —Adiel Pineiro, Golden Gate Estates
A: Local developers are still dealing with generalities rather than specifics when it comes to development plans on property recently cleared on the south side of Immokalee Road between Wilson and Randall boulevards in Golden Gate Estates.
Developers have proposed 125,000 square feet of commercial use, which includes a possible neighborhood retail center and up to 80,000 square feet of indoor, air-conditioned self-storage for the more than 10 acres of vacant land. Specific tenants are not lined up yet for the development, said Michel Saadeh, a principal of GM Advisors LLC, which owns the recently rezoned property with partner Habib Georges “George” Chami.
“We’re not there yet,” Saadeh said. “You’ve seen the public record. That’s all I can comment on. We’re not close to figuring out exactly what’s going to go in. So, we’re about a year or two out on that yet.”
When the developer was pressured that they must have some idea what they want to build there, Saadeh didn’t elaborate other than implying that residential development is not planned at that location.
“The idea is commercial leases. We’re going to use commercial, but we haven’t even tried to talk to tenants,” he said.
The site development plan is not finalized, so the developers do not have concrete plans for the future of that site, he said.
Commercial uses for a potential 45,000-square-foot retail center include general convenience commercial, including office and retail uses such as eating places that would not draw a great deal of traffic to the area, Saadeh said. The project is expected to be fully constructed and occupied within a few years.
The undeveloped property was acquired in early 2020 by Naples-based GM Advisors LLC. Saadeh, who has the controlling 51% interest of GM Advisors, is best known as the developer of the Vineyards community. Chami, the owner of Town Market on Preserve Lane across from Gulf Coast High School, has the remaining 49% of the corporation named from the combined initials of each of their first names.
“I’ve been a full-time resident of Collier County for 38 years and, as most of you know, I’ve been involved with quality developments throughout that time,” Saadeh said during a public hearing for the property this spring during a Collier County Commission meeting.
Two contiguous parcels fronting Immokalee Road and an additional parcel that extends to 24th Avenue Northeast were recently cleared on the western side of the canal across from North Collier Fire District Station 10. The property includes a county-owned 3-acre drainage area for Immokalee Road runoff. The developer and the county agreed to swap the county drainage lot with a 5-acre parcel that the developer owned along the canal at 24th Avenue. The new larger county lot along the canal allows for a wet retention area with an outfall discharge into the canal.
“The work that’s being done now is all just for the water retention, nothing else,” Saadeh said.
New development
Q: What’s the development that’s trying to be built between LaMorada and Ventana Pointe on Immokolee? Who’s the builder? —Chris Nicholas, Naples
A: Texas-based JLM Living plans to build a 305-unit multifamily community on more than 37 acres on the south side of Immokalee Road, just east of Woodcrest Drive.
The project, which includes 92 apartment units for workforce housing, was approved in September by the Collier County Commission. The horizontal single-family rental units will be attached and detached. About 10% of them will be duplexes.
JLM Living LLC, which builds, owns and operates developments, was established in 2021 by private investment firm JLM to address the lack of affordable housing. Naples land-use attorney Rich Yovanovich told commissioners that 30% of the homes will be income-restricted, with 46 renting for below 80% of the county’s area median income and 46 below 100%. Collier’s area median income is $104,300, so the apartments would rent for $1,958 for a one-bedroom to $2,713 for a three-bedroom at 100%, and $1,462 to $1,878 at 80%. The smallest rental will be 650 square feet.
After feedback from neighborhood information meetings, JLM increased buffers on both sides of the proposed community. It plans to build only one-story homes on the west side of the project near LaMorada homes, and to extend an existing preserve on the east side near Ventana Pointe.
School zone
As tilt-wall construction has Bear Creek Elementary School quickly taking shape at Immokalee Road and Moulder Drive, a charter school nearby on Immokalee Road has some construction projects of its own in the pipeline.
Naples Classical Academy is seeking permission to amend its campus site development plan to add a gymnasium on the western end of its existing school building at 10270 Immokalee Road. The future expansion was planned when the charter school was built in 2021.
In an unrelated application regarding a vacant outparcel lot in front of the school, Creative World School at Naples Classical Academy has requested a site development plan amendment for a proposed daycare center. The 10,258-square-foot daycare with 22 employees is proposed to serve 200 children, county records show.
The “Tim Aten Knows” weekly column answers local questions from readers. Email Tim at tim.aten@naplespress.com.
