One of the few pieces of farmland left on Gladiolus Drive in south Fort Myers has sold and will join its neighboring properties as being developed to become part of the surrounding suburbia.
The Residential Group, an Atlanta-based development company, paid $19.97 million for the 31.9 acres on the southeast corner of Gladiolus Drive and Winkler Road.
The transaction combines what had been two parcels with separate ownership and almost draws to a complete close the era of agriculture along Gladiolus Drive, which once had been one of the world’s top sources of gladiolus flowers.
More recently, the land at 8591 Gladiolus Drive had been leased for about 40 years by Biggar Farms until it shut down its U-pick operation in 2022.
A 2022 story in The News-Press about the farm closing demonstrated how much farming used to take place there. Biggar Farms once had been leasing about 900 acres, an amount that dwindled to less than 30 acres.
Almost all the surrounding land has been developed into single-family home communities, shopping centers and self-storage units, making the site a perfect infill development opportunity, the brokers said.
The sale spanned 21 months from when the brokers got it under contract to when it closed Jan. 16.
Alex Henderson and Max Molloy even worked for a different brokerage firm when the new owner of the land signed the contract. At the time, they were working for Fischler Property Co. Now, they work for LSI Companies.
Molloy explained the length of time it took to close the deal.
“For a site that needed a rezone and went through two hurricanes — we were right in there,” Molloy said. “That’s what it took to get the development order. This site had been under contract once before. Originally, they were trying to entitle it for even more units.
“I think it’s going to be well received by the market. I think people are going to love living there.”
Winkler & Gladiolus, the current project name, plans to have 386 apartment units that will be spread across four, five-story buildings and four townhomes. There will be a clubhouse and amenity area, plus a sky lounge, fitness center, dog park, tennis and pickleball courts and a walking path around a 7-acre lake.
Another 7 acres will be set aside for commercial development.
Construction on the apartments is set to begin in March, according to The Residential Group’s website, which shows most of the company’s projects are located in Georgia. The Residential Group also completed projects in Raleigh, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Crest at Naples, a 200-unit apartment community at 11496 Sumter Grove Circle in Naples.
The Winkler & Gladiolus units will include up to 124 affordable housing units reserved for eligible households and 77 market rate units that will have grey water technology — a system that can reuse wastewater from showers, baths and washing machines, according to Lee County records.
“It will be a catalyst for that intersection there,” Henderson said. “It’s going to take a few years for it to come together. But if you look at the five-year outlook, it’s going to create a lot of economic opportunity. When you’re putting that much money into it, you’ve got to look at the long term.”
