A proposed apartment and retail development on one of the few remaining tracts of land near Florida Gulf Coast University won’t be marketing to students.
The Residential Group is seeking to build 370 multi-family units and 33,000 square feet of commercial and retail space at the southwest corner of Estero and Three Oaks Parkway. Cows have called the 31.3-acre property home for several decades as apartments, many marketing to FGCU students, home communities and retail centers have sprouted nearby.
The Residential Group introduced the project to the Estero Planning and Zoning Review Board this week. The presentation was a public information meeting and not a hearing. The builder has yet to file an application for the project and plans can be tweaked.
The plans call for 10 percent of the apartments to be studios, 10 percent to be three-bedroom and 40 percent each to be one and two-bedroom units, said Stacy Hewitt, the planner on the project
“We are not targeting students,” she said.
The developer is seeking a zoning change from commercial planned development to mixed-use. Lee County approved the property for 250,000 square feet of commercial space in 1994, almost 20 years before it became part of Estero after the village was incorporated.
The new plans call for three four-story buildings, three three-story buildings and four single-story structures. Two of the four-story buildings would face Estero Parkway. The bottom floors would be retail, while the upper floors would be apartments. The third four-story building would face Three Oaks Parkway and be apartments. The one-story buildings would face Estero Parkway and be for retail and commercial.
The Residential Group is seeking several deviations, including lowering the parking requirement from 2 to 1.75 spaces per unit and allowing two access points, one on Estero Parkway 602 feet from the Three Oaks Parkway intersection and one on Three Oaks Parkway, 355 feet from Estero Parkway.
Five members of the public, most from the Rookery Pointe community to the west, spoke, questioning the project. They were concerned with flooding and increased traffic. About 24,000 vehicles used Three Oaks south of Estero Parkway daily in 2025, according to Lee County statistics.
Steve Engle, president of the Rookery Pointe HOA, asked where the stormwater runoff would go. He also requested at least an 8-foot solid fence to divide the properties and was dubious that FGCU students wouldn’t be renters.
“We have lots of concerns and we don’t see very many answers,” he said.
Michael Payson, a partner at The Residential Group, reached by phone, said he didn’t want to comment yet.
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