Alico Road sees exponential growth amid a growing Southwest Florida population

Reporter: Elizabeth Biro Writer: Nicholas Karsen
Published: Updated:
Traffic on Alico Road in Lee County. Credit: WINK News

Much like Southwest Florida, the Alico Road corridor continues to grow.

The Director of Lee County’s Economic Development Office called the corridor containing Southwest Florida International Airport, Alico Road and U.S. 41 the centerpiece of the county’s economic development efforts.

One in three jobs in Lee County and one in four in Southwest Florida will be in the Alico corridor.

Through humble beginnings, the corridor has become the hub for almost everything, including Interstate 75, shopping plazas, apartment complexes and large warehouses.

WINK News spoke with Marlene Thompson, Founder and President of Pravada, a private-label skincare and haircare company about relocating her business from Naples to Alico Business Park.

“We relocated here very early on, and I think we just sort of made the right decision,” said Thompson. “When we were working with the developer and real estate agents, we discovered that this area was supposed to be an up-and-coming area for Southwest Florida industrial growth.”

Thompson relocated her business in 2022, telling WINK that the move was a little strategy and a little luck, shortly after Tesla and Amazon built locations nearby.

“It is the availability of the new building; it’s attracted a lot of people,” said Thompson. “I know that land values have gone up and space is more limited.”

Thompson’s employees have had an easier time commuting to work while having access to everything they need.

However, the looming topic that she is preparing for is the exponential population growth in Southwest Florida.

“I think the biggest issue that the area’s going to run into is the traffic on Alico,” said Thompson. “We’re trying to moderate and accommodate for the expected growth.”

The Florida Department of Transportation mentioned that while Alico Road is a county road, increased traffic is on their radar. FDOT then continued to state that road projects where Alico Road intersects with both I-75 and U.S. 41 are being worked on.

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