Cape Coral businesses take on rent increases in 2024

Every year for the past three years, businesses in Cape Coral have seen rent increases, according to the city. Added together, retail businesses in the Cape have seen a 15.6% increase.

This comes after the City of Cape Coral released their Quarterly Economic and Business Development Report in their agenda for next week’s Committee of the Whole meeting.

“Business is Business”

Vinny Tuminello and his family have owned their restaurant, Sicily Trattoria, in South Cape for 15 years. He says raising rent is a sign of the times, but it’s worth it to keep their doors open.

“So, rent did increase in 2024, but it is 2024. So we expect everything is free. So when we get we deliver that costs more money. Insurance does cost money, and taxes cost more money. Everything costs more money,” said Tuminello.

He attributes rising rent prices to not only the economy but also the popularity of Cape Coral over the years. He says as the area continues to grow, they continue to see prices jump.

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As prices around him rise, he is careful not to raise his own prices at his restaurant. Aside from the food service, his prices affect the customers he sees come through their doors.

“You can only charge your guests so much are dependent kind of customers. Yeah. Because if you if you charge them 15% More, chances are they’ll find someplace else that doesn’t have those increases. But in the same sense, I mean, it is the cost of the business,” Tuminello said.

Volunteering to pay the bills

Down the plaza from Sicily Trattoria is that shop, Cape Coral Re: made. Executive Director Shannon Barkdull said they, too, feel the raise in rent.

“This space isn’t free. As a nonprofit, a lot of people think that we get free rent and for utilities. And that’s just not the case. So we did get a little bit of a rent increase at the first of the year. This is our first year in this space and so we’re having to make up on the back end,” said Barkdull.

Barkdull describes Cape Coral Re: made as a “Nonprofit run by volunteers with a passion to create purpose by repurposing. We have artists, makers, and entrepreneurs who, in exchange for our service, get to sell their items in the store.”

With handmade items displayed throughout their store, each item is carefully created and worked on with making rent in mind. As rents rise, she said that only drives their production further.

“Just busy producing more, we see that what’s going out is reflecting what’s coming in. And so we just we’re making adjustments as we go,” said Barkdull.

Each purchase has a purpose at Cape Coral Remade. The proceeds from merchandise sold support local special needs students, entrepreneurs, and “new residents to Cape Coral, who come here to find community,” she said.

While rents may be rising in the Cape, businesses like Tuminello and Barkdull’s are continuing to push through to keep their open signs lit.