Largest Lee County land deal closes, $100M for 1,745 acres in northwest Cape Coral

The most lucrative land deal in Lee County history just closed at a price of $100 million for 1,745 acres in northwest Cape Coral, where building up to 3,500 homes and commercial property to support it has been in the planning stages for almost two years.

Justin Thibaut and Billy Rollins of LSI Companies brokered the deal, which is the most lucrative in county history for raw, undeveloped land.

Forestar, a subsidiary of D.R. Horton, bought the land, LSI Companies officials said. Property records show it had been assembled and owned since April 2016 and June 2017 by GA-Pinnacle Cape Coral LLC, owned by Pinnacle Development Group, which developed River Hall in east Fort Myers.

Representatives from Forestar and Pinnacle could not be reached for comment.

Hudson Creek, as the land is known, has all the entitlements to build more than 3,500 homes. It can support up to 500,000 square feet of commercial space, 500 rooms worth of hotels, 150,000 square feet of office space, 425,000 square feet of retail space, an 800-bed assisted-living facility, and a 3,000-student university.

Thibaut called this a game-changer for northwest Lee County.

The land, which currently has a 4101 Burnt Store Road address, is east of that road and has Yucca Pen Strand to the north. Jacaranda Parkway and Wilmington Parkway border the property to the south. Chiquita Boulevard also will have access to the Hudson Creek development.

“This will be the largest mixed-use, master-planned community in the city of Cape Coral,” Thibaut said. “There’s 200 acres of commercial acreage on the frontage.

“It’s going to allow them to fast track all the utility expansion of Burnt Store Road quicker than what they anticipated. The other important thing is there’s now a solidified central point where the retail, commercial, office, medical and hospitality needs along Burnt Store Road have a place to go. It’s entitled for about everything in the commercial world.”

The workings of the deal began in 2022.

In March 2023, the city of Cape Coral approved the rezoning during a public hearing, paving the way for the deal.

“So for a good part of two years, we’ve been working to secure the right purchaser,” Thibaut said. “And Forestar did just that.”

According to the city’s agreement, the neighborhood roads will have sidewalks on both sides, and a spine road will cut through the middle of the property with bike lanes on both sides.

“What we want to achieve with this [Planned Unit Development] is to make sure that walkers, bicyclists and cars can also be accommodated on these roadways within the Hudson Creek development,” Chad Boyco, principal planner for Cape Coral, said during the public hearing.

This story is a repost from Gulfshore Business.