Council gives staff direction to draft developer agreement for Bimini East redevelopment

The Cape Coral City Council on July 29 directed staff to proceed with drafting a developer's agreement for the proposed Bimini East redevelopment after hearing a presentation from Crown Development and related staff briefings on financing and public assets.

Larry Nygaard, president of Crown Development, described a mixed‑use vision for roughly 33 acres in the downtown Bimini Basin area featuring retail, office space, waterfront promenades, public plazas, two hotels, and a marina. Nygaard said the plan could include up to about 900 residential units at the high end, roughly 130,000 square feet of ground‑floor retail, and phased construction that could roll out over roughly 10 years. He said the scheme is intended to activate the waterfront with a promenade linking Bimini Square to the new development and a marina that a feasibility study found achievable.

City staff framed the agreement as a combination of land sale and CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) incentives. Assistant City Manager Mark Mason said the city would convey about 22 acres to the developer on a purchase basis, with a $26.0 million total purchase price amortized over 10 years and structured so blocks of land are paid as permits are pulled. The CRA proposes tax‑increment financing (TIF) rebates and impact‑fee credits capped by the term sheet; Mason said staff estimates up to $45 million in TIF rebate value on this site and identified other caps for demolition and impact fee credits.

Council members pressed staff on fiscal exposure and timing. Several members asked how the CRA would carry the short‑term commercial paper now used to buy and assemble parcels (the city reported roughly $45.2 million in acquisition costs to date and about $11 million more to acquire remaining privately owned structures). Staff said the CRA will repay city borrowing over the life of the CRA and will present a more detailed debt‑service analysis back to council. City staff also confirmed the 4 Freedoms Park parcel would be conveyed but that legally binding restrictions would run with the land requiring it to remain a public recreational area and retain the '4 Freedoms Park' name.

Council members asked detailed questions about parking, flood‑resilient site elevation, the number of marina slips and whether slips would be publicly available. Nygaard and staff said parking would be handled through multiple structured parking garages (approximately five locations in the concept) and that marina slips would be public. On flood risk, the developer said the site would be raised (examples cited included a roughly 4‑foot elevation step) and use buried exfiltration trenches for stormwater.

After the presentation and extended Q&A, a majority of council members expressed support for continuing negotiations and asked staff to draft a formal developer's agreement based on the term sheet and to return with the finalized contract and additional fiscal detail. The motion was carried by consensus rather than a formal roll‑call vote.

Next steps: staff will continue negotiations, finalize financial and legal terms in a draft developer's agreement, and return to council for review and vote.