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Lee County property appraiser outlines plan to occupy and restore CenturyLink building downtown
Summary
Lee County Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell told the Fort Myers Historic Preservation Commission that his office has signed a lease to occupy most of the 1961 office tower at the CenturyLink campus at 1520 Lee Street and described renovation, restoration and parking plans; he expects phased move-in and a target completion of 2026.
FORT MYERS — Lee County Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell briefed the Fort Myers Historic Preservation Commission on plans to lease and renovate the older office tower at the CenturyLink campus at 1520 Lee Street, saying the office intends to occupy several floors and restore public-facing features to reflect the building’s midcentury character.
“There's nothing specific for y'all to consider,” Caldwell told the commission, opening his presentation. He said the property appraiser’s office signed a lease last year to occupy almost all of the 1961 office tower on the CenturyLink campus and plans to renovate interior spaces and restore some original lobby elements. Caldwell said the office has about 90 staff who need daily parking; the team has leased roughly 100 of the campus’s 120 parking spaces.
Caldwell said work began this week on demolition and “for like-for-like finishes” on the fourth and fifth floors — meaning interior resurfacing, bathrooms and finishes rather than major layout changes — and that those floors would be the first to be occupied. He described the third floor as reserved for telecommunications infrastructure and said it will remain locked out from public access and from the office’s use because it houses critical fiber and legacy switching equipment.
On the exterior, Caldwell said Lumen (the campus owner/operator) is responsible for most building façades, but he characterized the plan as rehabilitation rather than major alteration: contractor cleaning and treatment tests have started, and he hopes the aluminum features and the flagpole can be restored “to its original design from 1961” rather than replaced. “My hope is that we can strip it and polish it and seal it and restore it to its original design,” he said.
Caldwell said the office will restore the original street-level lobby entrance where feasible, add an accessible ramp in the lobby area to meet accessibility needs and reuse salvaged materials where sensible. He said his team has already salvaged solid oak doors and oak veneer wainscoting from areas slated for demolition and plans to reuse those elements on the upper floors. Project consultant Tom Mayo (Harvard Jolley) and AIM Engineering are consulting on design and parking evaluation.
Asked about timing, Caldwell said the fourth- and fifth-floor work could be complete “sometime late spring, early summer” for initial occupancy and that a broader completion in 2026 is a reasonable target. He cautioned that older buildings can reveal unforeseen structural or mechanical conditions during demolition and that the schedule and some details may change once work uncovers those conditions.
The commission thanked Caldwell for the presentation and for an approach that emphasizes rehabilitation of character-defining features rather than wholesale replacement; Caldwell said he will coordinate with the commission if any exterior changes requiring review are proposed.
