Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Economic Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council donates city lot to nonprofit and approves $11.5M sale of former News-Press site to Midtown Catalyst
Summary
Council approved donating 3066 Michigan Avenue to LEED Builders Care for permanent affordable housing construction and authorized a second amendment to sell the former News-Press site and Old Fire Station No. 1 to Midtown Catalyst LLC for $11,500,000; motions carried with no recorded opposition.
Fort Myers City Council approved two major land decisions: a donation of a surplus lot to a nonprofit for affordable housing and an amendment to a purchase-and-sale agreement for the former News-Press site.
Council approved Resolution 2026-2 declaring 3066 Michigan Avenue surplus real property and donating the residential lot by municipal deed to LEED Builders Care, a 501(c)(3), for permanent affordable housing construction. Mayor Anderson said the nonprofit had previously helped build a home for a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and characterized the donation as a "win-win" for the city.
On a separate item, the council approved a second amendment to the purchase and sale agreement assigning disposition of roughly 9.84 acres of the former News-Press site and Old Fire Station No. 1 to Midtown Catalyst LLC for $11,500,000. Council members moved and passed the motion without recorded opposition during the city-manager items segment.
Council also authorized related procurement actions tied to the Midtown Catalyst redevelopment, including an EPA Brownfields cleanup grant application submitted on behalf of the developer and a separate construction contract award to Vantage Construction Services LLC for $4,895,617 to support parcel work.
Next steps: execute the donation deed and purchase-and-sale amendment, proceed with Brownfields grant application and close the Vantage Construction contract as authorized.
