FL - Despite difficulties, construction is booming in Southwest Florida
The Big Three, Plus One: Home builders Lennar, Pulte Homes and D.R. Horton—nicknamed “the Big Three”—continue to dominate in Southwest Florida. But they are running out of land on which to build in Lee County, other than off Corkscrew Road, where thousands of homes are already being planned and built. That means the strategy for the future shifts to Charlotte County, said Darin McMurray, the regional vice president for Lennar.
With concrete blocks stacked on the left lot, and a near-finished house on the right, Jim Toto opens the door of the canal-front, Gulf-access home for a tour.
There’s the owner’s suite split apart from two other bedrooms, with the gourmet kitchen, den and living room in between. There’s a pool being finished behind the house, and a view of the Sunfish Canal, which feeds just to the north into the Gator Slough Canal.
There’s a two-car garage, a walk-in pantry and a laundry room full of storage cabinets, the better to appease transplanted Northerners who no longer will have their typical attic and basement storage space.
Toto, owner of Toto Custom Homes, bought five adjacent lots earlier this year and went right to work, trying to satisfy a seemingly unquenchable thirst to build, build and build some more across Southwest Florida … despite interest rates that keep climbing and costs that are doing the same.
Though trending downward, inflation persists for numerous reasons, including challenges to finding labor and supplies.
The trend of new construction in the region, despite its difficulties, only will intensify as newcomers continue flocking to the area, and investors continue securing properties to rebuild along the coastal areas that were devastated by Hurricane Ian on Sept. 28, 2022.
As Gulfshore Business explores different facets of construction and development across the region, Toto shows one corridor that keeps filling in with new construction of single-family homes.
Northwest Cape Coral
The northwest portion of Cape Coral, off Burnt Store Road, continues to fill with new homes similar to the ones Toto has been building.
“First and foremost, I think it’s because the prices of property, not too long ago, were very affordable,” Toto says. “Because it was underdeveloped as opposed to the southwest. And I think people are now seeing the growth in northwest Cape Coral that’s making it even more attractive.”
More shopping centers are starting to take shape along the corridor, he said. Toto’s own new office building is at 2612 Santa Barbara Blvd., a corridor full of retail and office space—that’s a type of environment that has yet to take off along Burnt Store Road.
Toto recently forged a business alliance with Ed Stratton of Stratton Mortgage for financing. Toto Custom Homes now functions as a one-stop shop for home buying, with Toni Ann Toto assisting customers as a Realtor, Jim Toto, her husband, serving as the home builder and Stratton working for the buyer on financing.
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“Your office space—such as doctors, attorneys, dentists, child care, stuff like that—is coming,” Toto says of northwest Cape Coral. “That tells me that the residential growth was outpacing the commercial. They didn’t have the amenities here like they do in the southwest, like Del Prado and Santa Barbara Boulevard.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, lots in this region were selling for $60,000 to $80,000. Now, they are going for $225,000 to $500,000, depending on the location and whether they come with a seawall.
Toto said he still kicks himself for not buying more waterfront land to develop before the pandemic. He lives in northwest Cape Coral, works there, invests there. His company is building 17 homes this year. He would like to boost that number up to 40, but he doesn’t want to get too big, either.
“My name is on the company,” Toto says. “My name is there, because I care. I want to oversee my jobs. I want to oversee every single project that we’re doing. I need to make sure that when someone walks into that house, that it’s perfect.”
The northwest Cape stands out from other areas in that independent home builders—and buyers who don’t want to be paying homeowner’s association fees—can thrive there.
“I see it as a diamond in the rough, really,” Toto says. “That’s why I invest all my eggs here. There’s so much Gulf access here. The amount of Gulf access here—we as a family love it.”
“You think about Charlotte County,” McMurray says. “And now Charlotte almost reminds me of Lee County many, many years ago, when we were just a regular town. Now, Lee County has boomed. Where else are you going to go? You’re going to go a little bit north. I think Charlotte County is going to be a great little county to be in. And it’s led by Babcock Ranch.”
At Babcock Ranch, a few more than 2,500 homes have been built of a planned 19,500.
“It’s like a little city,” he says.
But there’s another development in play, and it’s near Charlotte County’s economic center.
Murdock Village, off U.S. 41, has the West Port development. It’s about 2,400 planned homes on 452 acres with a planned 200,000 square feet of adjacent commercial development.
“It’s really the heart of Charlotte County,” McMurray says. “It’s really a center hub. Babcock Ranch is doing great. You think about Corkscrew Road—Cameratta Properties has done a great job. And now you have to think about what’s coming up with Kingston (east of Estero). Corkscrew Road is a great growth area.
“And then you look at Daniels Parkway. We’ve got Timber Creek. We’ve got that community coming up, as well.”
While the Big Three tend to build homes as part of large-scale developments, Christopher Alan Homes has found a niche in those but also in smaller projects.
Spun off in 2017 from a company that used to do contract work for Lennar, Pulte Homes and D.R. Horton, Christopher Alan Homes has ascended to fourth place for building homes in the region and 108th across the country. It builds about 500 homes a year and has found a foothold in those same two growing Charlotte County communities, said CEO Ian Schmoyer.
“The big guys are constrained,” Schmoyer says. “Everybody’s after land right now, especially the nationals. We’re a small company. So, we’re heavy into spot lots or gathered lots, which in Southwest Florida are readily available. It still seems like everybody is moving here. So, I don’t think you’ll see much in terms of a price decrease.”
