Lee County's neighborhoods: Alva to Cape Coral

ALVA

North of the Caloosahatchee River, from North River Road at River Oaks east to Hendry County; south of the river roughly a mile, extending eastward from Hickey Creek.

Buyers who prefer a rural lifestyle are discovering the tiny Caloosa-hatchee River town of Alva and its quaint, pleasant surroundings, such as the century-old United Methodist Church, the oldest church in continuous use in Southwest Florida; and Fort Denaud, a little Caloosahatchee community sandwiched between Alva and LaBelle with star appeal-portions of the Sean Connery movie Just Cause were filmed there. Alva, says Bette Bollinger, of Coldwell Banker Real Estate, "has some of the most beautiful land you've ever laid eyes on. There is property there that has amazing oaks; you could walk for hours and never run into anyone."

The area's rural comprehensive plan restricts developments to a low density, and five- to 50-acre tracts offer the possibility to own horses and grow citrus. "We're still very country here," says Todd Lauer, an Alva alum who now owns Intracoastal Real Estate. But don't count on finding any large pieces of property; most, says Lauer, are under contract or sold. What you will find are the occasional smaller five- to 10-acre parcels and escalating prices. Properties that started around $270,000 before those large tracts were spoken for are now priced from the mid-$600,000s; and some are priced well above $3 million, says Lauer.

New planned developments near Alva have begun to emulate their neighbors to the south with a slate of amenities and eager buyers. Eleven of the 27 lots in Serengeti, a 31-acre riverfront community that will offer a clubhouse, tennis and a boat ramp, were snapped up right away, including all five riverfront lots priced from $439,000 to $499,000, that will someday boast 3,500-square-foot-plus homes. Remaining available lots, priced from $149,000 to $239,000, are suitable for 2,700-square-foot homes, says Lauer. A second development, the 40-acre Hickey's Creekside, taking shape on one of Southwest Florida's most scenic backwaters, is offering one-acre-plus homesites.

Industry watchers speculate that more gated communities could soon be as common in Alva as they are in Bonita Springs and Naples. Sarasota-based Benderson Development has acquired the 1,728-acre Argo Ranch along Telegraph Creek. Preliminary plans call for an equestrian-friendly subdivision with lots of 10 acres or more.

BOCA GRANDE

Just off the northwest corner of Lee County's shoreline, accessible across the Boca Grande Causeway from southern Charlotte County.

Boca Grande is now famed as a secluded retreat for the wealthy, but in the late 1800s it was a major port for the thriving phosphate industry. The arrival of the Charlotte Harbor & Northern Railroad in the early 1900s not only opened up the supply line for phosphate, it also brought wealthy Northerners who heard of the island's famous tarpon fishing and out-of-the-way location.

Today, Boca Grande is a playground for the rich, famous and powerful, regularly hosting the Bush family and other politicos attracted by the iso-lated appeal of the slender seven-mile stretch of Gasparilla Island. Accessible by car via Charlotte County, Boca Grande has caused tourists in neighboring Lee County to echo the old lament: You can't get there from here. Laid back and less crowded than its barrier-island neighbors of Pine Island, Sanibel Island, Captiva Island and Fort Myers Beach, this northern Lee County town attracts residents with its privacy and small-town atmosphere. There's a golf course, the quiet purr of electric vehicles-the preferred mode of travel-and charming little shops. Getting in comes with a price: $350,000 will get you a one-bedroom, one-bath condo with just 700 square feet and a water view, while single-family homes start with a rare $409,900 listing-a two-bedroom, two-bath home built in 1900-and pass the $4 million mark for a 1967-built three-bedroom, six-bath home on the water. Vacant lots are another story, with one, listed at $8 million, offering 150,000 undeveloped square feet and a prime ribbon of sand fronting turquoise water.

BONITA SPRINGS

Bonita Beach

From Bonita Beach Road and Hickory Boulevard north to the bridge linking Fort Myers Beach.

Except for tackle shops and older fish restaurants, few signs remain of Bonita Springs' historic ties to the fishing industry. Beach shops, newer seafood restaurants, boutiques and new homes dot Bonita Beach Road west of U.S. 41, becoming more residential as you island-hop from Little to Big Hickory islands and make the curve that will take you northwest up Hickory Boulevard. On Bonita Beach Road, plans are underway for the gated community of Bonita Village, a 160-condo mini town with boutiques, a fly-fishing store, deli, coffee shop and entertainment venues.

Hickory Boulevard-a.k.a. Bonita Beach because its western boundary is the shell-strewn sands of the Gulf-offers rental properties, condominiums and a mixture of owner-occupied original cottages, new Old Florida-style stilt homes and multiple-story Mediterranean mansions. Bonita Beach extends six miles along Hickory Boulevard to the edge of Fort Myers Beach, but most residents inhabit only the southern two miles. The rest is mangrove-carpeted public land anchored by Lovers Key State Park, home to the area's only dog beach. Homes on the east side of Hickory Boulevard also offer waterfront views of the back-bay waters. Buying opportunities range from smaller condos priced in the mid-$150,000s to off-beach properties starting around $500,000, to $2 million-plus Gulf-front homes. The top listing last fall: a $6.295 million Gulf-front home with five bedrooms, eight baths, hardwood floors and a four-story foyer.

Bonita Springs

From Bonita Springs Road north to Estero, and from the Gulf to the end of the pavement east of I-75.

Longtimers attribute the rise of Bonita Springs to Bonita Bay, a 2,400-acre master-planned community that was wild land when plans for its development were announced 20 years ago. Today, the upscale community is surrounded by tony shops, shopping plazas and other gated communities; and thousands call Bonita Springs, now an incorporated city, home. Bonita Bay's latest builder spec home tipped the scales at $5.6 million, a far cry from the $250,000 those earlier homes fetched. Boasting some of the highest mainland prices in Lee County, Bonita Springs continues to boom with a number of gateless neighborhoods, among them San Carlos Estates and Bonita Springs Golf & Country Club, where a recent listing, a $189,000 bungalow, was a bargain. Several neighborhoods brush against the Imperial River, the site of an annual holiday boat parade, including Bonita Farms, where 1.25-acre lots and an absence of restrictions allow homeowners to own goats, horses and trucks.

Old Bonita Springs, a county-designated historic neighborhood along the Imperial River on Old 41 Road, is home to a growing Hispanic population and landmarks like Everglades Wonder Gardens and the Shangri-La, a shuttered but picturesque resort with towering moss-draped trees that diffuse the light. Much of waterfront Bonita Springs-property along Estero Bay and a variety of rivers-has been turned into gated communities, mainly Bonita Bay and WCI Communities' Pelican Landing and The Colony Golf & Bay Club. Prices reflect the eclectic mix that is Bonita Springs-manufactured homes in 55-plus communities in the $120,000s, golf villa condos at Golf Villas of Bonita Springs for $155,000, and resale homes in Bonita Bay that push $3 million.

New home opportunities will no doubt follow the planned extension of Three Oaks Parkway south to Bonita Beach Road, where developers are already assembling properties. Colonial Homes plans to develop 169 acres at the intersection for a 667-unit community, and a 513-acre parcel on Hawthorne at Old US 41 Road and Three Oaks is slated for 1,400 homes.

BUCKINGHAM, OLGA, FORT MYERS SHORES

East of East Fort Myers along the Caloosa-hatchee River to Hickey Creek and north of Lehigh Acres.

The rural lifestyle is in demand. Just ask Dan Dodrill, whose Horse Creek community enjoyed a tremendous launch in spring 2004, as prospective buyers lined up to buy 113 one-acre-plus homesites on Orange River Boulevard. The Bonita Bay Group reports brisk sales in its nearby Verandah, a 1,456-acre community along the Orange River. "It wasn't very long ago that we thought Bonita Bay was sticking its neck out. Clearly, The Bonita Bay Group is not all by themselves anymore," says real estate broker Ross McIntosh, noting that big-time builders like Levitt Homes, David Weekley Homes, Beazer Homes and G.L. Homes are beginning to stake a claim in the Buckingham area. Also, look for communities with names like Portico, Caloosahatchee Estates, Caloosa Preserve and Caloosa Harbor to break ground in the next year.

Buyers, it seems, want to escape the hustle and bustle while remaining close to downtown Fort Myers, and they're doing that in Olga and Buckingham, where the county-designated Buckingham Rural Comm-unity Preserve Area limits density to no more than one home per acre. Eastern Lee County is evolving from a cattle-and-citrus neighborhood to one that favors a contemporary country setting, and communities like Verandah and Horse Creek are cloaked in acres of old-growth oaks, native sabal palm hammocks and remnants of orange groves. Outside the gates, homes on one or more acres along the Orange River are becoming rare, says Bollinger, who has lived on the river for 25 years. "I get calls every day from someone who wants to buy, but the land is so scarce," she says. "It's getting difficult to price a home because the market is moving so quickly." It's also moving into Labelle, 30 miles from Fort Myers.

Increasing prices are forcing many yearning for country life to look elsewhere. "It's getting more difficult for young first-time homebuyers who want to live in a rural community. There's nothing with one acre," says Bollinger, noting that properties that sold for $80,000 a couple of years ago have almost quadrupled in value.

At the Buckingham Air Park near Lee County Mosquito Control headquarters in the southeast corner of Buckingham, homes with garage airplane hangars and access to the runways of the former Buckingham Army Air Field sell for roughly $350,000 and up; most residents own planes.

Closer to Fort Myers, a spider web of tidy streets, some jutting into the river, characterizes Fort Myers Shores, cradled by Route 31 to the west, the Caloosahatchee to the north and Palm Beach Boulevard to the south. Its proximity to Verandah is helping to drive up prices, say realtors, who report that homes in the 20-year-old neighborhood are selling for about $100,000 to $250,000. Prices on the river are even higher. In other nearby communities, Paradise Shores for example, prices are following suit. Homes that sold for $60,000 in the mid-1990s now might be worth twice as much. Prices are also rising in neighboring Olga to the east, which boasts more rural surroundings.

CAPE CORAL

Southwest Florida's largest metropolitan area, Cape Coral, is sizzling. The city is issuing building permits at a blistering rate, which by Sept. 30, 2004, was up 41 percent (5,392 single-family permits vs. 3,819 in third quarter 2003). The arrival of Naples-based builders and developers hints at the growing sophistication of the Cape Coral market, as newly built homes expand to 8,000 square feet. "Lot prices," says McIntosh, "are going up and up and up." Multilevel buildings with a "Mediterranean flair" are being introduced into the city's downtown. "Cape Coral is serious about downtown development," says McIntosh.

Cape Coral Waterfront

Navigating Cape Coral's secondary roadways can be tricky. More than 400 miles of canals are woven throughout the 60,000 acres of Southwest Florida's largest city, placing many of its homesites on waterfront and creating a network of dead-end streets. Lakes and the Caloosahatchee River are thrown into the mix, creating abundant waterfront opportunities mainly through existing homes that offer teardown possibilities.

Values along Cape Coral's waterfront have leaped upward since the 1990s. The most expensive communities face the Fort Myers shore a mile across the river. Properties run from $900,000 ($700,000 just a year ago) to $10 million, especially in the new and upscale Tarpon Point Marina and in Cape Harbour, the site of the city's most expensive home. These newer gated communities provide luxury home-buying opportunities with planned resort-like amenities. Entry-level prices, $300,000 just a year ago, are now upward of $400,000 in the new condo project just completed in Cape Harbour, says Lenora Marshall, an agent with Century 21 Sunbelt.