In February, the $125 million Bimini Square community opened to fanfare in the South Cape entertainment district. That may have been merely a warm-up act for developer Larry Nygard, president of North Dakota-based Crown Development, and his partners.
At a Cape Coral City Council workshop July 29, Nygard proposed Bimini East, an adjoining mixed-use community four times the size and cost of Bimini Square. The $500 million, eight-year project would combine up to 900 residences, hotel rooms, shopping, offices, infrastructure improvements and waterfront amenities.
Like its smaller counterpart to the west, the proposed project would combine public and private investment — including land swaps, tax-increment financing and grants — subject to approval by Council and the Community Redevelopment Agency at future public meetings.
The Bimini East plan would fill out the city’s Bimini District, transforming 34 acres along Cape Coral Parkway East from Coronado Parkway to Four Freedoms Park and the Bimini Basin waterfront overlooking Bimini Square. Today, the area includes vacant land surrounded by construction fencing, existing apartments, businesses, such as an ice cream shop and auto repair business, and a protected burrowing owl habitat.