FORT MYERS, Fla. — A contentious city council vote, 5 in favor to 2 opposed, is a move away from luxury high-rises. The old News-Press site on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard will soon be 614 multi-family housing units. 100 of them will be marked as affordable housing units.
City Council approved the more modest plan for apartments, just blocks south of where more luxury buildings are going up.
"We need to quit changing our communities in a way that the people of this city can't even enjoy," Councilwoman Teresa Watkins Brown said while explaining this is a direct ask of her constituents.
Johnathan Vilma, former NFL linebacker, turned real-estate developer is behind the project. After the vote was in, he said he was very excited about it.
Mayor Kevin Anderson is one of the two who voted against it, to set a precedent.
"If we can find the proper space to make your proposal work, I'm all for that but I don't think this is the proper site, this is the first major development of that piece of land for midtown, and we need to set a standard that's high so the rest of midtown is developed properly," Anderson said.
Councilman Liston Bochette says he voted against this development because he did not feel he had enough information to do so.
This split over what it best for the city and the stretch just south of downtown, on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard brought out an audience of people. Lorna Washington, a member of the Lee Interfaith for Empowerment group was one attendee.
"We already have luxury apartments, there are apartments going up all over the city, and most of the workers can't afford it. All up and down colonial, 82, everywhere you go all these developers are building apartments and charging these high rents," Washington said.
Vilma says he values the council's feedback to focus on transparency and communication in the process.
"Our mission of what we're trying to do, as far as bringing real progress to the city and especially to the news press site... I think it resonates with a lot of council members," Vilma said.
In this area, there's a lack of access to nutritious food with plenty of corner stores but grocery stores miles away. The proposal comes with a grocery store and an acre of green space near the housing. Vilma says he's working to bring more jobs to the area as well.
