By a vote of 90 to 0 members of Beach Baptist voted to sell 2 acres of their property for $4 million to a developer. Pastor Shawn Critser is expected to sign the paperwork to close the deal on Wednesday. Proceeds from the sale will be used to build a new church.
Crister not only showed us an early rendering of the proposed new church, which would sit on the back of the property, he shared a concept of what the developer is considering putting on the 2 acres. The church is keeping 1.5 acres.
It was about a year ago that Beach Baptist held an open house to view plans to redevelop the 3.5 acres of land at 130 Connecticut street. The plan included an 8-story condo tower with a parking deck, 36 workforce housing apartments, and a church that seats 500. Because of the size of the building, the project was not well received by the community.
Critser says the developer S.J. Collins is now only considering single family homes. That 8-story condo is off the board. Here is an early rendering of what the developer is considering. The photo includes 12 single family homes and the condo building is gone.
Nothing has been officially filed with the town as of today.
Also, Beach Baptist will be moving into its new temporary church by the second week of June. Critser tells us the church will be moving into modulars just like the town of Fort Myers Beach has for its offices and council chambers.
The new church would seat just under 300 people.
Glad to hear that Beach Baptist and their members will have a beautiful new church! Congrats to the Pastors and members.
12 homes still seems crowded to me. They probably will not have room for a pool or to park a boat on a trailer.
I would have preferred larger luxury homes with a yard for a pool and space to park a boat trailer, but the current proposal is still much better than condos.
I guess we need to take the small wins when we can, but I am still concerned about how these small homes, squeezed into very small yards, may impact the value of the homes already on Andre Mar and Connecticut. I hope that “micro homes” does not become the standard for future development on the Island.
“Micro homes”??
There are some pretty big houses, with pools, on small lots all over FMB.
Guess time will tell once the buyer/developer submits a plan.
I’m happy for the positive progress!
Looks great! Since the developer is building single family homes, it’s too bad the church could not be located on Estero blvd.
Grateful that we are alive and well enough to keep moving forward to benefit the community.
As long as the Pastor is bare foot I’m happy
Great deal for the developer! They still have to build so much more costs involved. Keep building up on FMB!!
The developer is getting a good deal on the land at $333k per lot when other single fam lots are selling for high 400s and up. The church should have sold it for more.
He has to do the site development which will eat up any of the alleged “savings” you speak of looks like a fair deal to me.
Exactly
The church is raw land with no sewer, water, storm water or electricity
Congratulations and the best of luck to the Beach Baptist!