More homes, more cars, and more traffic are all happening along Collier Boulevard.
Collier Boulevard, already busy, is set to get even busier.
Drivers may anticipate extra traffic and construction along State Road 951, also referred to as Collier Boulevard by locals, between I-75 and Marco Island as Collier County gets ready for the next tourist and snowbird season.
Nearly 5,000 new housing units—ranging from single-family homes and villas to apartments, an affordable housing community, and assisted living units—are approved, in the planning stages, or currently under construction along the 19-mile stretch of land where the interchange at I-75 and SR 951 is being updated.
When the proposed repairs are finished, 951, a road that is frequently congested even in the summer, will see an increase in traffic of over 22,000 daily trips. Planners and/or county commissioners approved much of the project years ago, but developers delayed construction due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hurricanes Ian (2022) and Irma (2017), supply issues, and inflation.
The Collier Boulevard corridor is included in Collier County Commissioner Rick LoCastro’s District 1. “There’s a lot of construction happening simultaneously, but the reality is, a lot of that construction was approved over many years,” LoCastro stated. “That stretch is going to see a lot of stuff and it’s all sort of going to be completed around the same time.”
The county is growing in the east.
According to Michael Bosi, director of the Collier County Planning & Zoning Division, the property remaining for development is in the east and is filling up as anticipated, even though the county’s total growth rate has actually decreased since peaking at over 2% in 2014.
“This area, and the area along U.S. 41, was the last of the undeveloped areas within the urban area, so the concentration of new projects within these corridors were not unexpected,” Bosi stated. “As these projects continue to move the urban area to a built-out status, the growth and development will continue to migrate to the East.”
With 1,997 square miles of area, Collier County is the largest county in the state of Florida; however, much of it is preserved land, particularly in the east.
Collier County planners have not given their approval to every proposal that has been presented for this corridor, despite the great demand and necessity for housing. In July, the controversial plan by a developer to construct apartments in a conservation area at Fiddler’s Creek was turned down by the Collier Planning Commission.
Fiddler’s Creek, which is situated along Collier Boulevard approximately north of Marco Island and the Isles of Capri, has 4,000 acres, and its PUD permits up to 6,000 homes. As a result, more homes will probably be developed there.
“When someone owns land, they have the option to request to build on it. … somebody owns that property and it’s not Collier County,” said LoCastro. Landowners have the right to request anything, including zoning modifications and substitutes for the existing laws. Alternatively, he added, they might just build what is permitted and it won’t go before county commissioners.
Homeownership leads 951 fresh growth, barely.
The corridor may include 2,111 luxury single-family homes and villas in Caymas, Seven Shores, Tamarindo, and Summerlit on the northbound side of Collier Boulevard.
The PUD allows Stock and Pulte Homes to build up to 1,321 units at Caymas, which is building 272 in Phase 1. Jaime Cook, Collier County Development Review Division Director, said that may reduce as they build product and develop the location. “For example, single family will probably be less units than multi-family/condos,” he said.
More people and cars using the same area could imply more snowbirds living in Collier County seasonally than full-time residents. Bosi estimated 8,365 new residents at a countywide person-per-household rate of 2.39.
Demand for single-family home-close apartments
Collier Boulevard will get 2,228 apartments and townhomes from Fiori, Sparrow’s Amberlin South, Savoy, Allegro and Cadenza, Hammock Park, Azalea Park, and Ekos
Amberlin South, Allegro, and Cadenza are age-restricted, whereas Savoy has 212 townhomes. Traditional rental apartments Hammock Park, Fiori, and Azalea Park provide Naples-style luxury amenities. Within its 303 units, Fiori will have 68 affordable units.
Ekos, a 100% affordable/workforce housing development, will be created in conjunction with Collier County on county-owned land if a deal is reached.
Collier County staff continue to stress the need for affordable housing, while legislators are trying to catch up without offending residents who oppose it in their backyard.
Ekos on Collier, a “100% affordable” rental neighborhood, would target teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other “civil servants,” including county employees, elderly, and veterans. Ekos rents county land for their inexpensive apartment project on Santa Barbara Boulevard.
Ekos Allegro and Ekos Cadenza, affordable senior rental buildings on Collier Boulevard approved by commissioners in 2011, will open in early fall 2024.
Ekos Allegra and Cadenza are near Physicians Regional Medical Center on the south side of Rattlesnake Hammock Road off northbound Collier Boulevard. Ekos on Collier would be on county-owned land near Collier Boulevard and Henderson Creek Drive, half a mile south of U.S. 41 and north of Manatee Road.
Developer McDowell Housing Partners said the units would be reserved for persons making 30% to 80% of the area’s median income, with those pledges locked in for years based on the financing agreements.
A 99-year lease with the county is being negotiated to keep the units cheap for at least that long, with the option to extend.
Needs for assisted living?
Through Marquies and Watercrest independent living, 339 units will be added to the region. Both will be at 951 and Rattlesnake Hammock. The Watermark, a Marco Island assisted living and memory care institution, is under construction.
Newswire Stacker says Collier County has Florida’s longest life expectancy. Average lifespan is 84.7 years (6.2 years longer than state average).
They are among the nation’s wealthiest and most active. The 2023 assessment of Florida’s 67 counties with the highest per capita wealth placed Collier County second, after Monroe County. The 2023 Collier County Community Needs and Assets Assessment reports that the top 1% earn $4,191,055.
Help with traffic
How will 21,815 daily trips and roughly 9,000 new inhabitants be managed?
County plans to widen Collier Boulevard from City Gate Drive North to Green Boulevard to six lanes from four in late 2025. After construction, the 951 corridor from U.S. 41 to Immokalee Road will be 6-lane split.
I-75/951 interchange improvements.
The diamond interchange will get two loop ramps and flyovers. The elevated ramps will connect Collier Boulevard north to I-75 north and I-75 south to Collier Boulevard, over the congested crossroads of SR 84 (Davis Boulevard) and Beck Boulevard.
I-75 southbound traffic will cross Davis Boulevard to a signalized intersection at Collier Boulevard and Business Circle North via a single-lane flyover ramp. Collier Boulevard’s western side will have this ramp.
Traffic signals will be added south of Davis Boulevard and at Collier Boulevard and Championship Drive.
The Wilson Benfield Extension transportation study for Fiscal Year 2029 will evaluate a new north/south route from Lord’s Way to City Gate on the east side of Collier Boulevard’s residential projects. The investigation may lead to traffic-easing improvements.
The economic impact of all this growth?
Not all growth is about more automobiles. County Economic Development & Housing Division Director Cormac Giblin said it meant more community money.
Giblin predicted that 3,500 new residential units in Collier County will generate $1.5 billion in home sales (median value $443,700), $850 million in additional economic growth, 10,500 new jobs, and $45 million in new local and state tax revenues using the county’s Lightcast forecasting software.
“Right now, it feels like five steps back,” LoCastro, “but when it’s all said and done, it will be 11 steps forward.”
The original article was found at https://www.marconews.com/story