Boat U.S. - May 2008 - (Page 33) Water ont Living within the letter’s curve. Living here is, well, all about the boating lifestyle, she said. Options for boaters abound, depending on what type of waterfront living they desire. Downtown Fort Myers — a place that once rolled up its carpets at 5 p.m. — is now home to nightlife and luxury condominiums in towers with views of the Caloosahatchee River, the Intracoastal Waterway’s link between the Gulf and Lake Okeechobee. At the foot of the towers? You guessed it: marinas. An expansion at Southwest Florida International Airport has helped fuel a more cosmopolitan feel to the once sleepy town sandwiched between Tampa and Miami. Fort Myers’s older neighborhoods such as Town & River, where the Albany, NY, boater bought, have broad canals with deep-water access to the river mere miles from the Gulf. (Deep-water access is key in these parts for prospective buyers — the average water depth in Lee County hovers around four feet.) “I don’t know how it’s going to hardly get any better,” said the boater, who asked to withhold his name because he got a steal of a deal in an economically uncertain time and didn’t want to cause bad morale among his employees back home. “It’s like 55% off right now. This is good value. They’re not making any more waterfront property,” he said. Classic beachfront bungalows along Bonita Beach and Fort Myers Beach are also an option for boaters because nearby bayside marinas have been bought and spiffed up. Snook Bight Marina on Fort Myers Beach, for example, features 54 new dockominiums for boats up to 50 feet and 200 indoor racks for vessels up to 42 feet. Asking price: $85,000 for a 30-footer. Wet slips will come online when the marina redevelopment is complete in about a year, said Snook Bight’s Maryann Coulthardt. “The calls have been coming in from mainly the Midwest — Michigan, Minnesota — but we just sold one to a person in Germany,” she said of the marina, which changed from Mid-Island Marina in 2004 and has been on the upgrade track ever since. “We have no wait list,” she said, and can accommodate boaters new to the area. Cape Coral, once the stepsister to Fort Myers with sad nicknames such as Cape Coma, has become a vibrant waterfront community bustling with singles, families and active retirees who know a good thing when they see it. “I bet those condos are expensive,” said sales manager Rosemarie Maatsch, but “in the mid-$300s you can be here, and you will always have value on the waterfront” she said. The marina is open to the public as developer Stout is an outspoken advocate of waterfront access. Residents, however, have priority for a slip over peope who don’t live there, Maatsch said. “At the moment, slips are available,” said Maatsch, who has been offering Cape Harbour homes since 2000. Go to www. capeharbour.com for more information on this property. Jim McKinley took advantage of the riverfront development in 2002. He had just retired from Wisconsin and mistakenly thought he and his wife wanted to live on the beach and watch the sunset. They bought on nearby Captiva Island, a slender slice of the sub-tropics just north of the famed Sanibel Island. “I thought it would be ideal, but I felt trapped. It was a onehour drive off the island, and I couldn’t have a Photo by Rhoda Zipperer boat on the beach, so a friend said take a look at Cape Harbour,” said McKinley, owner of a 40-foot Sea Ray. “Now I’m on this big spreader canal, I have more boats to look at, there’s a rowing club nearby and I can keep my boat in the backyard.” Don’t forget the other secret of his retiree Photo by Michael Sciulla Real estate agent and BoatU.S. member Trae Zipperer, above, only lists life on the waterfront waterfront property in Lee County, FL. The market square area in Cape here. “I also have an Harbour, below, is awash in colors, restaurants and shops. electric ‘cocktail canal boat,’ a 21-foot Duffy electric that seats dock for $405,500. eight,” he said. “It’s the smoothest cockFor boaters who want more amenities tail boat you can imagine.” than a traditional neighborhood, there are He laughed. Who knew all those developments such as Cape Harbour, develyears working hard in cold Wisconsin oped by BoatU.S. member Will Stout, featuring its own full-service marina, waterfront would result in owning something he never dining, shopping and a clubhouse. It is situ- imagined — a boat just to sip aboard with friends, that ties up to his 240 feet of ated next to a 7,000-acre nature preserve waterfront outside his $2.5 million home. and is no more than a 30-minute boat No place else like it on earth. “It’s the ride from the beaches of Sanibel. Housing best view in the whole neighborhood,” he options include villas, condominiums or said. “I wouldn’t trade it.” “custom estate homes.” — By Betsy Clayton Boaters sometimes pass by and think, The city has 400 miles of fresh and saltwater canals with access to the Intracoastal Waterway and the Gulf as well as the once little-known fishing ground that is Pine Island Sound, a place Field & Stream magazine ranked in its Top 25 destinations. “There are more famous names in Florida fishing,” the editors wrote, “but few spots offer a better combination of great fishing in great scenery.” More waterfront inventory exists now than in any recent times, Porter said. “There are condos for $150,000 to $160,000 where you could put a decent-sized boat, or homes with pools and place for the boat for only $250,000,” she said. For a bit more, boaters can get a lot more. One current listing in The Cape, as locals call it, has a 2,100-square-foot canalfront home built in 2000 with a pool and a BoatU.S. Magazine May 2008 33 http://www.capeharbour.com http://www.capeharbour.com
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