Oasis blends art and nature

ARTIST RENDERING Art at the Oasis is a 17-acre project with five residential towers of 32 stories each, swimming pools, tennis courts and a marina. Nestled on the north end of Fort Myers' redevelopment district, on a spit of land that juts out into the Caloosahatchee River, sits Art at the Oasis.

It's the latest development from megadeveloper Jorge Perez, the Miami-based builder of condominium projects.

And Oasis is big.

Five looming condo buildings stretching up 32 stories high - enough room for more than 1,000 units, parking garages, swimming pools, a tennis center and marina dot the 17-acre site.

Each unit has a view of the river, floor-to-ceiling windows with glass railing balconies, "smart building" technology; pre-wired for WiFi, data, voice and cable TV. One and two bedrooms residences range from 850 square feet to nearly 2,000.

But if you're looking for something soon, you don't have much choice. The first two towers are already sold out.

"We have a few resales until we start the third tower," said Goldie Malt, the sales director of Oasis.

ARTIST RENDERING A rendering of a completed tower. When available, the condominiums are priced between $480,000 and $1 million.

Not long ago, Malt said, the site was full of mobile homes But Perez got interested at the urging of his friend, internationally renowned urban planner Andres Duany. Duany's firm created the downtown redevelopment plan that is at the heart of condo boom along the riverfront.

"The city did a good job promoting what it was doing," Malt said.

Since forming The Related Group about 25 years ago, Perez has built more than 55,000 condominiums - the bulk are in Miami. So his development team obviously knows what it's doing.

And when he's not overseeing the $1 billion real estate empire he's become a world-renowned art collector.

"Jorge is the largest collector of Spanish art in the world," said Goldie Malt, the sales director of Oasis.

Some of that art will grace the grounds of the project. The artists have been selected and work is underway on each piece.

In addition to the art pieces that will grace the grounds, residents and the public will have access to Ward Island for nature walks and kayak launching.

ARTIST RENDERING A pool view overlooking the Caloosahatchee River. COURTESY PHOTO The sunset view from the Art at the Oasis .