Dreams take flight

In a black and white photo, cars fill the streets and storefronts are cluttered with signage in downtown Fort Myers. The 1920s image is blown up and appears in the window of a defunct downtown business.

COURTESY OF AMY WHICKER

It's a reminder of what could have been or what could be.

After the Great Depression wiped away the Roaring '20s, the area didn't regain its economic and social vibrancy until after World War II.

Then there were hotels, restaurants, clothing stores, druggists, hardware stores, bakeries, fish shops, barbershops, a day life and a night life. Even Elvis came to sleepy Fort Myers (May 9, 1955) for a concert at the old Exhibition Hall along the Caloosahatchee River.

A decade or so later, though, when George Sanders and others developed the Edison Mall a couple miles south of downtown, the 540-acre downtown became as lonely as a tumbleweed, its shopkeepers mostly out of business or drawn to the glittery new indoor mall concept.

But a few old-timers and new-timers kept progress simmering. In the last 20 years, plans to renovate the district took shape as property owners and downtown advocates maintained historic buildings. Fresh coats of paint brighten buildings on First Street with colors like canary yellow, forest green and eggshell blue.

EVAN WILLIAMS/ FLORIDA WEEKLY Downtown Fort Myers has been hopping lately with the addition of Art Walk and Friday Night Live. But what does the future hold?

Beneath the façade, a utility replacement project renewed the infrastructure under 50 blocks of downtown streets, including new sewers, water lines and hitech communications. It's finished with new bricks, streetlamps, sidewalks and landscaping. Now on many weekends, the district is alive with block parties and street musicians brought about by industrious business owners looking for ways to draw new faces in downtimes.

For many who staked their livelihoods on downtown, hope is rekindled.

"I have real faith in downtown," said Lynne Routhier, owner of the boutique store Enjewel.

"As far as with the streetscape and renovation, image-wise it has made things more beautiful," said Saeed Kahn, owner of First Street Jewelers. "My customers and everybody comments how beautiful things are."

PHOTO COURTESY AMY WHICKER The sidewalk in front of the new Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center is bathed in an artistic light.

Two travelers from France who took a chance on visiting The River District last week were surprised at what they saw, considering their travel guide's ho-hum review.

"The French (travel) guide said there was nothing so interesting to see (in downtown Fort Myers) and it said to go to Sanibel," said John-Francis Huard, who had taken a day trip here from Miami with his wife Catherine. "But for us, it was a good impression."

Nevertheless, slow and inconsistent development over the years has made business owners and residents skeptical that real vibrancy will reach Fort Myers' historic core. City leaders have renamed the area two or three times to signal it has undergone a transformation. But whether they called it an "Entertainment District," or more poetically, "The River District," those old buildings were never graced with the traffic of pictures past.

KNEZEVICH

To keep the music of change alive, the city promotes downtown events like Friday Night Live, a weekly outdoor concert series; and Art Walk, on the first Friday of every month. Eleven art galleries and venues like daas Gallery on Broadway Street and Space 39 in the Patio de Leon are open from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. with a reception and refreshments.

"Now the buzz is the up and coming art in downtown," said Greg Knezevich, owner of Le Casa del Arte, a new gallery at the east end of downtown, on Hough Street. He similar events in Miami and California. After going to the Community Redevelopment Agency with his idea, Director Don Paight agreed to contribute financing, including a city trolley. The Walk was a success.

"Of course it was great timing because First Street had just finished renovation the day before and to see 1,500 people in downtown; that hadn't happened in I don't know how long, but not for a long time," Mr. Knezevich said. "It was just amazing the amount of response, of people and energy. It was a great draw."

WRIGHT

Both events overlapped last week, and coincided with the opening of The Hotel Indigo, a 67-room boutique project with an Italian restaurant on the first floor. Such momentum has generated excitement, even if some say it's a superficial fix.

"Last week there was a hotel opening, a block party," said City Councilman Warren Wright. "That was really exciting. It gave me a reason to think of how things would be in the future. But I think we're a long way off from having weekends like that on a consistent basis… Until we get businesses that cater to shopping, I think we're going to be in this up and down cycle: when there are a lot of events we'll have people and when there aren't, we won't."

More shops and stores could be brought about by the riverfront park the city hired private contractors to design. But for builders to get financing, the national economy must improve.

"That's the looming cloud," said City Councilman Mike Flanders.

Riverfront development starts

FLORIDA WEEKLY PHOTO Parking along First Street hasn't been available since the 1970s.

The riverfront promises to be an urban delight of mixed-use retail, offices and residences. It could cost between $50 million and $100 million, officials estimate. But designers and architects say small, boutique stores will rule.

There are no plans to compete with malls that sprung up south of Fort Myers like mushrooms after a rainstorm, like Gulf Coast Town Center. Planners are not wooing national brands like Barnes & Noble, Gap, Saks Fifth Avenue or P.F. Chang's, as popular as they may be.

"These are a lot of unrealistic high expectations that will never be met," said Councilman Flanders, adding that it would be wise to "just forget the big chain franchise setups and continue to be a local, unique, boutique type destination. You can still come to downtown Fort Myers and feel like you've been somewhere like nowhere else."

Mary Lynne Boorn and her father Jon Boorn of Boorn Partners, the Cincinnati based company that developed Bell Tower Shops, will play a lead role in developing the riverfront.

PAIGHT

"As far as (the downtown riverfront) a big, national type project — that market is pretty well saturated," Ms. Boorn said. "In addition, I don't know that this would be the optimal location for this type of project regardless. Most of those locations are on huge intersections with highway visibility."

She added, "Clearly having retail at the ground level is a goal for the project."

Councilman Flanders agreed that plenty of shopping and entertainment is key, especially businesses that stay open after dark. He also advocates a mandate ordering law offices to move to second floor spaces so retail can be on the ground level.

"We have to get (law offices) upstairs," he said.

City officials, property owners and planners will meet this month to design the riverfront development with a private team assembled during public meetings in January.

"There will be many components of the attraction — both civic, restaurants, retail and office space," said Bill Mudgett of Parker-Mudgett-Smith, the lead local consultant for the project. "We're working extremely hard not to have preconceived notions so that when we get into the charrette part of this (in March) we have fully opened minds."

Financing remains the primary concern because of the economy.

"I think whether or not the builders will actually start to work on it will have a lot to do with the economy," Mr. Mudgett said. "The point of (this planning period) is so the city of Fort Myers is ready to jump into the fray at the first possible opportunity. You always plan in the downturns instead of planning after things have cranked back up again."

Councilman Flanders urges patience, saying the city's proven commitment to invest in itself will attract developers.

"It's not like mixing water with oatmeal and it instantly happens," he said. "Government has shown private property owners it's committed to the area. They've seen what we've done, committing $50 million to (a Utility Replacement and Street Beautification Project). Now, everyone knows we're dead serious."

Plans and growing pains

Before the streetscape, before the condos, before the riverfront development, came the internationally recognized urban planner Andres Duany, from which all of it flowed.

In 2001, the city signaled that it wanted to shake off mere dreams and take real steps to make downtown a cultural hub by hiring his Miami-based firm, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, to create a master plan for downtown Fort Myers — a set of guidelines and ideals for all future developments.

Duany and Co.'s presence alone created enough interest that developers built four new high-rise condo projects almost immediately, and an impressive skyline appeared from miles away. First Street Village, a residential and retail project that included a new Publix Supermarket, was built on downtown's west side. But hard times were on the horizon.

Residential development at First Street Village came to a grinding halt as the housing bubble burst. Critics also railed that the city broke faith with Mr. Duany's master plan by letting developers build far over the recommended 18-story height limit, although The Duany Plan actually called for flexibility on that limit.

Mr. Duany's firm urged the city to be patient; to take the long view. "We should not be in a hurry to make judgments or criticize the results," Galina Tahchieva, Duany's Fort Myers project manager, told Florida Weekly. "The implementation of urban redevelopments is a longterm process, continuously evolving within the frame of the master plan but constantly fueled by new ideas, events and people."

But business owners who were losing money had grown impatient.

And who was going to buy the 1,200 new condo units that were suddenly available, for prices of $500,000 and up? Most of the windows looking out over the river at night remained black. Contributing to the impression of a modernday Atlantis was the streetscape project, which combined with the recession, turned the River District into a ghost town, especially during the slow summer months.

Ron Kopko, who started a lounge and eatery called The Bar Association in 2006, was so frustrated he promoted an event called The Walk of Shame — a tour of all of the River District's defunct business, which ended with happy hour drinks to quell the shame. "Twentyseven businesses closed in the last 28 months," said Mr. Kopko almost a year ago.

Prime commercial real estate downtown also sat empty.

Even now, after three years, doors remain locked on the old Liquid Café, a café and bar that lent bohemian flavor to the corner of First and Hendry streets. What used to be a large thrift store down the block — also a large, corner spot — has also sat vacant for years. It's used for creative window dressing.

New streets were appearing like freshly minted bills, but attitudes remained skeptical.

Real estate prices plummet

A year ago, City Councilman Wright said the city had "put all its eggs in one basket" when it allowed developers to build high-rise condos, but never sought housing for working-class families. But his opinion has been altered by the recession.

"I think the next 18 months will solve our affordable-housing issue downtown," Councilman Wright said.

As the towers struggle to fill, the prices are dropping. High Point Place Towers is still only 66 percent full and lowered its base price 40 percent on all units, down to $320,000, said sales director Cheryl Yano.

"I think we're in a better situation than the media is portraying," she added. "We have signed 16 new contracts since Jan. 1. That's good in any market, but in this market, I think it's fantastic."

Still, $300,000 is more than most working class families could afford. Councilman Wright believes the prices will keep falling.

"They're not over yet," he said.

Jean Sanders, who invested in high rise condos and planned to stay here and sell them long-term, said sellers are doing "whatever it takes" to move the units. She sells units in The Oasis, High Point Place, St. Tropez and the Riviera through her Web site highrisefortmyers.com.

She has one 2,258-square-foot unit that was pre-construction priced at $875,000 and is now selling for $375,000.

"Half a million dollars off," she said. "People are pulling their money out of the stock market and saying now is the time to invest in real estate."

Ms. Saunders said she's underwater about $200,000 on each of the units she has for sale.

Changing perceptions

Changing people's attitudes about downtown could be just as important — or synonymous with — beautifying the street or the riverfront.

"Reality and perception — there's not a lot of difference between the two," said Don Paight, director of the Downtown Redevelopment Agency. "We have to change people's perceptions. We have to get them out here first, so we can have them go away with a good perception. We've gotta put on a good face."

For instance, parking spots along First Street are something that haven't been seen since the 1970s. "So if you had a day when no one was here, it looked like a ghost town," he said. "You go to a restaurant and there's nobody in the parking lot, you think twice about going there."

Gina Taylor, director of Lee Trust for Historic Preservation, Inc. is confident in The River District's romantic charms, provided people actually come see for themselves.

"We have an image problem," she said. " (And) change will occur one person at a time. You go and tell one person what you did and they tell another person.

"Like I said to my son — he's 26 — (downtown) is a lovely date. You can take someone out for cocktails, to the Sydney & Berne Davis Art Center. And if you can't afford dinner, how about a nice stroll along the waterfront?"

Since the streetscape project is nearly complete, there has been an unsurprising resurgence in positive feelings. Bar Association owner Mr. Kopko, for example, has reopened for bottomless Mimosas on Sunday mornings starting at 11 a.m.

"As a business owner," he said last week, "you always hope the city will do more. Before, downtown dropped the ball. This time they didn't. I think the city is doing a nice job."

Many businesses received a rent subsidy from the city, during the months the streetscapes blocked their doorsteps. It was one of an arsenal of programs instituted by Mr. Paight to prop businesses up through the down times, but also change the image of downtown to an attractive and lively destination.

Downtown comes into its own

It hasn't all been uphill work for Mr. Paight, who has been a promoter, advocate and planner for downtown for more than 15 years.

New attractions like The Butterfly Estates or the Sydney & Berne Davis Art Center are garnering their own share of attention. Downtown's image was polished on a national scale just last month when Terry Teachout, a theater critic from the Wall Street Journal, discovered The Florida Repertory Theatre.

"I admit I was surprised to find this a stone's throw from the Gulf of Mexico," Mr. Teachout wrote. "Make haste to (Fort) Myers, where the weather is warm and the theater fine."

Tourists often stop to see the small beautifications made by local business owners as well. For instance: Raimond Aulen, a downtown property owner, and Cheryl Lions, a city worker, created a 24-hour outdoor art gallery. Once a boarded up eyesore on a darkened alleyway, The Indigo Gallery, by Downtown House of Pizza, now features new artists every month.

Historic Trust Director Ms. Taylor, for her part, started printing up old, oversized photos of the River District and placing them in storefront windows.

Last Friday evening, a young couple came around the corner of Hendry and First Streets, checking out the new look of things. They ignored Ms. Taylor's photos, but as they walked by one something occurred to him. "I haven't been downtown in…" he started, but never finished the sentence.