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Southwest
Charlotte • Collier • Lee
Southwest
2 Commercial Airports
4 Colleges / Universities
Southwest is Florida’s smallest economic development region by size, but it looms large in assets and likeability. This region’s largest county — Collier — is Florida’s second richest and home to the city of Naples, dubbed America’s No. 1 “Best Beach Town to Live In” by WalletHub. In Lee County, Fort Myers leads the nation in fastest growing cities and this year jumped from No. 8 to No. 5 on WalletHub’s “Best Small Cities to Start a Business.” Here too is Charlotte County, strategically located along I-75 between Tampa and Miami, providing easy access to more than 4 million customers within a 90-mile radius and coming soon, the spectacular Sunseeker Resort.
Logisitics & Distribution
Companies desiring easy accessibility to domestic and international markets need look no further than Florida’s Southwest. Here, where I-75 bisects the region from north to south, five deep-water ports are within a day’s drive and goods move seamlessly in and out by air, sea, rail and road. In all three counties comprising this region, construction is underway on facilities to support logistics and distribution.
ABC Supply, in Charlotte County, is constructing a nearly 60,000-sq.-ft. combination warehouse and office facility next to Punta Gorda Airport with an anticipated completion date of early 2023. Nearby, on the grounds of the Enterprise Charlotte Airport Park a 378,000-sq.-ft. warehouse logistics center is taking shape next to where a 250,000-sq.-ft. FedEx Ground facility is under construction.
Stonemont Financial Group and joint venture partner Geis Cos. have purchased 35 acres in Fort Myers for the development of a 500,000-sq.-ft. Class A industrial park with easy proximity to I-75, U.S. 41 and other major thoroughfares. Titled Legacy at Oriole Road, the development is slated to include two warehouses, each measuring 250,000-sq.-ft., and will be designed to accommodate tenants needing as little as 37,000 square feet. Estimated completion: summer 2023.
Uline, a packaging giant in Collier County, broke ground in fall 2021 on a $96-million distribution center in Naples. The 937,000-sq.-ft. project, which includes a warehouse and office complex, anticipates an early 2023 opening.
KEY PLAYERS: Cheney Brothers, Riviera Beach; Scotlynn USA Division, Fort Myers; Uline, Pleasant Prairie, Wisc.
