Estero Board Continues 355-Unit Coconut Point Apartment Plan to Nov. 17 After Density and Parking Concerns

A proposal to put apartments on part of the Coconut Point mall property in Estero went before the Village's Planning, Zoning and Design Board on Tuesday, October 20, and it did not come out with a recommendation either way.

According to a Village of Estero summary posted October 21, 2026, and reporting by Evan Williams of Gulfshore Business published the same day, the applicant asked for a continuation after a lengthy discussion, and the board agreed. The project comes back to the board at a public hearing on Tuesday, November 17, 2026, starting at 4:30 p.m.

The Village reports that seven eComment cards were entered into the record and four residents spoke about their concerns. Gulfshore Business reports that the board's vote to grant the continuance was unanimous.

The applicant is Waypoint Residential, working with the mall's owner, Simon Property Group, according to Gulfshore Business. The Village describes the request this way:

• The site. Part of the Coconut Point Mall parking lot, on the former site of the vacant Regal movie theater. Gulfshore Business puts the site at about 6.85 acres and reports that the theater closed in November 2022.
• The building. A four-story multifamily residential building with 355 units, at a maximum height of 44 feet, 6 inches to the parapet. The theater would be demolished as part of the project.
• The design. Mediterranean architecture with towers, balconies, arched windows and openings, covered walkways, an earth-tone color palette and several courtyards.
• Access and parking. Vehicles would reach the building from Via Umbria Way off Via Coconut Point. Parking would be in a garage, and the applicant is asking for a deviation to provide less parking than the code would otherwise require.

The plan has already changed once. The Village says the applicant cut the building from five stories to four and the unit count from 365 to 355 after comments from the board at its original presentation. Gulfshore Business reports that the developers first presented the idea at an informational meeting in January and returned for a workshop in March. It also reports that the developer told the board the units would not open until 2029.

Based on Gulfshore Business's account, the board members said they like the idea of housing on the site in principle. One called it a good use for a property that has gone dark. Their objections were about how much is being fit onto it.

• Density and height. Board members said the design appeared to push the site to its limits and that there was not enough green space for the height of the building.
• Parking and traffic. Members questioned whether a garage with a single entrance and exit could cause backups.
• Trips on the road network. The president of the nonprofit Engage Estero questioned how many cars and peak-hour trips the building would add.

The developer's side answered on the same points. A transportation consultant for the applicant testified that one garage entrance is sufficient and that the apartments would generate fewer peak-hour vehicle trips than a working movie theater did. A Simon development executive said the malls that are doing well today are the ones adding places to live alongside shopping and dining.

Both views are on the record. The board has not decided which it accepts, and that is what the November hearing is for.

Not the planning board. As Gulfshore Business explains, the board makes a recommendation based on whether the project meets Estero's land development code and comprehensive plan, and the Village Council has the final vote on whether it moves forward.

So the path from here is a revised plan, a second public hearing before the board on November 17, a recommendation, and then a council decision at a date not yet set. Any of those steps could change the plan again, slow it down or stop it. Nothing is approved today.

If you want to see the discussion yourself, the Village posts archived meeting video on its agendas page, and residents can submit eComments before a meeting.

Coconut Point sits along US 41 at the center of a lot of daily life in Estero. Plenty of established neighborhoods are a short drive from it, and the roads around the mall are the same roads residents use to get to groceries, appointments and I-75. A new residential building there touches a few things homeowners care about directly.

• Traffic on the roads you drive. The single biggest question at the hearing was cars: how many, at what hours, and through which entrance. Those answers shape what the Via Coconut Point and US 41 area feels like at rush hour.
• What fills an empty building. A shuttered theater on a busy property is not a permanent state. Something will eventually go there, and this is the proposal currently on the table.
• How much new housing Estero adds, and where. In its annual development update to council earlier this month, the Village counted roughly 2,900 homes in process across Estero. I covered that report in Estero's annual development update, which listed this project among those still under review.

I want to be clear about what nobody can tell you. Nobody can honestly put a number on what an apartment building at the mall does to the value of any particular home nearby. What it changes is practical: traffic patterns, what the property next to the mall looks like, and how much housing supply the area adds over the next few years.

If you live near Coconut Point, or you are looking at homes in that part of Estero, here is what is worth following:

• The revised plan for November 17. Watch whether the density, height, green space or garage access change, since those were the points the board pressed hardest.
• The parking deviation. Whether the board and council accept less parking than the code would otherwise require is a concrete, checkable outcome.
• The council vote. The board recommends; the council decides. That date has not been set.
• Other projects on the same corridor. Construction is already underway on a large mixed-use project across from Coconut Point. Looking at the two together gives a better picture than either one alone.

When buyers ask me about new construction homes in Estero or about resales in Estero's gated communities, I suggest driving the routes you would actually use at the times you would actually use them. With projects like this one under review, it is also worth asking what is planned on the empty or underused parcels near any home you are considering.

I keep track of what is proposed, approved and under construction in each of my nine Southwest Florida markets, because that is the part of a neighborhood a listing description never mentions. If you are thinking about buying in Estero and want to know what is planned near a particular address, my home buying process builds that research in from the start. Reach out to me directly and we can look at it together.

This article summarizes a Village of Estero meeting summary and reporting by Gulfshore Business. Details of the proposal may change before the next hearing.

Kris Asquith, Broker Associate at Premiere Plus Realty, (239) 300-1427.