Feature Story
JED Continues to Deliver, Diversify in Lee and Collier Counties
By Elizabeth W. Pearce

It takes a developer with experience to capitalize on commercial opportunities in a competitive market like Southwest Florida. But it takes a developer with vision to create those opportunities. Joe D’Jamoos is one such developer whose insight has enabled him to bring new products to the market well in advance of the competition.

As president of JED of Southwest Florida, D’Jamoos has developed commercial projects throughout Lee and Collier counties since 1997. He has also built them in conjunction with partner Terry Jerulle, president of D’Jamoos & Jerulle Construction. To date, they have been responsible for bringing more than 1.5 million square feet of commercial space out of the ground.

Over the years, the two companies have left their signature style of Mediterranean design on many of the area’s most recognizable commercial properties, including: Galleria Plaza and Vanderbilt Galleria in Naples; and Corkscrew Palms, The Colony Plaza Building, and WCI offices and design center, among others in Lee County.

Early on, and before most other developers in the area, D’Jamoos reinterpreted Old World design in a way that made his commercial buildings hugely popular. Nearly all of his office and retail developments are distinguished by European-inspired belly rails, multiple towers and other upscale elements prized by today’s commercial users. As a result, JED’s projects typically are either sold out or leased up by the time they are completed. Now, D’Jamoos plans to translate his companies’ commercial success into residential and mixed-use development, as well. He won’t be going it alone. In recent years, D’Jamoos’s three grown children have joined him at JED, each as an integral cog in the company wheel.

¥ Andy is Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, and oversees real estate development for the company;
¥ Betsy is Chief Operations Officer who manages the company’s overall corporate organization;
¥ Jennifer is the company’s Human Resources Director and legal liaison, and has paralegal and real estate experience. She previously worked for a corporate relocation firm in Connecticut.

According to Andy D’Jamoos, all three have relocated from major cities to work with, and learn from, their father. “Dad’s vision for architecture and quality construction is at the core of everything that we do. He’s very active in the business,” said D’Jamoos. “We bring our own ideas to the table, but as a family, we always work as a team.”

Most days, it’s a scramble just to keep up with the number and scope of projects under development by JED. While all are new construction, not all are on new sites. For example, at the 75,000sf Galleria Plaza, across from Tiburon on Airport-Pulling Road in Naples, JED is expanding the executive suites in the one building it still owns out of the eight it developed, built and sold. When the 4,500sf expansion is completed this spring, there will be a total of 13,000sf of executive suites sharing the building with signature tenant London Bay Homes. There is a waiting list for the executive suites.

Also in Naples, JED is completing development of the 200,000sf Vanderbilt Galleria on Airport-Pulling and Vanderbilt Beach roads. The final phase contains just three office buildings that are attracting considerable interest. Of the 18 condo offices in Building 112, only seven units are available, leaving just 9,000sf for sale out of the total 30,000sf. In August,
JED plans to complete construction of Building 113, an identical, two-story twin.

The company also expects to have a five-story signature structure totaling 55,000sf under construction by February. By early 2006, JED will move into 11,000sf on the top floor. Currently, the company occupies another of its buildings there, behind the Sanibel Steakhouse.

The developer is also working on Quail Plaza II on Immokalee Road in front of Quail Creek. “There’s a new Target and Wal-Mart going in, and Immokalee Road is scheduled to be widened to six lanes,” said D’Jamoos. “With all the residential communities being built in that area, there’s a real need for commercial space to support them.” Slated for a second-quarter groundbreaking, the 28,000sf, three-story retail/office building could be open by this winter.

A New Direction JED’s most exciting projects may be yet to come. In keeping with its ongoing efforts to diversify, the company plans to build several residential and mixed-use developments in Southwest Florida. “It’s a departure from what JED has done in the past and from other development in Southwest Florida,” said D’Jamoos. “By combining residential and commercial space on one site, our goal is to create a community where people can live, work and play all within a central area.”

To accomplish its mission, JED hired Bostonian Brad Garino last fall as an in-house architect and liaison with the company’s consultants on various developments. Garino, who has a master’s degree in urban design, was the lead architect for City Place, an icon of so-called “new urbanism” in West Palm Beach. Garino’s experience will be useful when JED begins building its largest development to date on the northeast corner of U.S. 41 and Corkscrew Road in Estero. Located on 80 acres across from the Koreshan State Park, the yet-to-be-named project is designed to be pedestrian friendly with a mix of residential, retail and office space. “We hope to create the kind of environment reminiscent of an old-fashioned community, where people watch out for each other,” said D’Jamoos. “We envision a quaint, suburban village in the heart of Estero.”

JED also wants to capitalize on the parcel’s natural environment, which includes the Estero River that intersects the property. It’s possible there will be a facility for canoe and kayak rentals, providing an amenity for residents as well as visitors to the site’s commercial component. “It’s kind of like bringing the city to the suburbs,” he said. “We’re really focused on having a positive impact on Estero.” Although the project is still in the planning phase, construction could begin by early next year.

A similar project is also planned to start early next year in north Naples on 23 acres now occupied by the Buckley Nursery, next to the Collier County Library on Orange Blossom Road. The unnamed commercial/residential suburban village is planned for 251 residential units, some of which will be built on top of commercial space.

The commercial component will total 160,000sf, with retail occupying 70,000sf and 90,000sf devoted to office/medical space. At press time, it had been approved by the Collier County Planning Board and was poised to go before the county commission for approval. Development is expected to begin early next year.

JED is also embarking on its first residential-only development on 80 acres off Pine Ridge Road on Whippoorwill Lane in Naples. At buildout, Andalucia will contain a total of 167 detached villa homes, ranging from 1,800sf to 3,000sf. “There’s a big demand for that kind of product,” said D’Jamoos, noting that because half of the property is located in a natural flow-way, it won’t be developed. Andalucia features seven different Mediterranean-style models with two elevations each. The units were just released for sale, with prices starting at around $390,000.

Lee County Commercial Projects As greater Naples nears buildout, the lion’s share of JED’s commercial activity is in Lee County, where the company is in various stages of developing several high-profile projects.

¥ Galleria at the Forum (corner of Colonial and Forum boulevards, east of I-75). The 14-acre project is now being developed in a joint venture with Pat Riley, coach of the Miami Heat basketball team. At buildout, the Galleria will contain seven buildings totaling 125,000sf of office/retail/ medical space and a hotel site for up to 102 rooms. Currently, the project’s infrastructure is being installed and the first building is slated for construction during the second quarter.
¥ Orion Center (southwest corner of Plantation Road, fronting Daniels Parkway). Currently, JED is putting the finishing touches on a 10,000sf branch and corporate offices for Orion Bank, slated to open in January.

A separate, L-shaped structure contains 30,000sf of office and retail space in two buildings. One is a single-story structure totaling 10,000sf of retail space; the other has two stories with 20,000sf of ground-floor retail and second-floor office space. Small businesses have leased approximately two-thirds of the retail space and WCI Prudential Florida Realty has spoken for all of the office space. However, JED is developing more office space behind the center, on a nine-acre parcel adjacent to Gulf Coast Hospital. Construction is scheduled to begin on the five-story, 50,000sf medical/office building during the first quarter.

¥ Corkscrew Palms (Corkscrew Road, just west of I-75). The project’s final phase has begun with two office/medical/retail buildings under construction. Units are offered for sale in a
two-story, 13,000sf building with and for lease in a three-story, 18,000sf building.
¥ Plaza del Sol (just east of Corkscrew Palms on the northeast corner of Three Oaks Parkway in Estero). This is JED’s third site on Corkscrew Road, which D’Jamoos says is in the heart of one of Lee County’s most active areas. “There’s an Embassy Suites hotel going in and I’ve heard that a Holiday Inn is also going to be built, so there’s a lot happening around that corridor.” JED plans to build 50,000sf of retail/office space on the five-acre Plaza del Sol site starting this summer. The project is now in permitting.

According to D’Jamoos, his father is always eager to acquire well-positioned, vacant sites for future development. “Dad’s legacy will be his style - the look of his buildings. He wants to design structures that withstand the test of time, so that 25 years from now someone will look at them and say, “That style never went out. That building still looks great.”

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