Feature Story
Florida Gulf Coast Group Laying The Foundation for Positive Growth in Southwest Florida and Beyond
By Elizabeth W. Pearce

Business people, investors and government officials often think alike when it comes to discussing growth and development. The same can’t always be said when it comes to moving forward with plans. Sometimes, clashes between the public and private sectors can derail real estate projects and economic development efforts. And even when the parties involved agree on where they’re going, they may not know the best way to get there. Enter Janet Watermeier, economic development expert, advocate and facilitator. As president of the Florida Gulf Coast Group (FGCG), she consults with private firms and government clients throughout Florida on economic and real estate development. In addition to providing market information, project feasibility and economic analysis, the company specializes in identifying development and investment opportunities in Southwest Florida.
Watermeier established the firm last April with veteran commercial real estate broker Frank D’Alessandro, FGCG’s vice president. Together, they possess more than 30 years of experience in commercial real estate, financing, local and state government, economic development and community redevelopment.
“Part of my job is to get people motivated and moving,” said Watermeier, who is known for her tireless, cheerful ability to promote prudent development. “Generally, I work the information side, the strategy side and coordination, while Frank focuses on the real estate and investment side. It’s really exciting.”
While both Watermeier and D’Alessandro have enjoyed tremendously successful careers, working in tandem has enabled them to maximize their talents and explore new opportunities. It helps that both are consummate networkers and serve on the boards of numerous civic and professional organizations. Watermeier’s community involvement includes sitting on the board of directors of the Real Estate Investment Society (of which D’Alessandro is past president) and serving on the Airport Special Management Committee. Also, Gov. Bush recently appointed her to her second four-year term on the State Transportation Commission.
The duo’s volunteer work dovetails nicely with their work for FGCG. Current clients include developers, lending institutions and private investors, as well as local and state governments. While some clients want specific demographic information, a market overview or help locating a development site, other clients need a broader spectrum of services requiring coordination between various public and private entities.
Developing Public-Private Partnerships
Although it can be complicated and time-consuming work, that doesn’t seem to faze Watermeier. In fact, she prefers such projects. “I like taking on projects that nobody else could put together because they don’t understand how government works and how the private sector works,” she said. “I do. I’m here to pull everything together and see projects come out of the ground. As long as they’re challenging and they capture my imagination, they’re worth the energy that goes into making them happen.”
Watermeier has never been one to shy away from a good challenge, and has been meeting them in Southwest Florida since the late 1980s, when she moved from Washington, D.C. Although she may be best remembered as director of the Lee County Economic Development Office (EDO), she also directed the county’s Community Redevelopment Agency and the Industrial Development Authority. Prior to that, starting in 1989, she was vice president of west coast commercial operations for Westinghouse Communities, Inc. (WCI) and oversaw development of Gateway’s first commercial office parks.
“To promote economic development, it’s critical to have the public and private sectors working in concert,” she said. “Typically, both sides are trying to do the same things, but in different languages. So if you can persuade the public sector to use private sector resources, you can make things happen to benefit the community.”
Thus far, Watermeier’s firm has enjoyed a steady stream of clients eager for her expertise to make a difference in their communities. The Florida Economic Development Council chose her to help design a statewide program to educate public officials and regional planning councils about economic development and why it’s important. “I can answer their questions as a government insider, as well as someone from the private sector. So if someone wants to know how to develop a business park in rural Florida, for example, I can advise them of incentives to help them find appropriate sites and outline what their community will need to do to assist them.”
Frequently, she works with private-sector clients such as banks and retail stores that want to expand but are based out of town. “They need someone to give them that local perspective, a sense of what’s happening in the economy. I can paint a picture of what’s happening with development, where the growth areas are and which areas to avoid. It’s all a matter of forecasting and strategic planning based on what the client wants and is trying to accomplish,” said Watermeier.
While she makes it sound simple, Watermeier’s work tends to be complex. In fact, her first job as FGCG president was to help develop Florida’s Economic Development Strategic Plan on behalf of the governor’s office, the State Department, the Workforce Innovation Agency and Enterprise Florida. Doing so required her to travel statewide, facilitating regional meetings attended by hundreds of business people, government leaders and economic development officials.
The strategic plan was unveiled in February. “If you look at the governor’s budget this year, you’ll see that many of the items are a direct reflection of the plan’s regional recommendations concerning transportation, economic development, quality of life initiatives and other factors,” she said, admitting that for a short time, the work was “all consuming. But it was really good for me because it enabled me to see the common issues facing communities around the state.”
New Developments Because of her hectic travel schedule, Watermeier seemed to disappear in the months after she left the EDO. “I left kind of quietly,” she noted. “I’m just now getting back out into the community and everyone’s asking me where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing.” The short answer: everything.
One of Watermeier’s long-time pet projects is the Florida Gulf Coast Technology and Research Park, which her firm is trying to develop in cooperation with Florida Gulf Coast University, Lee County and private investors. “We’re trying to make that happen for the university so we can help its research growth, which in turn will help raise the quality of the faculty and programs, and attract students. Ultimately, (that will help to) attract firms that will bring high-tech jobs to our area.”
By year’s end, Watermeier expects to have the structures in place to move forward with the project’s first phase, totaling approximately 100 acres south of the Southwest Florida International Airport and north of Alico Road.
Watermeier also works one day each week consulting with Charlotte County’s EDO. To stimulate the area’s economy, she’s working with officials from Charlotte County, its airport authority and private property owners on a plan to develop a commercial park on 2,600 acres between Jones Loop Road and U.S. 17. “There’s very little commercial and industrial property up there, which is one of the reasons they haven’t been able to attract new business.” Currently, the county is looking at realigning the road, installing infrastructure and bringing together the property owners and airport under a marketing plan.
Redevelopment Projects
FGCG is also involved in several prominent redevelopment projects in Lee County, including Ruth Cooper Center’s 75,000sf, two-building,15-acre site on Colonial Boulevard. FGCG’s plan calls for combining the center’s resources with funds from private investors. This will enable Ruth Cooper’s operators to renovate the outdated mental health facility, and allow them to expand its programs and services. “Frank was able to see how the property could be reconfigured so that a portion could be sold or leased, and the operators could develop a center to meet the community’s current and future needs,” said Watermeier.
Lee Memorial Health System is another FGCG client that needed help relocating its Wellness and Rehabilitation Center at the Cleveland Avenue campus of Lee Memorial Hospital. “We started with What can the Wellness Center afford and how do we make it work for them?” recalled Watermeier. Thanks to FGCG’s consulting services and real estate expertise, the Wellness Center and Home Health Services will be relocating in September to the former V.A. Clinic nearby on Carroll Road. The Wellness Center has signed a 10-year lease at a rate of less than $12/sf for the 30,0000sf facility, which is owned by FGCG.
Since leaving the EDO, Watermeier has also been consulting with Fort Myers Mayor Jim Humphrey on two major downtown projects. The first is the 625-acre Wellfield Development Project at the corner of MLK Boulevard and Ortiz Avenue. The Bonita Bay Group recently was selected to develop a master-planned community on the site. When completed, it will include a renovated and expanded Eastwood Golf Club, some commercial space and up to 600 moderately priced residential units.
Watermeier is also actively involved in discussions to redevelop downtown’s waterfront, including the old Exhibition Hall, the City Pier (former Buquebus terminal building), as well as the possible expansion of the Harborside Event Center and parking lot. “With nearly 3,000 residential units approved for construction, now is the time to address downtown’s need for mixed-use commercial development,” she said. To get a consensus about the area’s potential, FGCG facilitated a first-ever meeting of the Fort Myers City Council, the Downtown Redevelopment Agency Board, the Council of Conference and Convention Centers, and the Historic Preservation Commission. According to Watermeier, city staff is driving the project; she’s merely there to help them shape a master plan. She expects to have presentations from developers this summer and that some new development will be initiated by year’s end. Expanding Services, Staff
On March 1, the firm began offering property management services, including information technology services and support. “It started as a way to provide quality property management to Frank’s team of commercial realtors so they could focus on what they do best Ñ the transaction side of selling and leasing property. As word is getting out, we’ve had other brokers and property owners ask us to take on their properties.” Watermeier said this gives property owners an independent asset manager and brokers a professional management service for their clients.
With FGCG already at nine people and growing, Watermeier continues to build a quality team to service the firm’s rapidly expanding list of clients and projects. “The projects I’m working on now are big ones and will take several years to realize. They’re not going to happen overnight, but that’s all right. I am passionate about what I’m doing and very happy with where I’m going.”

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