Feature Story

Naples-based Developer Gains Northern Exposure to Meet Growing Demand
By Elizabeth W. Pearce

Although it has only been a few months since the sprawling southeastern corner of Summerlin Road and Boy Scout Drive in Fort Myers was cleared, developer Joe D’Jamoos talks about the 37-acre Summerlin Center Professional Park as if it were already built out. Then again, there’s no reason D’Jamoos shouldn’t be so optimistic. Based on the number and scope of developments he either has completed, is building or sees on the horizon, his perspective is quite reasonable.

“Right now, we have in excess of 2.5 million square feet to build over the next three years, and that’s just on the properties we own,” said D’Jamoos of the projects his companies, JED Development and Jerulle & D’Jamoos Construction, are scheduled to develop and build.

One of the most exciting is Summerlin Center, currently the largest commercial office/retail project in Fort Myers. When completed, it is planned to include a nationally-known hotel, 200,000sf of office space, amenities such as a jogging trail around a lake and two lakefront gazebos, as well as various developments on the center’s outparcels.

“Things are progressing as planned,” he said. “The road is in and construction of the outparcels will be getting underway later this summer.” D’Jamoos projects the center will total 500,000sf when it is built out within the next four years.

Although Summerlin Center is D’Jamoos’ largest project to date, it is only one of nearly a dozen in which he’s actively involved at the moment. Others in Lee County include:

¥Metro Parkway Center. Comprised of 19+ acres on Metro Parkway, between Winkler Avenue and Colonial Boulevard. The site can accommodate up to 330,000sf of office/retail/showroom/warehouse space, offered on a sale, lease or build-to-suit basis.

¥Corkscrew Palms. A 16-acre parcel on Corkscrew Road between U.S. 41 and I-75, planned to include 100,000sf of office space in courtyard-style buildings starting from 3,000sf. Priced from $145/sf.

¥Alico Commerce Center. Planned to include approximately 630,000sf of light industrial, office/retail, and warehouse/showroom space on 73 acres. Located on the south side of Alico Road, between U.S. 41 and I-75, the park’s groundbreaking could take place during the fourth quarter. Build-to-suit parcels start from $3.50/sf.

Like many Naples-based developers, D’Jamoos began shifting his attention to southern Lee County about 2 years ago, again focusing on parcels fronting U.S. 41. In fact, other than the 2-story, 14,500sf signature structure D’Jamoos is building for Anchor Health Care in north Naples (on Immokalee and Veterans Park roads), most of D’Jamoos’ newest projects are north of the county line.

For example, in Bonita Springs, behind Sanibel Steakhouse (on an outparcel of Colony Plaza, which he developed), D’Jamoos is designing a 36,000sf, 3-story office building, which he also plans to develop. In addition, he’s nearing completion of approximately 39,000sf of retail space at The Renaissance (on 14 acres across from the new Bonita Community Medical Center) and plans to tackle construction of 80,000sf of office space at the development beginning early next year.

Despite his involvement with projects elsewhere in Southwest Florida, D’Jamoos is becoming increasingly focused on certain high-growth areas of greater Fort Myers, where land -- and therefore, opportunity -- still exist. “There just aren’t many large (vacant) parcels left for development anymore (in Bonita or Naples), so we just keep on heading north, because that’s where we feel the growth is,” said D’Jamoos. “And we don’t think the market is overbuilt at this point.”

Until it is, D’Jamoos plans to concentrate on meeting the growing demand for commercial space in Fort Myers and Estero, much as he did in Naples: with developments of the highest quality design and construction in the best locations.

“We don’t build for anybody else and we don’t just put up buildings,” he said. “We build classic structures -- landmarks -- so they’ll never look dated or obsolete. It’s all upscale, because our reputation is tied completely to these projects.”

Accordingly, JED developments are strictly high-profile, typically large and filled with amenities. Increasingly, that’s what growing businesses demand in order to meet the needs of a mushrooming population. For that reason, Colonial Bank chose Summerlin Center Professional Park for its Lee County flagship location.

Since coming to Lee County in 1998, the Montgomery, Alabama-based bank has opened 11 local branch locations and recently embarked on plans to open 9 more in the next 4 years. Earlier this year, it moved its regional headquarters into the Riverview Corporate Center in Bonita Springs. Bank officials say that a similarly high-profile location in the center of Lee County will enable Colonial to expand its market share and better serve its existing customers.

“Part of the reason for our interest in (Summerlin Center) is that it’s such a hot area of town and it’s so accessible to all of Ft. Myers, I-75, Cape Coral,” said Mike Tomko, senior vice-president in charge of retail banking for Colonial Bank’s Southwest Florida region. “You can get to just about anywhere fairly quickly from that geographical center.”

Although plans have yet to be finalized, bank officials say they expect to open a full-service facility in a signature building on one of the center’s outparcels some time next year. Fronting the east side of Summerlin, just south of Boy Scout, the parcel will feature a 5-story, 50,000sf building, of which the bank is currently negotiating to lease 10,000sf.

“It’s going to be very visible to everyone, including motorists coming from both directions,” said Tomko. “I don’t think there’s anything anywhere in that area that compares to the visibility of a 5-story building in that location. We think it’s really going to attract a lot of attention and we certainly want to be in the middle of it.”

So does Internal Medicine Associates (IMA), among other professional owners, investors and users who have shown serious interest in the project. Within the next 12 months, the adult primary health care and multi-specialty practice plans to build a 25,000-30,000sf medical office building next door to Colonial Bank. In April, the group closed on the prime, 2-lot parcel that wraps around the corner of Summerlin and Boy Scout. It was a deal that almost didn’t happen.

“We’d looked at the land about 2 years ago, but walked away from it because there was still plenty of land on Summerlin, between Cypress Lake and Colonial,” said Michael Biel, administrator for IMA. “It’s a great location but we figured we could come back in a year or two and it would still be there when we were ready to build.” That wasn’t the case.

Like others seeking a prominent location for a signature building, Biel noticed the Summerlin corridor started changing rapidly about a year ago. “Development just took off, and all that land along Summerlin, from Reflection Lakes north to Colonial, started getting built up. We knew that when our (current) lease ran out, we wanted to be equidistant to all the hospitals and easily accessible to our patient base, so we revisited the location.”

This time, IMA jumped at the chance to snag the prize parcel and closed on it earlier this year, even though it won’t begin the design process for at least 6 months. However, the group is already discussing plans for a facility that will accommodate IMA’s growing staff (now totaling 27 physicians) as well as some space to rent out, possibly to other specialties. Plans also include possible development of a diagnostic center with radiology and other services, creating a convenient, one-stop medical center for IMA’s adult patients.

According to Gary Tasman, a real estate advisor with Grubb & Ellis/VIP D’Alessandro in Fort Myers, such scenarios are familiar with D’Jamoos’ projects. “Once they start taking shape, they tend to sell themselves,” he said.

Tasman, who handles sales and leasing for several JED developments, said he’s noticed a significant increase in inquiries at the center since construction began. Nonetheless, he said he’s surprised at how quickly the Colonial Bank building is leasing out, even though groundbreaking is still 6 months away.

In addition to the bank, Tasman said a regional law firm has taken the entire top floor (approximately 10,000sf) and leases to 2 general office users are pending for approximately 10,000sf. He’s also in “serious discussion” with a second financial institution and several hotel developers interested in building on center outparcels.

Summerlin Center outparcels are available from $10-$16/ft and buildings start at $145/sf.  -

About the Developers

President and CEO of Naples-based JED Development, and CEO of D’Jamoos & Jerulle Construction Company, LLC, Joe D’Jamoos has risen rapidly to the top of his game. Less than four years since he began purchasing prime parcels in Naples, D’Jamoos and partner Terry Jerulle, president of D’Jamoos & Jerulle Construction, have gone from being an unknown quantity to an unstoppable force throughout the commercial community, including Lee County.

Blessed with the ability to identify and acquire premium parcels, D’Jamoos and Jerulle have developed and built nearly one million square feet of many of the area’s most visible commercial projects along U.S. 41. In Naples, these includeÊGalleriaÊPlaza, Vanderbilt Galleria and Medical Arts of Naples. Bonita Springs projects include Colony Corporate Center Phases I & II, Colony Plaza, Burnt Pine Shops and Crown Lake Center.

Over the years, the companies of D’Jamoos and Jerulle have grown to employ a staff of 18. Located in 4,700sf in the Galleria Plaza, they provide a single source for commercial services such as sales, leasing and property management. Key staffers include Graham Norcombe (vice-president of development); Mary Monaco (corporate attorney and licensed broker); and Lori Dolan (director of property management).

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