Construction of Midpoint Gateway Retail Center gets under way; expects to be leasing by year’s end
Trending
Benchmark General Contractors held a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for a new 7,500-square-foot multi-tenant retail development on Del Prado Boulevard South, which is scheduled to start leasing out at the end of the year.
"Projects like this don't get enough attention," Benchmark General Contractors President Brad Nickel said. "It's a small 7,500-square-foot strip mall, but what it represents is jobs staying local, building the community up, dressing up Cape Coral - the less people are driving across the causeway to get jobs, the better. I think projects like this are exactly what the community needs right now."
Midpoint Gateway Retail Center, at 2675 Del Prado Blvd., S., will have space for five businesses, with leasing opportunities still available.
Nickel said shovels are going to hit the ground in the next week or so and, by the end of the year, it should be fully leased.
"It is super exciting to us. Our last four years has really been focused on the rebuilding of Sanibel and Captiva. Hurricane Ian really took our attention and put it over there. That is our hometown. We have really been focused out there," he said.
Nickel said they can now really start spreading their wings, as they have built up their team.
"We've built our team up to where we can really start spreading our wings a little bit and hitting all the other local communities to do what we do best - building with quality," he said.
The architect on the project is GMA Architects and Planners and Moody Powell Structural Engineers is the structural engineer. Benchmark's project team leading Midpoint Gateway Retail Center includes Ryan Johnson as vice president of commercial and Doug Hrabik as senior project manager.
Among the attendees of the groundbreaking was Cape Coral Councilmember Bill Steinke.
"We have needed more business opportunities for folks for businesses who want to start here," he said. "We have just not had the space for them. For an entity to come and invest in our city and make an available space for business and retail operators to be here is a great addition to our city for sure."
Steinke said it is a welcome sight to see a new business space open in Cape Coral, especially since it has been the city's quest to increase its commercial tax base.
"We welcome the businesses that are willing to put up the infrastructure and accommodate that," he said.