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Fort Myers council seeks to terminate McCollum Hall development agreements

The historic building's redevelopment plans included a grocery store, food hall and affordable housing, but financial concerns have sent the project back to the Community Redevelopment Agency
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DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS, Fla. — Fort Myers City Council is asking staff to terminate two agreements with the developer of the historic McCollum Hall after a feasibility study revealed a $4 million budget gap in the project.

The developer had proposed transforming the historic building into a grocery store, food hall, community spaces and affordable housing.

Fox 4 Senior Reporter Kaitlin Knapp explains what's next for the project:

Fort Myers council seeks to terminate McCollum Hall development agreements

The council had previously approved a $4.2 million grant to the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), which owns the building.

City Manager Marty Lawing and his staff expressed concerns about the project's financial viability.

"City staff believes that the assumptions for revenue and expenditures could be overly optimistic," Lawing said.

While some council members supported terminating the contract, Councilwoman Terolyn Watson strongly opposed the move.

"It's not fair that he [developer] put close to $1 million in this project and we then just now terminate the agreements and move forward. That's not how you do business," Watson said.

The project will now be handled by the CRA, which will find someone to oversee the design and overall project.

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