It has been another chilly week on the islands, good for the holiday spirit, but already more days with the heat on for me than all last winter. Weather is expected to remain partly cloudy with temps in the mid to low 70’s during the day through the weekend and Christmas,

But the forecast is calling for rain beginning Tues, followed by colder weather. Fingers crossed that changes.

 

After Dave and I checked properties, delivered Christmas cheer, and visited some owners earlier today, I caught sight of a huge group of white birds (heron, ibis, egret, and wood stork) on both sides of the road in the water areas of the conservation land along Bay Dr. I have never seen that many different birds together. Really special!

Causeway Update & Sanibel Beach Re-nourishment Project

Wed morning, I attended the Zoom meeting organized by the islands Chamber of Commerce. It provided an update on causeway road construction by FDOT (Florida Dept of Transportation) Sanibel Causeway Community Liaison Jennifer Dorning and an update on the Sanibel Beach Re-nourishment Project by City Director of Natural Resources Holly Milbrandt.

Causeway – Jennifer began her presentation with a summary of the work so far, beginning with how quickly the road was made passable for utility workers and first responders (just six days after Hurricane Ian), and then open to the public within 15 days.

She said FDOT is trying to make the roadway look much like it did before the storm, but stronger. The recent four weekends of lane closures helped in the process which includes excavating the old, adding two layers of rebar, filling with high early-strength concrete, and adding finished slabs.

The extra lane used to get materials onto the island was required because the concrete was drying when vehicles were stuck in traffic.

The project included an underwater survey to determine where the granite armor stone needs to go. That is being barged from the Punta Rassa boat ramp. Placement of this stone will continue after the roadway is fully open.

You can follow the work on https://www.swflroads.com/SanibelCauseway. Striping and paving of the finished roads will be done this week resulting in two 12’ travel lanes with a shoulder through much of the causeway. Soon there also will be two lanes through the toll plaza.

By next week, all roadways will be smoother. The Punta Rassa boat ramp is being used to transport the stone via barge to its destination. It will need significant restoration,

The County-owned causeway parks are still in design stages and not expected to be done until 2027. Beginning today, there will be fewer workers on the causeway as they are leaving for a long overdue holiday break.

(Friday afternoon update 2 p.m. I just drove off- and on-island, confirming that the amount of roadway work completed overnight is amazing. New paving, striping, and easy going in both directions. Hooray!)

Beach Re-nourishment – Holly introduced new Sanibel Information Officer Eric Jackson and described how the published zone map shows the areas being re-nourished and their entry spots. (North Sanibel is the Blind Pass area.)

She said the City has opened Island Inn Rd for truck staging areas to avoid roadway delays.

Tues, 93 truckloads of sand were delivered with 5K to 7K tons of sand expected to arrive daily. The first trucks arrive before dawn and are staggered through the workday. The City website has added a button for the project, making it easy to check progress: https://www.mysanibel.com/city-of-sanibel-beach-renourishment-2023-2024.

Protect Captiva

Recently, the Lee County Board of Commissioners voted to approve changes to the Lee Plan with strong assurances that the provisions would not affect density. Last week, Timbers Resorts, owner of South Seas Island Resort, released its plan to add hundreds of hotel rooms and condominiums and increase building heights to 64 feet.

The Protect Captiva coalition is gearing up for an aggressive legal challenge and believes there are strong substantive and procedural arguments against the county’s actions. Community support is needed for this challenge to succeed. Visit the coalition’s website https://protectcaptiva.org/ or their Facebook page to learn about and support possible solutions to the issue.

Mystery Movie – “Written in the Sand”

More news was out this week on the movie being filmed on the islands. Local news advises that after three weeks, filming wrapped up Wed. Titled “Written in the Sand”, the film was shot at several locations including RC Otters and Boops by The Bubble Room on Captiva, and Doc Ford’s and MudBugs Cajun Kitchen on Sanibel. They also filmed for two days at “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Described by the supervisory producer as a “feel-good love story”, it takes place on Sanibel with the main location being Sundial Resort where the main character works as general manager. The movie is expected to debut in fall/winter 2024. Several residents were extras. Stay tuned!

Forewarn

Yesterday, I attended a Florida Realtors® Zoom meeting for Brokers which announced a new benefit to our Realtors® beginning the first of the year – a subscription to Forewarn. Forewarn is an identity identification and risk assessment app giving its users valuable intel in advance of face-to-face engagements and correspondence. By merely entering a name or phone number, the app provides instant identify info, criminal history, financial risk, and more. Aside from the safety precaution this software provides, it also generates red flags on scammers, and provides info that will help us serve prospects more effectively and efficiently. The SanibelSusan Team will be users.

Florida Realtors® Wins Triple Crown

This afternoon, I received notification that Florida Realtors® just learned they won NAR’s Triple Crown award! In addition to raising the most PAC money out of any other Realtor association in the country, they increased PAC participation at all investment levels. (SanibelSusan is a major investor.) This is a huge accomplishment, and it will go a long way in helping our Realtors® continue to defend private property rights and ensure our communities have what they need to grow and prosper.

I will participate Jan 4 and 5 in the upcoming Florida Realtors® virtual Legislative Think Tanks. These are breakout groups that focus on ten major real estate areas/issues. I am a member of the Resort and 2^nd Home Breakout Group. We typically meet twice a year prior to the Mid-Winter Business Meetings (mid Jan) and Annual Convention in Aug. These think tanks are the foundation of FL Realtors® advocacy efforts.

Sanibel & Captiva Real Estate News

The local island Association of Realtors® did not meet this week but posted a notice that for the month of Jan, our Realtor Caravan Meetings have been changed from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. to better accommodate those coming on-island when traffic is busiest with dayworker vehicles. The meetings will be Thurs Jan 4 and 25 at The Community House. Open House Caravan will follow the meetings with new listings available for viewings from 12:30 to 3 p.m.

Below, with data from the islands MLS are summary tables of the residential sales statistics, followed by the island MLS action this week.

SANIBEL RESIDENTIAL	CONDOS			HOMES			LOTS
	#	Avg Price	DOM	#	Avg Price	DOM	#	Avg Price	DOM
For sale:	83	1,052,759	151	122	1,806,211	91	42	999,807	146
Under contract	5	1,012,560	123	15	1,878,533	53	1	1,500,000	275
Sold 2023 to 12/22	95	949,111	63	262	1,270,033	72	24	920,645	76
Sold 2022	123	1,136,199	44	185	1,602,745	52	26	779,528	223
Sold 2021	287	875,127	113	355	1,341,881	89	69	698,862	442

 

CAPTIVA RESIDENTIAL	CONDOS			HOMES			LOTS
	#	Avg Price	DOM	#	Avg Price	DOM	#	Avg Price	DOM
For sale	26	1,495,634	125	17	7,817,117	138	2	7,247,500	105
Under contract	1	1,900,000	2	2	4,122,500	98	0	N/A	N/A
Sold 2023 to 12/22	17	834,176	99	17	2,716,647	70	0	N/A	N/A
Sold 2022	28	1,458,983	52	22	5,636,386	133	0	N/A	N/A
Sold 2021	64	1,150,373	145	44	2,988,520	261	2	2,950,000	731

Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service Activity Dec 15-22 

Sanibel

CONDOS

5 new listings: Sanibel Arms #C3 1/1 $299,999; Sanibel Arms #D7 1/1 $439K, Cottage Colony West #107 1/1 $599.9K, Sunset South #1A 2/2 $659K, Sundial #R305 2/2 $1.472M.

1 price change: Spanish Cay #A8 2/2 now $499K.

1 new sale: Sundial #R406 2/2 listed at $1.799M.

2 closed sales: Pointe Santo #C2 2/2 $900K, Sundial #E208 2/2 $1.2M.

HOMES

10 new listings: 1113 Sand Castle Rd 3/2 $799K, 1524 Wilton Ln 3/2 $899K, 931 S Yachtsman Dr 4/3.5 $998K, 1379 Albatross Rd 3/2.5 $1.47M, 729 Sand Dollar Dr 4/3 $1.495M, 696 Durion Ct 3/2.5 $1.55M, 2294 Wulfert Rd 4/4 $1.799M, 4179 Dingman Dr 4/4 $2.099M, 918 Limpet Dr 4/4.5 $3.395M, 848 Angel Wing Dr 4/4.5 $3.395M,

3 back on market: 3302 Twin Lakes Ln 3/2.5 $1.299M, 848 Limpet Dr 3/2 $1.85M, 2871 Wulfert Rd 4/4 $2.59M.

5 price changes: 9126 Mockingbird Dr 3/2 now $959K, 1586 Century Ct 3/2.5 now $985K, 9393 Peaceful Dr 3/2 now $1.27M, 1321 Sand Castle Rd 3/2.5 now $1.395M, 2969 Wulfert Rd 6/6.5.5 now $3.55M.

4 new sales: 455 Peachtree Rd 2/2 listed at $795K, 1297 Par View Dr 3/2.5 listed at $1.05M, 201 Daniel Dr 3/2.5 listed at $1.195M, 2477 Wulfert Rd 3/4 listed at $1.998M.

2 closed sales: 9472 Balsa Ct 2/2 $1.089M, 4389 Gulf Pines Dr 3/3.5.5 $1.55M.

LOTS

No new listings.

1 back on market: 4171 West Gulf Dr $3.995M.

2 price changes: 0 Bowmans Beach Rd now $189K, 4501 Waters Edge Ln now $2.845M.

1 new sale: 395 Bella Vista Way E listed at $1.5M.

No closed sales.

Captiva

CONDOS

1 new listing: Beach Homes #29 4/4 $3.4M.

4 price changes: Gulf Beach Villas #2118 2/2 now $999K, Beach Villas #2521 2/2 now $1.095M, Bayside Villas #4302 3/3 now $1.749M, Beach Homes #25 3/2 now $2.8995M.

No new sales:

1 closed sale: Marina Villas #805 2/2 $900K.

HOMES

No new listings.

1 price change: 16486-488 Captiva Dr 10/11.5.5 now $26.985M.

No new sale or closed sales.

LOTS

Nothing to report.

This representation is based in part on data supplied by the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service. Neither the association nor its MLS guarantees or is in any way responsible for its accuracy.  Data maintained by the association, or its MLS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.  The information provided represents the general real estate activity in the community and does not imply that SanibelSusan Realty Associates is participating or participated in these transactions.

The team and I wish you a very Merry Christmas,

Susan Andrews, aka SanibelSusan

I’ve always wanted to make a Christmas appetizer wreath like this one. This is the weekend for it! Merry merry…

 

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