Lee issues $40M in permits

FORT MYERS — Officials in Lee County issued permits for nearly $40 million in new commercial construction for its unincorporated areas, bolstered largely by two significant projects, a release says.

The Park Royal Hospital, a new psychiatric facility slated for the existing Health Park medical campus, is valued as a $21.8 million project. In another project, the Florida Government Utility Authority is building an oxidation ditch worth $8 million.

Lee County Community Development, which oversees development in unincorporated Lee County, also issued 25 permits for new single-family houses, and eight permits for multi-family units, according to the release.

Permits for the Boston Red Sox' new spring training facilities pushed permit values up to $39 million in February, giving the county nearly $79 million in new projects over the last two months.

In March 2010, the value of newly permitted projects for unincorporated Lee County totaled just $796,800.

Lee County Community Development said the totals from the last two months closely resemble the amount of construction activity that was going on at the beginning of 2007.