The bravest developer: Robert Hensley

When the Business Observer interviewed developer Robert Hensley about building a $150 million condo hotel in Cape Coral in 2007, the headline read: “The Bravest Developer.”

Indeed, the Lee County developer was one of the boldest entrepreneurs in the region. Hensley died March 2 at age 56.

Hensley, who had moved to Southwest Florida from Michigan in the early 1980s, acquired Tarpon Point marina and 150 surrounding acres at the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River in June 2001 from Allete Properties. He paid $29 million in cash and three months later he sold 44 waterfront lots for $23.4 million, nearly recouping his investment.