Business booming for Bernwood Business Park

Not anymore.

With this year's move of Bonita Springs Charter School into a permanent facility in the park, the building of Noland Company, a distributor of construction supplies, and the opening of several home-oriented businesses, the 110-acre business park off Old 41 Road is booming.

"It fits a niche in our area for commercial and industrial," said David Morton, president of the Bonita Springs-Estero Association of Realtors. "It's really spruced up that area of Old 41 when they came in."

Some business owners often prefer having their offices and storage space in the same place, which is possible in a place like Bernwood Business Park, he said.

Another big draw of the park is location. It's near U.S. 41, but not as pricey.

It's a quick jaunt to Interstate 75 and is midway between Naples and Fort Myers.

"They're killing all three markets," said Bill Wolf, a broker with Development Associates of Bonita Springs, which is marketing the park.

Wolf said the recent connection of Bernwood Parkway to U.S. 41 also makes it easier for business owners to transport goods between Lee and Collier counties.

Lee County tax collector's was among the first to set up shop in the park. The tax collector's Bonita satellite office moved to Bernwood from Sunshine Plaza off Bonita Beach Road in 2000.

Kerri Kartel, a spokeswoman for the Lee tax collector, said they wanted to move further from the Lee/Collier County line to serve the Bonita community as it grew northward.

"The most central location and the most economical location was the Bernwood Business Park," she said.

Naples Hitch & Trailer expanded its operations to the park about a year ago. Martin Doctors, the owner of the business that installs hitches and sells trailer accessories, was looking to hit a larger market. Doctors has had a Naples location on Davis Boulevard about 15 years.

"It's in the path of progress and we wanted to expand and it seems like the natural" place, he said.

Doctors said it's also difficult to find commercial and industrial zoning in the area for a business like his.

"A lot of stuff on Tamiami Trail is retail zoning," he said.

Several businesses that have located to the park target the home interiors market. Wolf said the building boom has boosted the number of park's clients.

"Each year, there's more and more people coming here and more and more houses being built. You've got the supply and demand factor," Wolf said. "It's perfect timing. You know you're in town but you don't have to pay the high rates and the land prices to be on Tamiami Trail."

Since the zoning, land-clearing and most permitting by governmental agencies is already done, it also makes starting a business much quicker, Wolf said.

Of the six sections in the park, three are open, said Wolf, who wouldn't divulge the prices or the percentage of the park that is full. People can buy lots as small as a half-acre to as large as 10 acres.

Contact Staff Writer Janine Zeitlin at 213-6036 or jazeitlin@naplesnews.com