Lee Memorial to buy 10 acres in Estero

It's official. Lee Memorial Health System's board of directors voted unanimously this afternoon to purchase nearly 10 acres in Estero near the 22 acres the board opted to purchase a year and a half ago.

The 10 acres are made up of two tracts of land near the southeast corner of U.S. 41 and Coconut Road. Together, they will cost the hospital system about $9.4 million.

The 6.3-acre tract is directly north of the 22-acre tract Lee Memorial already owns. The land, which fronts Coconut Road, will cost about $6.3 million.

The smaller, 4.12-acre tract is directly south of the Bonita Community Health Center along U.S. 41 and will cost a little more than $3 million.

When the deal is closed, Lee Memorial will own almost 32 acres in Estero. That means the nonprofit hospital system is even more likely to build some sort of medical complex, hospital officials have said.

The board also voted unanimously to give $75,000 to Southwest Florida Addiction Services to help the nonprofit drug treatment program build a new detoxification center on Evans Avenue.