If you live inside the gates, the story of summer here reads two ways at once. Inside the wall, the community is doing what it was designed to do: 350-plus acres of freshwater, a kayak launch, a resort pool, the Bahama Bar & Grille under a covered lanai, courts in use before the heat sets in. Outside the wall, along the two miles between Center Place Boulevard and I-75, the corridor is under active reconstruction, new tenants are rotating through Gulf Coast Town Center, and a 61-acre parcel at Alico and U.S. 41 has just changed hands for the next decade of growth.
The interesting part is what connects the two. Your lake is not a private pond. Your five-minute radius is not a fixed backdrop. Both are moving pieces this summer, and how you plan a July weekend should reflect that.
Your lake is part of a larger system
Most residents know Lake Como as the community's centerpiece. Fewer know that it is physically tied into a larger contiguous water body.
The two former mine lakes at Miromar Lakes are connected at two locations, required by a recorded lake use agreement that connects Florida Gulf Coast University, Miromar Lakes and Esplanade, and these connections allow boats to travel back and forth between the two lakes. In practical terms, when you launch from Esplanade Lake Club's community dock, the water under the hull is the same water that runs along Miromar's three miles of private white-sand beach on the far side.
That does not give you access to Miromar's Beach Clubhouse or Blue Water Beach Grill. Those are private to Miromar members. What it does give you is a sense of scale. The recreational surface you are boating on is not 350 acres of private lake in isolation; it is part of a 700-acre lake system that supports boating, water skiing, wakeboarding, kayaking, paddleboarding, fishing and two marinas across the connected properties. That is why wake and sail traffic on a Saturday morning looks the way it does. It is not overuse. It is a bigger backyard.
What summer inside the gates actually looks like
The amenities you actually reach for in July are a shorter list than the brochure suggests. Heat compresses the day into early and late.
- Early: the waterfront walking trail along the lake edge, then the resort-style pool before 10 a.m.
- Midday: the Koquina Sand Spa with its Lakeside Spa Cabana, or the fitness center and learning center for indoor hours
- Late afternoon: the eight pickleball courts, the two tennis courts, or the bocce courts once the shade lengthens
- Evening: the outdoor Bahama Bar & Grille at the poolside, kayak launch for a sunset paddle, private cabanas for a lake-facing dinner
Planned amenities include the resort-style pool, outdoor Bahama Bar and Grille restaurant, full-service Koquina Sand Spa with Lakeside Spa Cabana, sports courts featuring tennis, pickleball and bocce ball, walking trail along the waterfront, kayak launch, and learning center space, and the on-site lifestyle manager programs around them during the shoulder months. The pieces that get used most in summer are the ones that let you avoid the noon sun without leaving the community.
The five-minute radius, in July 2026
Once you cross the gate onto Alico Road, the map has shifted enough over the past year that a resident who left for the season in April will notice.
Gulf Coast Town Center remains the closest daily-life anchor. The 158-acre center sits along I-75 at Alico Road and combines 1.3 million-plus square feet of retail with 277 luxury apartments in a mixed-use setting. The recognizable names are still there: Costco, Target, Bass Pro Shops, Regal Cinemas, LA Fitness, Dick's Sporting Goods. The dining rotation is where the change shows up. Connors Steak & Seafood remains the AAA three-diamond anchor at the center, but the smaller tenants around it have shifted. Chica Rosa Creperie & Cafe is now serving sweet and savory crepes with a Champagne list. Amore Brick Oven Pizza is running New York-style slices with outdoor seating. Cattyshack Cafe opened as Fort Myers's first cat cafe, with a glass-walled lounge of adoptable cats attached to a cafe that serves beer and wine, and a putting-green theme that gives it a genuinely odd character.
Miromar Outlets is running programming in addition to shopping. The lululemon Summer Series is holding yoga sessions on the outlet grounds through the summer, which is worth checking if you are trying to build a routine that does not require driving to Naples.
Beyond that, the Alico corridor is the growth story of the region. The Alico corridor is leading the region in job growth, which is why the next section of the map matters more than the current one.
The construction map you should keep in your head
This is the summer where the roads around the community are being rebuilt in three overlapping projects. If you drive Corkscrew or Alico between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., you will feel it.
Corkscrew Road widening, through late 2026. The Corkscrew Road widening project, now in its second phase, is constructing four 11-foot-wide travel lanes from Bella Terra Boulevard to just east of Alico Road, with safety and accessibility built in. A 10-foot shared-use path runs the south side and a six-foot sidewalk runs the north. Lane closures are expected during nighttime hours from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. as workers install storm sewers and complete the $27 million project by late 2026.
Alico Road Extension, groundbreaking mid-2026. Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-2026, with completion estimated in late 2032. The new roadway will connect with existing Alico Road just east of the Airport Haul Road intersection and extend east and north to connect with SR 82 at the Sunshine Boulevard intersection, improving mobility and reducing congestion in eastern Lee County. For an Esplanade Lake Club resident, this changes the eastern exit from the community in a real way. The community's eastern access is currently limited by how far Alico goes. That will not be true by the end of the decade.
Dia Crossing at U.S. 41 and Alico Road. In March 2026, one of the last large tracts already entitled for development off U.S. 41 between Estero and Fort Myers sold for $20.45 million, sitting north and south of the intersection with Alico Road, and Ryan Companies purchased the 61.3-acre parcel. The 47-acre rectangular tract borders U.S. 41 to the west, Old 41 to the east and Alico Road to the south, and is zoned for up to 350 apartment units, up to 200,000 square feet of commercial space and a hotel with up to 150 rooms, with about 20 acres on the northern side preserved for watershed improvement. The seller had held the land since the 1980s. What you will feel first is the traffic count, not the buildings. What you will feel a year in is a new hotel and retail cluster at the corner you already pass every time you head to U.S. 41.
A weekend template that respects all of the above
If you are trying to build a summer weekend that does not fight the heat, the traffic, or the reality that the lake and the corridor are both busy, this is a workable shape.
Friday evening. Sunset paddle from the community kayak launch. Dinner at the Bahama Bar & Grille poolside, or drive five minutes to Connors Steak & Seafood at Gulf Coast Town Center if you want a table with linen.
Saturday morning. Walking trail along the lake before 8 a.m., pool by 9. If you have guests in town, Miromar Outlets for the lululemon yoga session and a coffee, then back inside the gates before the sun hardens.
Saturday afternoon and evening. Bocce or pickleball once the deck shade lengthens, then a lake dinner from a private cabana or a slow drift on the boat. The wake calms in the last hour of daylight.
Sunday. A late brunch at Chica Rosa Creperie & Cafe, then errands at Costco or Target while Corkscrew is quiet on the weekend. If the kids are along, Cattyshack Cafe as a genuinely odd stop that no other Fort Myers neighborhood can offer.
Avoid Alico between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. this summer if you can. The construction closures are real, and the noise from the storm sewer work carries.
The takeaway for people who already live here
The summer of 2026 at Esplanade Lake Club is a good one to pay attention to your surroundings. The lake under your dock is part of a system that stretches past your gate. The corridor outside your gate is between what it was and what it will be. In two years, the eastern exit will connect through to SR 82, the U.S. 41 corner will have a hotel and 350 new apartments, and the current version of your five-minute radius will be a memory. The version you are living in right now, quieter than it will be and already bigger than it looks, is worth using while it is here.
If you are thinking about how any of this affects the resale story on your home, or whether now is the right window to reposition into something with a different water frontage inside the community, Casey Lyons is available to walk through the specifics of your address and the current market. Schedule a Free Consultation to start the conversation.
