A couple years ago, I went to look at the building for sale that is located between (the building is one entity) French Connection and Subway (after Ellington's closed and before Envie Lounge opened-- it's out of business now- suprise). The building, I was told, was partly owned by a Lee County commissioner.
To my surprise, on the floor, I could have filled a few garbage cans with nothing but rat droppings that were (mostly) in the kitchen (I'm not exaggerating). The floor was almost completely covered with rat shit. The stainless steel counters were covered. All of the food service equipment was covered. Everything was covered in rat shit! (and all of that equipment was included in the sale, and would eventually be wiped down and used by the latter business). It was the most disgusting thing I have ever witnessed. There must have been 1000's of rats living inside there!
But how did they get in and where do they go? The food in there was long gone. But I suppose there was plenty more food elsewhere because the space is sandwiched (no pun intended) between 2 other restaurants.
Hmmm, makes you wonder.
It's not news that we have a rat problem in Downtown Fort Myers. It is infested.
Upstairs in the same building was an endless supply of exposed asbestos that was sloppily handled (and probably filled the air). Another part of the upstairs had a hole in the roof from a past fire. Needlesstosay it was a code nightmare. It was falling apart (and that's an understatement).
Note: If you are foolish enough to move to downtown Fort Myers, and you are looking at properties...
Bring a Code Enforcement Officer to the property with you!
The owner will not like this, but you will know what you are in for. I have saved 100s of 1000s of 100000s of dollars and a lot of nightmares by doing this. Unfortunately, Not many others have and they have eventually lost everything and there wasn't a Goddamn thing they could do about it!
Another Note: Even though you have brought a code enforcement officer with you, you still must do your homework! This is because there are too many people's hands in the pot, and a lot of time their notes do not match up; hence you can really screw yourself (and I mean BAD, and I cannot stress that enough). You are helpless and at the mercy of a bunch of beareucrats who don't know what in the hell they're doing.
Anyway, rats. Lots of rats. You even see them in the daytime around The New River District. There are more rats than residents in those beautiful and empty high rises along the river.
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The funny thing about downtown fort myers is it had so much potential, if the officials would have followed the recommendations that they paid for and built low density, retail, and restaurants along the river. The elected officials decided that wouldnt be profitable enough, hence all the empty high rises. They really goofed and now they have a big mess! They should all be run out of office!!!
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