Are Linkage Fees Coming to Lee County? (Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Lehigh, Bonita Springs...this is you!)

What are Linkage Fees?

They are fees that developers pay, similar to imact fess, to offset the development's impact on Affordable Housing.

Both Lee and Collier County are considering the use of linkage fees on development to pay for off-site affordable housing. If the county decides to pursue a comprehensive mandatory mitigation requirment the fees from the study Lee County are listed below for discussion purposes. (Policy Options for Affordable Housing Methodology is avaliable online at www.lee-county.com/dcd)

Residential Development Sq. Ft. Per Sq. Ft Workforce Housing needed Workforce Housing Assistance Needed

500 .0383 $598

1000 .0587 $777

2000 .1003 $1,110

3000 .1450 $1,541

4000 .1947 $2,096

5000 .2503 $2,799

6000 .3160 $3,724

7000 .3937 $4,970

8000 .4863 $6,587

9000 .6010 $8,746

10,000 .7477 $11,671

12,000 1.1780 $20,928

Source: Lee County, Affordable Housing Policy Operations Memorandum

Non-Residential Devleopment Per Sq. Ft.

Government .00051 $6.27 per sq. ft.

Industrial .00072 $18.13 per sq. ft.

Institutional .00064 $7.03 per sq. ft.

Office .00087 $10.85 per sq. ft.

Retail .0013 $28.18 per sq. ft.

Tourist .00097 $36.63 per sq. ft.

Source: Lee County, Affordable Housing Policy Operations Memorandum

To give a little perspective:

A new retail building 2,500 sq. ft. in Lee County would cost an extra= $70, 325.

A new industrial building 10,000 sq. ft. in Lee County would cost an extra= $181,300.

To take this all the way home....The Edison Mall is 1 million sq. ft. approximately, and would cost an Extra $28 Million Dollars with the new Linkage Fees Included!

The "Tax" added with the recent increase in Road Impact Fees, will not make developing a property feasible in some cases. If this happens the reality is the businesses we need for Jobs and a Sustainable Economy will be impossible to create. Thus, further depressing incomes and worsening the need for affordable housing.

The development industry needs to be presented with incentives, rather than penalties!