County staffers ask denial of 10th Street historic demolition
Preservation Board to review destruction of 1926 houses from Florida boom time
The Boca Grande Preservation Board will meet Wednesday, Dec. 10 to discuss the possible demolition of a house at 1000 10th St. Lee County staff has reviewed the phase-one submittal for demolition and “finds the request does not meet the criteria for demolition established in Land Development Code (LDC) Section 22-104 for a designated historic resource.” The house was damaged during hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The case is SCA2025-00019. The house was originally in the form of two separate lots, with single-family houses built in the Mediterranean Revival style in 1926, during the Florida boom. A large central house was built between the old parts in 2000. The two houses were permitted to be joined by a county Historic Preservation Board application in 1996, creating what they called the “the sprawling compound seen today.”
The house also had renovations planned before hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The County has received a letter from Cronin Engineering stating that they “recommend that the only reasonable and prudent course of action is to fully and completely demolish the entire structure and rebuild all of the buildings.” The owners also submitted an Oct. 31 letter from David A. Stanbra, a structural engineer in Fort Myers, in support of demolition.
In the supporting filings related to the meeting, Lee County Building Official, Thomas ‘Tad’ Delnay, CBO, stated on Sept. 3 that “based on the current engineer’s report, I do not find sufficient evidence to classify the structure as dangerous or unsafe under the Florida Building Code (Existing).”
The property is owned by 1000 10th Street West LLC, which is located at 410 Park Ave, 22nd floor in New York.
The meeting is at St. Andrew’s Chapter House, 380 Gilchrist Ave. at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 10.
The item is SCA2025-00019, 1000 10th St. Demo, 1000 10th St. W. Materials related to the meeting, including full engineer’s reports and staff remarks in a PDF format, are here at leegov.com
Below, Lee County filings submitted in advance of the meeting. Top, aerial of the compound.
