MARKET WATCH

BY Frank D'Alessandro

Cape helps area top Milken list

It's common knowledge that the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area is experiencing tremendous population growth, and that the real estate market remains as hot as ever. But to think that this former retirement destination has now emerged as the No. 1 ranked metropolitan area in the country for job creation? That adds a whole new perspective to the Lee County real estate market.

"The Milken Institute index of Best Performing Cities: Where America's Jobs are Created and Sustained," ranked the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan area at the top of the list for 2004. The Milken index ranks U.S. metropolitan areas based on how the areas have created and sustained jobs. Four other Florida metro areas were ranked in the Top 10 - West Palm Beach (4), Daytona Beach (5), Sarasota-Bradenton (6), and Fort Lauderdale (9). The growing services sector, such as health care and tourism, as well as new home construction, were common factors among the Milken Top 10. And population growth, well-to-do senior residents, and low housing costs are also a common thread.

The Milken index surveys where economies are growing and businesses are thriving, where jobs are being created and maintained, and where wages and salaries are increasing. And Cape Coral plays a primary role in all of these areas, according to Mike Jackson, director of the city's economic development office. "The Milken report notes that professional and business services employment in the region has grown by over 38 percent during the past four years, and many young professional families have migrated to the area. In Cape Coral, more than 60 percent of the 50,000-plus work force are white-collar workers: management, professional, sales and clerical," Jackson says.

From 2000 to 2003, Cape Coral's population grew by more than 16 percent. More than half of the Cape's population (135,000 residents) is age 44 or younger. Cape Coral residents under the age of 25 outnumber those over 65, and more than 60 percent of the Cape's population is of working age (15 to 64).

Approximately 11,000 people move to Cape Coral each year. The U.S. Census Bureau ranks Cape Coral the fifth fastest growing of U.S. cities over 100,000 in population. According to the Milken report, the Cape's diversified economy, with a low dependence on manufacturing, insulated the area from economic hardships felt around the country from the national downturn in manufacturing jobs.

"The Milken report also says that entrepreneurial capacity and behavior are prime drivers of economic growth and job creation. Cape Coral continues to be a generator of small-business development. The city will be funding a new SBA Small Business Development Center, and has attracted a branch of Nova Southeastern University, which will further support entrepreneurial activity," Jackson says.

- Frank D'Alessandro is a real estate broker with D'Alessandro & Woodyard Commercial Realtors. Readers may contact him via e-mail at fdalessandro@dw-cr.com or by calling (239) 425-6000.

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