Pelican Preserve

Pelican Preserve is a large, fully built-out, guard-gated 55-plus community on roughly 1,100 acres in Fort Myers, developed by WCI Communities and constructed between 2001 and 2020 to reach its final total of 2,498 homes across single-family, attached villa, coach-home, and condominium product types. The community’s defining amenity is "Plaza del Sol," a roughly 70,000-square-foot Town Center complex with two outdoor pools, an indoor pool, an on-site movie theater, a 38-acre nature preserve with a butterfly garden and boardwalk trail, and reportedly more than 100 resident clubs and activities — a scale of amenity campus that distinguishes Pelican Preserve from smaller bundled-golf communities. Golf itself is genuinely optional rather than mandatory: The Club at Pelican Preserve’s 27-hole course, designed by Chip Powell and opened in 2002, operates as a separate for-profit private club rather than a fee bundled into HOA dues, and was acquired by Heritage Golf Group — a multi-club corporate operator — in February 2022. Reported golf-membership costs conflicted across sources (from roughly $6,500 up to $27,000 for an initiation fee depending on refundability and which year’s fee schedule is used), and this research recommends buyers confirm current pricing directly with the club rather than relying on a single published figure. The community uses a layered HOA structure — a master association plus separate neighborhood/building sub-associations — meaning total housing costs vary meaningfully depending on which specific building or neighborhood a buyer chooses, compounded by a separate Gateway Services Community Development District assessment on the property tax bill. This research found no source confirming or denying Pelican Preserve-specific storm damage from Hurricane Ian in 2022, though one source cautioned that the community’s "true all-in" carrying costs, once CDD assessments and post-Ian regional insurance increases are factored in, run meaningfully higher than the HOA fee alone suggests. Housing at Pelican Preserve spans single-family homes (roughly 1,823-2,986 square feet), attached villas (roughly 1,278-1,916 square feet), coach/carriage homes (roughly 1,710-2,376 square feet in two-story, four-unit buildings), and condominiums (roughly 1,229-1,450 square feet in four-story mid-rise buildings with elevators and two assigned carport spaces rather than enclosed garages) — giving buyers a genuine range of unit sizes, garage configurations, and price points within one gated community. Reported median sale prices swung meaningfully across different snapshots taken only months apart, a pattern consistent with the community’s roughly 2,498-home scale producing a relatively small, and therefore more volatile, monthly sales sample.

Age Restriction

Pelican Preserve is a 55-plus, guard-gated active-adult community; specific governing-document language on the standard Florida "80/20" age-restriction rule was not independently confirmed against Pelican Preserve’s own declaration in this research, so buyers should request the community’s current governing documents directly to confirm exact eligibility rules for their household.

Housing Types

• Single-family homes
• Attached villas
• Coach/carriage homes
• Condominiums

Pricing

Built out at 2,498 homes across roughly 1,100 acres, constructed between 2001 and 2020; the community is now genuinely sold out of new construction (a claim found in one older source suggesting a further 300-400 homes were planned appears stale and inconsistent with the current "sold out" status). Reported median sale prices genuinely swung month to month across available snapshots — roughly $369,000 to $595,000 across different 2025-2026 data points — reflecting a relatively low monthly transaction volume typical of a single, self-contained 2,498-home market; overall asking prices ranged roughly $280,000 to nearly $1 million.

Fees & Assessments

HOA Dues: Pelican Preserve has no single, community-wide HOA fee. A master association covers gated entry/security, common-area maintenance, the Town Center, the nature preserve, and roads; each individual neighborhood or condo building then carries its own separate sub-association with its own budget and fee. Reported monthly figures for these combined costs conflicted across sources, from roughly $300-$650 per month depending on neighborhood, plus a separately reported Community Development District (Gateway Services CDD) assessment of roughly $1,000-$2,500 per year on the Lee County property tax bill — none of these figures were independently confirmed against a primary HOA or CDD budget document in this research. One secondary source separately cited an unrelated "$146 per month" national/regional average figure that does not appear to be Pelican-Preserve-specific and should be disregarded rather than cited as a community fee.

CDD Assessment: Pelican Preserve reportedly sits within the Gateway Services Community Development District, which levies a non-ad-valorem assessment (reported around $1,000-$2,500/year) separate from HOA dues; this figure was not independently confirmed against the CDD’s own filings and should be checked directly with the Lee County Tax Collector for a specific parcel before relying on it in a purchase decision.

Condo Fees: Condo-specific fees for the community’s mid-rise buildings were not independently itemized separately from the general sub-association dues range above in this research and should be confirmed directly with the specific building’s association.

Club/Golf Fees: Golf at Pelican Preserve is optional rather than bundled into HOA dues — The Club at Pelican Preserve operates as a separate, for-profit private club, acquired by Heritage Golf Group in February 2022 as part of a broader package including two other Florida clubs and two North Carolina golf courses. The 27-hole course (three 9-hole nines), designed by Chip Powell and opened in 2002, carries golf-membership figures that conflicted across sources: an older/looser estimate cited a $27,000 refundable initiation fee plus roughly $6,800/year dues, while Heritage Golf Group’s own 2023-2024 published fee sheets instead cited a $6,500 (non-refundable) or $15,000 (fully refundable) initiation option with $6,803/year in dues, plus a separate Social Membership at $2,000 initiation and $1,900/year dues. This research treats the Heritage Golf Group figures as more likely current but could not fully verify them, since the club’s own current membership page could not be directly accessed.

Capital Contribution / Transfer Fees: Specific one-time transfer or capital-contribution fee amounts for resale purchases were not identified in this research and vary by the specific building/neighborhood’s sub-association; buyers should request the current estoppel certificate for any specific unit before closing rather than assume a community-wide figure applies.

Amenities

• 27 holes of championship golf across three 9-hole nines, designed by Chip Powell
• "Plaza del Sol" Town Center, a roughly 70,000-square-foot clubhouse and amenity complex
• Two outdoor pools plus one indoor pool
• An on-site movie theater (roughly 100 seats) and a butterfly garden within a 38-acre nature preserve
• Attended fitness center, indoor walking track, sauna, and spa treatment rooms
• A fishing pier, amphitheater/pavilion, and reportedly more than 100 resident clubs and activities
• A billiards room, arts and crafts studio, sewing studio, and woodworking shop
• A business center and library within the Town Center campus
• An indoor walking track and full sauna and steam-room facilities
• Dedicated spa treatment rooms within the larger Town Center campus building itself

Getting Around

Healthcare: Lee Health’s HealthPark Hospital is reported at roughly 15 minutes away; Gulf Coast Medical Center and Lee Memorial Hospital are also cited among the closest major Lee Health facilities, though exact mileage for each was genuinely not independently confirmed in this research.

Airport: Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) is reported at roughly 10 miles/15-20 minutes away, with two slightly different drive-time estimates (roughly 18 minutes versus 20 minutes) appearing across separate sources — a minor discrepancy rather than a genuine conflict.