Bridgetown at The Plantation

Bridgetown at The Plantation is 985 homes off Treeline Avenue in Fort Myers, between Daniels Parkway and Colonial Boulevard, inside the City of Fort Myers and in Lee County. Centex Homes built it from 2007 to 2021. Nothing is left to build on, so every sale here is a resale.

Untangling the name comes first, because The Plantation is bigger than Bridgetown. It holds two neighborhoods, Bridgetown and Somerset at The Plantation, each with an association of its own and land of its own. No master association stands over them, and the golf course belongs to neither.

What does "at The Plantation" actually get you?

One association, and it's Bridgetown's. Owning here makes you a member, and it owns the recreation land, the clubhouses and the streets. Somerset's owns Somerset's, and a Bridgetown deed carries no claim on any of it.

Is there golf at Bridgetown?

Not Bridgetown's. The course inside The Plantation sits on Somerset's side of the development, on Dartington Drive, outside Bridgetown's boundary. It belongs to a private club, The Plantation Golf & Country Club, owned and run by an outside golf company, Heritage Golf Group. Golf appears in Bridgetown's recorded declaration twice, both times in a rule about golf carts. Buying here neither requires you to join nor entitles you to anything there. Joining is a separate decision on the club's terms.

What is on the association's own land?

A 6.1-acre recreation tract on Kingsbridge Boulevard, carrying two clubhouses and a restroom building, all single story. The association's list: "a Lap Pool, Main Pool, Spa, 3 Bocce courts, 5 tennis courts, 4 pickleball courts, children's playground ("tot lot"), bathroom facilities, a storage building, a fire pit, and Tiki Bar." The fitness center, motion room and bookable social rooms are indoors. All of it is covered by the assessment, with no membership to buy.

The streets are private and association-owned, so resurfacing arrives as an assessment rather than as a tax, while household waste and recycling are collected by the City.

The main entrance is on Treeline Avenue; a second on Plantation Gardens Road takes the heavy commercial traffic. An owner or tenant opens the gate with an RFID tag from the management company. A visitor keys in a code from the homeowner, or looks the surname up at the kiosk to be called through.

What are the homes like, and what do they sell for?

Nine in ten are detached houses; the rest are attached villas, paired two to a building. Most homes carry 2 to 4 bedrooms; floor plans run from about 1250 to about 3500 square feet. Almost all of it is single story, and there isn't a condominium anywhere in it. Sold prices here run from the $310,000s to around $900,000, and villas don't undercut the houses: the two bands overlap at the bottom. 616 of the 985 lots front a lake.

What does the association charge?

The assessment runs around $500 a month, billed quarterly, and the calendar is strict: "Assessments are billed quarterly on the 1st of January, April, July, and October. The Association does not mail reminders." Late fees and interest land on the tenth of each payment month, so a monthly autopay will be late four times a year. Landscaping and lawn pest control come through the association's contractor; every other kind of pest control is the owner's own.

A one-time charge to the association can also land on a resale closing, on top of what the house costs. It falls on the buyer rather than the seller, and use of the clubhouses and courts doesn't start until it is paid. Pin the amount down for the address before signing.

What do the rules allow?

Renting is allowed, with a ceiling of three leases every twelve months. The declaration and the association word it the same way: "No Owner may lease all or a portion of a Lot more than three (3) times in any 12-month period, even if a tenant defaults on a lease or abandons the Lot before expiration of the lease term." Leases go in writing, run a month or longer, and reach the association before they start.

Street parking has two rules behind it and they belong to different bodies. The association sets both out. "The city does not allow street parking at any time, though the community does not enforce the prohibition against on-street parking between 6 AM and midnight." Then: "The Association enforces the prohibition against on-street parking between the hours of 12 Midnight and 6 AM daily." So the City's ban runs all day, while the association's patrol runs overnight. Count the driveway before buying a third car.

Two more to read before you offer:

• Pets. No limit on the number, though every pet has to go on the association's register before it moves in. No reptiles, nothing venomous, and no New Guinea singing dogs, Presa Canarios or Pit Bulls, crossbreeds included.
• Hurricane shutters. Several types are approved, and any permanently visible part has to be color coordinated to the house's body or trim. Protection put up after a watch or warning for Lee County is exempt if it comes down within fourteen days.

The whole rulebook is public. The declaration, the by-laws, the use restrictions and every amendment sit on the association's own website, readable long before a contract exists. The newest house in Bridgetown dates from 2021.