The Heron at The Forest is 63 coach houses and one-story villas inside The Forest's gates in Fort Myers, the only three-tier association structure there, with its own pool and a $375,000 median over 36 months. Sell or buy with McGreevy and Comisar.
By Jesse McGreevy and Marc Comisar, McGreevy and Comisar, Domain Realty Group. Updated September 2026.
McGreevy and Comisar are the team Heron owners call first when it is time to sell, and the team buyers call when they want to know what three association layers actually mean for a coach house or a villa. The Heron at The Forest is a 63-home condominium enclave of coach houses and one-story villas inside the master-planned community of The Forest in Fort Myers, Florida. It is the newest attached neighborhood inside The Forest's gates, and the only one where a homeowner belongs to three associations instead of two.
Jesse McGreevy and Marc Comisar lead Domain Realty Group, the #1 real estate team in Southwest Florida since 2012, and are Top 1% Real Estate Agents Nationally Since 2008, with over $900 million in personal sales between them. This guide is built the way we price a Heron listing: from every Southwest Florida MLS closing at the Heron over the last four years, pulled September 23, 2026, checked address by address against the Lee County parcel roll, plus the Heron associations' own filed articles, the state condominium registry and Florida statute.
Three facts define the Heron, and each is proven on the record. First, the Heron is two condominiums under one sub-master association: the Heron Coach Houses, 48 condominium homes in six buildings of eight on Heron Coach Way, built 1990 to 1992, and the Heron Coach House Villas, 15 one-story villas held as a land condominium, built 1994 to 1996, per the state's condominium registry and the county roll. Second, The Heron Master Association, Inc. sits between those two unit associations and The Forest's master association, so a Heron owner answers to three boards; the Heron Master's own restated articles, filed with the Florida Division of Corporations, make it responsible for "the common areas, roadway and utility easements" of the development. Third, the first digit of a Coach House unit number is the building, never the floor: unit 402 is in building 4, and the county records every Coach House building at one and two stories.
The rest of this page shows what Heron homes have sold for, what each layer of the fee stack covers and where its amount is published (and where it is not), what the flood maps say, and exactly which documents a buyer needs before closing. If you own at the Heron, the market and seller sections show how your building or villa has traded and what you are competing against today. If you are buying, the governance and fee sections show what you will pay and what you must request.
McGreevy and Comisar are the best realtor for The Heron at The Forest because the case is a matter of record: the #1 team in Southwest Florida since 2012, Top 1% of agents nationally since 2008, over $900 million in personal sales, and a Heron market read built on every MLS closing, the county roll, the state condominium registry and the Heron associations' own filed articles.
If you're searching for the best realtor for The Heron at The Forest in The Forest, Fort Myers, whether you're ready to sell your The Heron at The Forest home or buy your next one, McGreevy and Comisar is the team that delivers. We lead Domain Realty Group, the #1 real estate team in Southwest Florida since 2012, Top 1% Nationally since 2008, with over $2.5 billion sold as a team and $900 million in personal sales between Jesse and Marc.
Recent The Heron at The Forest track record, from the Southwest Florida MLS Matrix. In the last 12 months we tracked 6 closings at The Heron at The Forest in the Southwest Florida MLS Matrix, pulled September 23, 2026, covering closings dated 09/24/2025 to 09/23/2026: 2 Coach Houses and 4 Coach House Villas, for $2,432,000 in closed volume. The median sold price was $389,500 (n=6, which is even, so the median is the mean of the middle pair, $385,000 and $394,000). The median time on market was 36.5 days, the median sold-to-list ratio was 93.03%, the highest sale was $570,000, a four-bedroom Coach House Villa in February 2026, and the fastest sale recorded 1 day on market, a Coach House Villa that closed in December 2025. Today 2 Coach Houses are active and none is pending, which at the last 12 months' pace is about 4.0 months of supply. Because six sales is a thin sample, the market section below states every Heron sale individually and widens the headline window to 36 months, the first window with at least 10 closings.
For Heron sellers: premium marketing, including cinematic video, drone, professional photography, a qualified-buyer database, and discretion with off-market capability when a sale needs to stay quiet. A Heron sale also runs on more paperwork than any other sale inside The Forest's gates. Your buyer needs an estoppel certificate from your unit association, a second from The Heron Master Association and a third from The Forest's master association, and the Heron associations publish none of their fees online, so we order all three on the first day of the listing. The Coach Houses' and the Villas' filed articles each give the association the power "To approve or disapprove the leasing, transfer, mortgaging, ownership, and possession of Units as may be provided by the Declaration," so we read your declaration for any approval step before we set a closing date. And every Heron home is in FEMA Zone AE on ground that sits a median 4.4 to 4.8 feet below the base flood elevation, so the elevation certificate belongs in the listing file from day one. That is a documents and marketing problem, and it is the one we are built for.
Honors and recognition:
McGreevy and Comisar lead Domain Realty Group, a full-service Southwest Florida real estate team. Learn more about our team at DomainRealtyGroup.com.
Selling your The Heron at The Forest home? Get a free home valuation for your Heron coach house or villa, or Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072.
Buying a home in The Heron at The Forest? Call Marc at (239) 287-5873 for a personalized buyer consultation, or read how we represent buyers in Southwest Florida.
Office: 24031 S Tamiami Trl #101, Bonita Springs, FL 34134 · Jesse McGreevy: (239) 898-6072 · [email protected] · Marc Comisar: (239) 287-5873
Jesse McGreevy (Sales Associate) and Marc Comisar (Broker Associate) are licensed Florida REALTORS® with Domain Realty; Florida real estate licensure is regulated by the Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC).
The Heron at The Forest comes down to eight load-bearing facts: what it is, who governs it, what a unit number means, what the homes are, what the fees are and are not, what the flood maps say, whether the club is required, and what the market is doing. Each is drawn from a filed document, a government record or the Southwest Florida MLS, and each is sourced again further down.
This guide to The Heron at The Forest runs from the market and the record of how the Heron was built, through the homes, the three association layers and the full fee stack, the governing documents and the leasing, pet and age questions, amenities, storms, flood and insurance, schools, permits, daily logistics, a head-to-head with Fairway Woods, honest pros and cons, and both FAQ sets.
Living in The Heron at The Forest means a quiet cul-de-sac of 1990s coach houses and villas on Heron Coach Way, on the western side of The Forest's gated golf community in south Fort Myers, with a private Heron pool, garages on every home, optional club membership, and The Forest's staffed gates, patrol and private streets around it.
The Heron sits in Section 2 of Township 46 South, Range 24 East, the same section as The Oaks and Falcon Crest One, according to the Lee County parcel roll. Its land was carved out of The Oaks Unit One: the Heron Master Association's restated articles describe the development's land as a resubdivision of Tracts J, K and L, part of Tract N and part of Spotted Fawn Court of The Oaks Unit One, Plat Book 37, Page 54, about 9.99 acres, per the 2004 filing. Every Heron home carries a Fort Myers mailing address and ZIP 33908, but none of it is inside the City of Fort Myers: each parcel is coded to unincorporated Lee County and to the San Carlos Park fire district.
Everything at the Heron sits on one private street, Heron Coach Way. The six Coach House buildings carry the addresses 16531, 16540, 16541, 16550, 16551 and 16561 Heron Coach Way, each with eight units. The 15 Villas carry their own street numbers between 16506 and 16536 Heron Coach Way, one number per villa, the way a land condominium is usually addressed. The state's condominium registry lists both projects at a Forest Oaks Drive address of record, the Oaks-side street the Heron was platted from, per the Coach Houses project record and the Villas project record.
A Heron homeowner gets everything a Forest homeowner gets from the master association: a Main Gate staffed 24 hours a day, an Island Park Gate staffed from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM, a nightly patrol, the private streets and sidewalks, and the association's playground, per the master association's 2022 Emergency Preparedness Plan. On top of that, the Heron has amenities of its own. The Lee County roll shows a 0.459-acre recreation parcel at 16502 Heron Coach Way owned by The Heron Master Association, Inc., flagged with a pool and carrying a small 308-square-foot heated structure first built in 1989. Each Coach House and each Villa is recorded with a garage, which is not true of every condominium in The Forest.
The county roll gives a rough read of how the Heron is used. Of the 63 homes, 22 carried a Florida homestead exemption on the 2026 roll, 18 of the 48 Coach Houses and 4 of the 15 Villas, by our count of the parcel roll. A homestead exemption is available only on a permanent residence, so roughly a third of Heron homes are owners' primary homes and the rest are second homes, seasonal homes or held otherwise. That mix matches The Forest as a whole, where the master association's 2022 plan estimates a year-round population of about 1,000 and a peak-season population of about 2,000.
From the Heron, The Forest Country Club's clubhouse at 6100 Club Boulevard is about 1.7 road miles and 7 minutes by car, and about 0.8 mile in a straight line, computed on the OpenStreetMap road network with the OSRM routing engine. From the clubhouse, a Publix on Alico Mission Way is about 1.4 miles, Lakes Regional Park about 2.3 miles, Bell Tower Shops about 3.9 miles and Gulf Coast Medical Center, which the Florida Department of Health lists as Lee County's Level II trauma center, about 4.5 miles. Those are the same clubhouse-based figures used on our guide to The Forest; add a few minutes for the drive across the community from Heron Coach Way.
The Heron is not complicated to live in, but it is more complicated to buy than most of The Forest. The first question is which of the two condominiums the home is in, because the Coach Houses and the Villas have separate associations, separate declarations, separate budgets and separate resale packages. The second is what the Heron Master adds on top. The third is what the building itself is: a two-bedroom coach house the county records at one story, a three-bedroom coach house recorded at two stories, or a villa with its own street number. The county roll does not say which level of a building a one-story coach house occupies, so walk the unit before you assume stairs or none. The sections below take each in turn.
McGreevy and Comisar are Top 1% Real Estate Agents Nationally Since 2008, and The Heron at The Forest is 63 coach houses and villas under three association layers inside the gates of The Forest, and the Villas sold at a median $397,000 in the last 12 months. If you own one, get a free home valuation for your Heron home or Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072. If you are buying, Call Marc at (239) 287-5873, or read how we represent buyers in Southwest Florida.
The Heron at The Forest recorded 13 closings in the 36 months to September 23, 2026, at a median $375,000 and $197.69 per square foot of MLS living area, per the Southwest Florida MLS. The last 12 months brought six closings at a median $389,500, and two Coach Houses are listed today.
Data updated: September 2026 (Southwest Florida MLS Matrix, retrieved 23 Sep 2026)
Every figure in this section comes from the Southwest Florida MLS Matrix, pulled September 23, 2026, filtered to The Forest's development and resolved address by address to the county's two Heron condominium codes. The MLS carries both Heron condominiums under the name "Heron Coach Houses" (and one older listing as "Heron at the Forest"), so we split them by address rather than by listing label. Per-square-foot figures are the mean or median of each sale's sold price divided by its MLS living area, never a ratio of totals, and MLS living area can differ from the county's heated area for the same home.
Six closings in 12 months is too few to describe a neighborhood with one number, so we follow our own rule: widen the window to 24, 36 or 48 months until it holds at least 10 closings, and name the window beside every figure. The Heron reaches 10 closings in the 36-month window, 09/24/2023 to 09/23/2026, which holds 13. We still report the last 12 months honestly beside it, and we list every sale in the full 48-month pull, the widest we hold, so any figure can be checked.
Window, ending 09/23/2026 | Closings | Median sold | Median per sq ft of MLS living area | Median sold-to-list | Median days on market | Closed volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Last 12 months, from 09/24/2025 | 6 (even) | $389,500 (middle pair $385,000 and $394,000) | $193.26 | 93.03% | 36.5 | $2,432,000 |
24 months, from 09/24/2024 | 8 (even) | $396,500 (middle pair $394,000 and $399,000) | $197.26 | 95.65% | 50.5 | $3,231,000 |
36 months, from 09/24/2023 (headline) | 13 (odd) | $375,000 (an observed sale) | $197.69 | 95.27% | 40 | $4,883,500 |
48 months, from 09/24/2022 (the full 48-month pull, the widest we hold) | 16 (even) | $380,000 (middle pair $375,000 and $385,000) | $199.28 | 95.84% | 25 | $6,193,500 |
Source: Southwest Florida MLS Matrix, pulled September 23, 2026. Every row mixes Coach Houses and Villas; the split is below.
Over 09/24/2023 to 09/23/2026, the Heron's 13 closings ran from $290,000 to $570,000. The median, $375,000, is an observed sale because n is odd. The median sale closed at 95.27% of its list price after 40 days on market, and 2 of the 13 closed at or above asking. The mean of the per-sale price-per-square-foot figures was $195.09 and the median $197.69, both on MLS living area. In the last 12 months, by contrast, none of the six sales closed at or above asking, and the median sold-to-list ratio was 93.03%.
The two Heron condominiums trade at different price levels, and a single Heron median hides that. Over the 36-month window the Coach Houses recorded 7 closings at a median $332,500 (odd n, an observed sale), $196.83 per square foot, 93.85% of list and 36 days on market; the Villas recorded 6 closings at a median $399,500 (even n, the middle pair $399,000 and $400,000), $198.95 per square foot, 98.03% of list and 50.5 days. Per square foot the two are within about $2 of each other; the Villas cost more because they are bigger, not because buyers pay more per foot.
Condominium, 36 months to 09/23/2026 | Closings | Median sold | Median per sq ft of MLS living area | Median sold-to-list | Median days on market |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Heron Coach Houses | 7 (odd) | $332,500 | $196.83 | 93.85% | 36 |
Heron Coach House Villas | 6 (even) | $399,500 (middle pair $399,000 and $400,000) | $198.95 | 98.03% | 50.5 |
Source: Southwest Florida MLS Matrix, pulled September 23, 2026.
Over the full 48 months the pattern holds: the Coach Houses recorded 8 closings at a median $336,250 (middle pair $332,500 and $340,000) and $197.60 per square foot, and the Villas 8 at a median $400,000 (middle pair $400,000 and $400,000) and $200.45 per square foot. The Villas' even-n median equals an observed sale price, which is the tell that two Villas closed at exactly $400,000.
Sixteen closings is few enough to show each one. Unit numbers are shown because they identify the building (the first digit), never the floor.
Closed | Home | Condominium | Beds / baths (MLS) | MLS living sq ft | List | Sold | Per sq ft | Sold-to-list | Days on market |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
June 2026 | 16561 Heron Coach Way #101 (building 1) | Coach Houses | 2 / 2 | 1,714 | $339,900 | $308,000 | $179.70 | 90.61% | 12 |
April 2026 | 16536 Heron Coach Way | Villas | 3 + den / 2 | 2,120 | $399,000 | $375,000 | $176.89 | 93.98% | 535 |
March 2026 | 16506 Heron Coach Way | Villas | 2 + den / 3 | 1,993 | $405,000 | $400,000 | $200.70 | 98.77% | 5 |
February 2026 | 16529 Heron Coach Way | Villas | 4 / 2.5 | 3,005 | $619,000 | $570,000 | $189.68 | 92.08% | 61 |
February 2026 | 16551 Heron Coach Way #308 (building 3) | Coach Houses | 3 / 2 | 1,956 | $425,000 | $385,000 | $196.83 | 90.59% | 132 |
December 2025 | 16526 Heron Coach Way | Villas | 2 + den / 3 | 1,993 | $399,000 | $394,000 | $197.69 | 98.75% | 1 |
April 2025 | 16514 Heron Coach Way | Villas | 3 / 3 | 1,993 | $410,000 | $399,000 | $200.20 | 97.32% | 77 |
April 2025 | 16532 Heron Coach Way | Villas | 3 / 3 | 1,993 | $399,000 | $400,000 | $200.70 | 100.25% | 40 |
July 2024 | 16551 Heron Coach Way #302 (building 3) | Coach Houses | 2 / 2 | 1,499 | $325,000 | $305,000 | $203.47 | 93.85% | 160 |
April 2024 | 16541 Heron Coach Way #503 (building 5) | Coach Houses | 2 / 2 | 1,707 | $310,000 | $290,000 | $169.89 | 93.55% | 43 |
March 2024 | 16551 Heron Coach Way #301 (building 3) | Coach Houses | 2 / 2 | 1,714 | $389,000 | $375,000 | $218.79 | 96.40% | 14 |
January 2024 | 16550 Heron Coach Way #207 (building 2) | Coach Houses | 3 / 2 | 1,946 | $349,000 | $350,000 | $179.86 | 100.29% | 1 |
November 2023 | 16540 Heron Coach Way #402 (building 4) | Coach Houses | 2 / 2 | 1,499 | $349,000 | $332,500 | $221.81 | 95.27% | 36 |
April 2023 | 16551 Heron Coach Way #304 (building 3) | Coach Houses | 2 / 2 | 1,714 | $360,000 | $340,000 | $198.37 | 94.44% | 9 |
December 2022 | 16506 Heron Coach Way | Villas | 2 + den / 3 | 1,993 | $485,000 | $485,000 | $243.35 | 100.00% | 1 |
October 2022 | 16518 Heron Coach Way | Villas | 3 / 3 | 1,993 | $485,000 | $485,000 | $243.35 | 100.00% | 0 |
Source: Southwest Florida MLS Matrix, pulled September 23, 2026. Closed dates are month and year; addresses of closed sales are public record. The October 2022 sale was listed under the older name "Heron at the Forest."
Three readings stand out. First, the Villas at 1,993 square feet have traded in a tight band: six of the eight Villa closings in 48 months were listed at 1,993 square feet, two of them closed at $485,000 in late 2022, and the other four closed between $394,000 and $400,000 from April 2025 to March 2026. Second, the Coach Houses' price per square foot has moved with condition and building as much as with floor plan: the three highest per-foot Coach House sales were two-bedroom units at $203 to $222, and the two lowest, about $170 and $180, were two-bedroom units as well. Third, the Heron's longest wait, 535 days at 16536, still closed at 93.98% of list, and its shortest, 0 and 1 day, closed at or near full price, which is a pricing story more than a neighborhood story.
The MLS and the county measure Heron homes differently, and the difference matters when you compare prices per square foot. The county roll records every Coach House at either 1,499 or 1,859 heated square feet, but MLS listings for the same homes show living areas such as 1,707, 1,714, 1,946 and 1,956. The county records the four-bedroom Villas at 2,718 heated square feet, while the February 2026 sale at 16529 was listed at 3,005 square feet of living area. Every per-square-foot figure on this page uses MLS living area, stated as such. When we price a Heron home, we read both numbers and ask which rooms each one counts.
The county records sales that never reach the MLS. Lee County's roll shows two qualified Heron sales inside the 48-month window that are not in our MLS pull: a Coach House at 16540 Heron Coach Way #403, recorded August 27, 2025 at $250,000 (1,499 county heated square feet), and a four-bedroom Villa at 16527 Heron Coach Way, recorded May 30, 2024 at $599,000 (2,718 county heated square feet), per the parcel roll's sale fields. Both carry the state's qualified-sale code. We keep them out of the MLS statistics above, because they have no list price or days on market, but a seller should know they exist: an appraiser can find them, and the $599,000 Villa sale is the highest Heron price on record in the window.
Two Heron homes were active on the MLS on September 23, 2026, both Coach Houses at 16540 Heron Coach Way (building 4), and none was pending.
Home | Beds / baths (MLS) | MLS living sq ft | List price | Days on market |
|---|---|---|---|---|
16540 Heron Coach Way #402 (building 4) | 2 / 2 | 1,499 | $318,000 | 202 |
16540 Heron Coach Way #406 (building 4) | 3 / 2 | 1,946 | $199,000 | 196 |
Source: Southwest Florida MLS Matrix, pulled September 23, 2026.
Both have been listed for more than six months. Unit 402 last closed in November 2023 at $332,500, per the same MLS record, and is now asking $318,000. Unit 406 is asking $199,000 for a three-bedroom Coach House, far below every Coach House closing in the 48-month record; the MLS record alone does not explain the gap, and a buyer or a competing seller should find out why before reading it as a market price. At the last 12 months' pace of six sales a year, two listings are about 4.0 months of supply.
Lee County's 2026 just values cover all 63 Heron homes, including the ones that have not sold. On the parcel roll, 1,499-square-foot Coach Houses run $212,167 to $241,745, 1,859-square-foot Coach Houses $251,252 to $261,246, 1,993-square-foot Villas $325,929 to $350,306, and 2,718-square-foot Villas $406,700 to $428,558. The medians are $246,498 at the Coach Houses and $334,217 at the Villas. Just value is a mass-appraisal figure set for taxation, not a price, and at the Heron it sits well below recent closings, which is normal in Lee County.
Across The Forest's condominium and villa neighborhoods, the Heron sits near the top on price and at the top on price per square foot. Over the same 48 months, per the Southwest Florida MLS Matrix, only Waters Edge had a higher median ($425,000 on 11 sales), and the Heron's two condominiums ($197.60 and $200.45 per square foot) sat alongside Waters Edge ($202.91), Quail Cove ($202.62) and Dove Hollow ($209.80) at the top of the per-foot range, well above Fairway Woods ($138.42 to $151.37 by section). The comparison section further down sets the Heron against Fairway Woods, its closest rival, line by line. Pricing a Heron home well depends on who reads that record for you; to see how agents compare on the public record before you hire one, read our guide to the best real estate agents in Fort Myers.
Selling your Heron home? Get a free home valuation built from these Heron sales, or Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072. Buying at the Heron? Call Marc at (239) 287-5873, or read how we represent buyers in Southwest Florida.
The Heron at The Forest was developed by Forest Joint Venture on land replatted out of The Oaks Unit One: the state approved the Heron Coach Houses in August 1989, the Coach House condominium and The Heron Master Association were incorporated on March 21, 1990, and the Coach House Villas followed in 1995, per state and county records.
The record of how the Heron was built is short but consistent across three custodians: the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation's condominium registry, the Florida Division of Corporations and the Lee County parcel roll. Read together, they give a clear sequence.
The first Heron corporation on file is not the one that governs today. The Heron at the Forest Condominium Association, Inc. was filed on January 15, 1988 and administratively dissolved on October 11, 1991, per its Division of Corporations record. It governs nothing. Its name survives only as a label: one Heron Villa sold in October 2022 under the MLS name "Heron at the Forest," and buyers still search for it. A second shell, The Heron Coach House Owner's Association, Inc., is also inactive on the state's corporate index. Neither has any role in a Heron sale today.
The state approved the Heron Coach Houses as a condominium project, number PR1P021105, with licensure dated August 28, 1989, per its DBPR project record, which carries the special qualification "Planned Unit Development Phase." The state's condominium extract gives a recorded date of April 5, 1990 and 48 units, and its developer file names "Forest Joint Venture, The" as developer. The Heron Coach Houses Condominium Association, Inc. and The Heron Master Association, Inc. were both filed on March 21, 1990, per their Coach Houses and Heron Master records. The county roll's first-year-built dates show the six buildings going up over three years: buildings 1 and 3 in 1990, buildings 2 and 5 in 1991, and buildings 4 and 7 in 1992. The Coach Houses' common-element parcel is described on the roll as "Phases I II III IV V," and the building numbering skips 6.
The Heron Coach House Villas came five years later. The Villas association was filed on January 6, 1995, per its Division of Corporations record, and the state approved the condominium project, number PR1U023256, on May 4, 1995, per its DBPR project record. The condominium extract gives a recorded date of May 8, 1995 and 15 units, with Forest Joint Venture again the developer of record. The county roll's first-year-built dates for the Villas run from 1994 to 1996, which makes the Villas the only condominium buildings in The Forest completed after 1993.
Forest Joint Venture is the thread that ties the Heron to the rest of The Forest. The same state developer file names it as developer of Dove's Nest, and Lee County's easements layer records it as the dedicator on the plats of The Forest Unit Three and The Oaks Unit One. The developer file lists it as a Florida general partnership; it does not appear in the Division of Corporations index, and Florida joint ventures of that era were not required to register there.
Both Heron condominium associations and the Heron Master restated their articles of incorporation in the same season, with the same Fort Myers law firm filing all three. The Villas association's members adopted restated articles on November 10, 2003, filed December 29, 2003, per the filed articles. The Coach Houses association's and the Heron Master's members adopted theirs on January 20, 2004, both filed February 20, 2004, per the Coach Houses articles and the Heron Master articles. Those restated articles are the clearest public statement of what each association does, and the governance section below quotes them.
The corporate records since 2004 are routine. The Heron Master filed a reinstatement on September 27, 2005, and its members added an indemnification article for directors and officers on September 17, 2020, filed October 7, 2020, per the 2020 amendment. The Coach Houses association's 2011 filing changed its addresses, registered agent and officers, per the 2011 amendment. All three associations are active and filed their 2026 annual reports, and both condominium projects show as current on the state's annual fee record.
The Heron at The Forest has four floor plans on the county roll: 1,499-square-foot one-story and 1,859-square-foot two-story Coach Houses, 24 of each in six buildings of eight, and 1,993-square-foot and 2,718-square-foot one-story Villas. Every Heron home is recorded with a garage.
All figures in this section come from the Lee County parcel roll, queried September 2026, which records heated area, stories, bedrooms, bathrooms and garage for each unit. MLS listings may describe the same homes with different living areas and room counts, as the market section explains.
Each of the six Coach House buildings holds eight units, and every building is split the same way. Units ending 1 to 4 are recorded at 1,499 heated square feet, one story, two bedrooms and two baths. Units ending 5 to 8 are recorded at 1,859 heated square feet, two stories, three bedrooms and two baths. That gives the Coach Houses 24 homes of each plan, a median heated area of 1,679 square feet (the mean of the two middle values, 1,499 and 1,859), and a median 2026 just value of $246,498. Each unit is recorded with a garage.
Coach House plan (county roll) | Units | Heated sq ft | Stories | Beds / baths | 2026 just value range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Units ending 1 to 4 | 24 | 1,499 | 1 | 2 / 2 | $212,167 to $241,745 |
Units ending 5 to 8 | 24 | 1,859 | 2 | 3 / 2 | $251,252 to $261,246 |
Source: Lee County parcel roll, September 2026. Just value is a mass-appraisal figure, not a price.
The 15 Villas are all recorded at one story and each has its own street number. Ten carry paired A and B parcel numbers on the county roll and measure 1,993 heated square feet with three bedrooms and three baths; five carry single parcel numbers, four of them 2,718 square feet with four bedrooms and two and a half baths (16523, 16525, 16527 and 16529 Heron Coach Way) and one of them 1,993 square feet (16536). The Villas' median heated area is 1,993 square feet and their median 2026 just value is $334,217.
Villa plan (county roll) | Homes | Heated sq ft | Stories | Beds / baths | 2026 just value range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paired A and B parcels | 10 | 1,993 | 1 | 3 / 3 | $325,929 to $350,306 |
Single parcels, larger plan | 4 | 2,718 | 1 | 4 / 2.5 | $406,700 to $428,558 |
Single parcel, standard plan | 1 | 1,993 | 1 | 3 / 3 | $337,143 |
Source: Lee County parcel roll, September 2026.
Lee County's recorded subdivisions and condominiums layer describes the Villas as a land condominium, a form in which the condominium units are defined by parcels of land, often including the home on each, rather than by the air space inside a shared building. The Villas' restated articles still organize the association "pursuant to the Florida Condominium Act," so Chapter 718 governs it just as it governs the Coach Houses. What differs, and what a buyer needs the declaration to answer, is who maintains and insures the roof and exterior of each villa. The declaration is recorded at Official Records Book 2598, Page 1964, and is not posted online; it is part of the resale package section 718.503 requires.
The Coach Houses were finished from 1990 to 1992 and the Villas from 1994 to 1996, per the county's first-year-built dates. The first statewide Florida Building Code took effect March 1, 2002, per the Florida Building Commission, so every Heron building predates it. Every condominium building in The Forest except the Heron Coach House Villas predates 1993, which makes the Villas the youngest condominium product in the community. None of that makes a Heron building unsound: a roof, windows or shutters replaced after 2002 were permitted under the code in force when the work was done. It does mean the paperwork matters: ask for the roof permit date, a wind-mitigation report and the association's insurance and reserve documents.
The Heron is compact. Lee County parcel acreage for the Coach Houses' recorded condominium is about 6.28 acres and for the Villas about 3.74 acres, per the parcel layer, which together match the 9.99 acres the Heron Master's articles describe. Inside that, the roll records a 4.998-acre Coach House common-element parcel, a 3.742-acre Villa common-element parcel, a 0.82-acre right-of-way parcel for Heron Coach Way and the Heron Master's 0.459-acre recreation parcel.
No. At The Heron at The Forest the first digit of a Coach House unit number identifies the building, never the floor: unit 402 is in building 4 at 16540 Heron Coach Way, and the Lee County parcel roll records every Coach House building at one and two stories. The county's recorded story count is the only reliable source.
This is the single most common misreading of a Heron listing, and it has consequences. A buyer who reads unit 701 as a seventh-floor unit, or unit 402 as a fourth-floor unit, would expect an elevator, a mid-rise building and Florida's milestone-inspection regime, and none of those applies here.
Building | Street address | Unit numbers | Heated sq ft (county) | First year built |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16561 Heron Coach Way | 101 to 108 | 1,499 (101 to 104), 1,859 (105 to 108) | 1990 |
2 | 16550 Heron Coach Way | 201 to 208 | 1,499 (201 to 204), 1,859 (205 to 208) | 1991 |
3 | 16551 Heron Coach Way | 301 to 308 | 1,499 (301 to 304), 1,859 (305 to 308) | 1990 |
4 | 16540 Heron Coach Way | 401 to 408 | 1,499 (401 to 404), 1,859 (405 to 408) | 1992 |
5 | 16541 Heron Coach Way | 501 to 508 | 1,499 (501 to 504), 1,859 (505 to 508) | 1991 |
7 | 16531 Heron Coach Way | 701 to 708 | 1,499 (701 to 704), 1,859 (705 to 708) | 1992 |
Source: Lee County parcel roll, September 2026. There is no building 6 in the county record; the numbering skips from 5 to 7.
Florida's milestone structural inspections under section 553.899 and structural integrity reserve studies under section 718.112(2)(g) apply to condominium buildings of three stories or more. Because the county records every Heron building at one or two stories, neither requirement reaches the Heron. Sparrowood's three buildings are the only three-story residential buildings in The Forest, according to Lee County property records, which places Sparrowood alone under those requirements. A Heron seller should say so clearly in the listing, because a buyer's lender or insurer who misreads a unit number may ask for reports that do not exist.
The Villas avoid the problem entirely: each Villa is addressed by its own street number on Heron Coach Way, with no unit suffix, and the county roll records every Villa at one story.
The Heron at The Forest is governed in three layers: a unit association (the Heron Coach Houses or the Heron Coach House Villas condominium association), The Heron Master Association, Inc. above both, and The Forest Property Owners' Association above everything. It is the only three-tier structure in The Forest; every other neighborhood answers to two layers or one.
The master association's own 2022 roster seats the Heron twice on its condominiums-and-villas board, once as "The Heron" and once as "The Heron Villas," per its 2022 Emergency Preparedness Plan, and the same plan's sub-association contact list names "Heron Master" separately. The three Heron corporations are all active on the Division of Corporations index as of September 2026.
Layer | Corporation | Filed | Governs | Registered agent on file (September 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Unit association (Coach Houses) | The Heron Coach Houses Condominium Association, Inc. | March 21, 1990 | The 48-unit Heron Coach Houses condominium | Paragon Financial Services |
Unit association (Villas) | The Heron Coach House Villas Condominium Association, Inc. | January 6, 1995 | The 15-unit Heron Coach House Villas condominium | D&D Association Services LLC |
Sub-master | The Heron Master Association, Inc. | March 21, 1990 | The Heron's common areas, roadway and utility easements, and its recreation parcel | D&D Association Services LLC |
Community master | The Forest Property Owners' Association, Inc. | see its corporate record | The Forest's gates, private streets, lighting, landscaping and drainage | per its own record |
Sources: Division of Corporations records for the Coach Houses, the Villas, the Heron Master and The Forest Property Owners' Association.
Each Heron condominium association exists "for the operation of" its condominium under the Florida Condominium Act, in the words of both restated articles. The powers listed in the Coach Houses articles and the Villas articles are identical: to make and collect assessments; to maintain, repair, replace and operate the condominium property; to insure the condominium property; to make rules; "To approve or disapprove the leasing, transfer, mortgaging, ownership, and possession of Units as may be provided by the Declaration"; to enforce the documents; and to hire management. Each board has at least three directors, and each director must be a member or a member's spouse. Each unit carries one vote.
The public record on management is not fully consistent, so we state what each custodian says rather than pick one. The master association's 2022 contact list named D&D Association Services as manager for the Heron Master and the Heron Coach House association, and Sentry Management for the Heron Villas. Since then the Villas association moved its principal address and registered agent to D&D Association Services, in March 2025, per its Division of Corporations record. The Coach Houses association lists Paragon Financial Services as its registered agent, and the state's condominium extract lists the Coach Houses' managing entity in care of Paragon Financial Services and the Villas' in care of D&D Association Services. A buyer's first request should go to the manager named on the current estoppel request instructions.
A Heron owner has a vote in the unit association, is a member of the Heron Master, whose articles make "the owners of any unit in the Development" members, and is represented on The Forest's master board through the Heron's condominiums-and-villas seats. In practice most owners feel the unit association first, because it insures and repairs the building, and the Heron Master second, because it runs the shared road, easements and pool.
The Heron Master Association, Inc. is the enforcement and maintenance entity for the Heron's common areas, roadway and utility easements, under a Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions that covers both Heron condominiums, per its restated articles. It owns the Heron's 0.459-acre recreation parcel with a pool, and its five directors set its dues.
The Heron Master is the layer buyers ask about most, because it is the one they have not seen elsewhere. Its restated articles, adopted by its members on January 20, 2004 and filed February 20, 2004, answer the question in their own words.
Article II of the restated articles makes the corporation "the enforcement entity responsible for the common areas, roadway and utility easements in a development known as THE HERON COACH HOUSES," responsible "not only for enforcement but for maintenance and improvements," under "the Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions for The Heron Coach Houses, a Development consisting of Separate Condominiums, specifically The Heron Coach Houses Condominium and Heron Coach House Villas Condominium." That one sentence explains the three tiers: the two condominiums were built as parts of a single development, and the Heron Master holds what they share.
The Lee County parcel roll lists The Heron Master Association, Inc. as owner of a 0.459-acre parcel at 16502 Heron Coach Way, described as the recreation parcel in Tract Z of the Heron Coach Houses plat (Plat Book 43, Page 85), flagged with a pool and carrying a 308-square-foot heated structure first built in 1989, per the parcel layer. The 0.82-acre right-of-way parcel for Heron Coach Way is recorded as a Heron Coach Houses common element. The articles make the Heron Master responsible for the roadway either way.
The articles provide for five directors unless the bylaws change the number, require directors to be members, and state that "The amount of the dues payable by members shall be such amount as may be determined from time to time by the Board of Directors." Articles may be amended by a majority of members present at a special meeting called for the purpose. A 2020 amendment added indemnification for directors, officers and committee members, per the 2020 filing.
The Heron Master publishes no budget, no dues amount, no billing frequency and no website. The amount appears in its budget and on the estoppel certificate it issues at resale. Because it is organized as a corporation not for profit over a development of separate condominiums, rather than as a condominium association itself, ask at closing which statute its estoppel and records follow, and read its declaration for the dues and any capital contribution on transfer.
Owning at The Heron at The Forest means five billed layers: your unit association, The Heron Master Association, The Forest's master association, the San Carlos Park fire millage and the Lee County solid waste assessment on your tax bill, plus club dues only if you join. No Heron association publishes its fee, and there is no CDD and no county MSTU.
That is the honest shape of the Heron fee stack: more layers than anywhere else in The Forest, and no published amount at any of the three association layers. The only way to see the real number for a specific home is to request the estoppel certificates and budgets, which Florida law entitles a buyer and a seller to see. Below is every layer, what each covers, where the amount is and is not published, and what to ask for.
Layer | Amount | Period | What it covers | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unit association (Coach Houses or Villas) | Not published | not published | building exteriors and roofs as the declaration assigns them, master insurance, reserves | September 2026 | |
The Heron Master Association | Not published | not published | common areas, roadway and utility easements, recreation parcel and pool | September 2026 | |
The Forest Property Owners' Association | Not published | not published | gates and patrol, private streets, lighting, landscaping, drainage | September 2026 | |
State condominium annual fee (paid by each association, not billed separately) | $4 per unit a year, by our arithmetic: $192 for the Coach Houses and $60 for the Villas, paid in full 2022 to 2026 | annual | state regulation of condominiums | September 2026 | |
Community development district | $0: none exists | n/a | n/a | September 2026 | |
County street-lighting or other MSTBU | $0: none exists | n/a | n/a | September 2026 | |
San Carlos Park Fire Protection and Rescue Service District | 2.3590 mills ad valorem, fiscal year 2025/26 | annual, on the tax bill | fire and rescue | September 2025 | |
Lee County solid waste, Service Area 2 | $348.75 per unit plus a $2.55 administrative charge, less a 4% early-payment discount (FY2026) | annual, on the tax bill | collection, disposal, recycling | September 2026 | |
Lee County ad valorem property taxes | Set by each home's taxable value, after exemptions | annual, on the tax bill | county, school and other public services | September 2026 | |
Sewer (Forest Utilities, Inc., private) | Not published | not published | wastewater | September 2026 | |
Club dues and initiation | Not published. Only if you join | not published | club membership | September 2026 | |
Estoppel certificates on resale (three at the Heron) | not published by the managers; capped by Florida statute | on resale | document preparation | September 2026 |
No Heron association maintains a public website, the Division of Corporations publishes no financial data, and the state's key financial indicators extract, which lists operating and reserve figures for about 1,875 associations statewide, carries no row for any Heron or Forest association as of September 2026. So the amounts sit in three places only: each association's adopted budget, its estoppel certificate, and its meeting minutes for any special assessment. Condominium sellers must provide the budget and governing documents to a buyer under section 718.503.
Listing copy for Heron homes sometimes describes a fee as including items such as the pool, lawn care, exterior maintenance or insurance. Treat that as a claim to verify, not a fact. What a Heron unit association or the Heron Master covers is set by its declaration and its budget, neither of which is public; the Heron Master's articles establish only that it is responsible for "the common areas, roadway and utility easements." We read each budget's line items and quote them to buyers in the association's own words.
Two tax-bill lines are specific to where the Heron sits. The San Carlos Park fire district levies 2.3590 mills for fiscal year 2025/26; as an illustration only, $250,000 of taxable value owes $589.75 to the fire district, and the actual figure scales with each home's taxable value and exemptions. And Lee County bills solid waste as a non-ad-valorem assessment in Service Area 2, proven by the county's solid waste districts layer and the district code on every Heron parcel. There is no CDD, no MSTU and no separate county stormwater line.
For a Heron home, request three estoppel certificates (unit association, Heron Master, The Forest's master association), each association's current budget and reserve schedule, the unit association's insurance summary and master policy declarations, the last year of minutes from the unit association and the Heron Master, the declarations, bylaws and rules, and any pending or proposed special assessment in writing. That list is longer than for any other Forest home, which is exactly why we start it on day one of a listing.
Selling at the Heron? We order all three estoppel certificates on the first day; get a free home valuation for your Heron home or Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072. Buying? Call Marc at (239) 287-5873, or read how we represent buyers in Southwest Florida.
The Heron at The Forest runs on three sets of recorded documents: the Coach Houses' declaration of condominium (Official Records Book 2140, Page 1789), the Villas' declaration (Book 2598, Page 1964), and a Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions for the whole development under the Heron Master. The articles of all three associations are public; the declarations, bylaws and rules are not online.
This section separates what is public, and quoted here, from what is recorded but not posted, and gives the route to each.
All three Heron associations' current articles of incorporation are on file with the Florida Division of Corporations and open to anyone: the Coach Houses articles and Heron Master articles, both restated in 2004, the Villas articles, restated in 2003, and the Heron Master's 2020 amendment. They set each association's purpose, powers, membership, voting and board. They do not set fees, leasing minimums, pet rules or architectural rules; those live in the declarations and rules.
Both condominium associations' articles list among their powers: "To approve or disapprove the leasing, transfer, mortgaging, ownership, and possession of Units as may be provided by the Declaration." The words "as may be provided by the Declaration" matter: the articles create the power, and the declaration decides whether and how it is used, including any application, interview, fee or timeline. Whether either Heron declaration currently requires approval of a sale or a lease is not in any public record we could reach. We read the declaration and the rules for any approval step at the start of every Heron listing, so a closing date is never set before the approval clock is known.
The Coach Houses' articles can be amended by two-thirds of the voting interests present at a duly noticed meeting with a quorum, provided the amendment is also approved by a majority of the entire voting interests. The Villas' articles can be amended by two-thirds of the voting interests present at such a meeting, or by the written agreement of two-thirds of the entire voting interests. Both sets of articles bar any amendment that changes a unit's configuration, its share of the common elements or its share of common expenses unless that owner and that owner's mortgagees join. The Heron Master's articles can be amended by a majority of members present at a special meeting called for the purpose. Declarations and bylaws have their own amendment rules, set in those documents.
The Coach Houses' declaration of condominium is recorded at Official Records Book 2140, Page 1789, with its condominium plat at Condominium Plat Book 17, Page 72; the Villas' declaration at Official Records Book 2598, Page 1964, with its plat at Condominium Plat Book 21, Page 83, per the Lee County parcel roll's legal descriptions. The Heron Master's Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions is named in its articles. None of those instruments is posted online by any Heron association, and we did not locate a public online copy. They are held in the Lee County Clerk's official records, retrievable by book and page, and a condominium seller must provide the declaration, articles, bylaws, rules and the other documents listed in section 718.503 to a buyer.
Architectural rules at the Heron, from hurricane shutters and screen enclosures to exterior paint colors and landscaping, are set by the declarations and rules and are not published. In a condominium, the exterior of the building is usually common element or limited common element that the association controls, so an owner's change typically needs written board approval. Ask for the rules and any architectural application before you plan exterior work, and before you buy a home whose appeal depends on it.
No public record we reached identifies The Heron at The Forest as housing for older persons. Whether either Heron condominium carries an age restriction is set in its declaration, which is not posted online, and neither Heron association's filed articles mentions one. A buyer who needs certainty should read the declaration before signing.
Under Florida's Fair Housing Act, a community qualifies as housing for older persons only if it meets defined tests, including that at least 80 percent of occupied units have at least one resident 55 or older and that it publishes and follows policies showing that intent, as the Florida Commission on Human Relations explains under section 760.29. The master association's public pages do not mention an age requirement either.
For a buyer, the practical point is to confirm occupancy rules in the declaration and rules along with leasing and pets, because a condominium can restrict occupancy in ways that fall short of a 55-plus designation, such as guest-stay limits. For a seller, an unrestricted buyer pool is the default we market to unless the documents say otherwise, and we confirm it before the listing goes live.
Leasing rules at The Heron at The Forest are set by each condominium's declaration and rules, which are not published. Both Heron associations' articles give them the power to approve or disapprove leasing "as may be provided by the Declaration," so a buyer planning to rent should read the declaration and rules for any minimum term, frequency limit or approval step before signing.
Florida's Condominium Act puts limits on how leasing rules can change. Under section 718.110(13), an amendment that prohibits or regulates rental of units, or alters the duration of rentals or the number of times a unit may be rented in a period, applies only to owners who consent to it and to owners who acquire title after it takes effect. That is why two Heron owners can live under different leasing terms, and why a buyer needs the current declaration with every amendment, not an old copy.
Rentals of six months or less are subject to Lee County's tourist development tax under section 125.0104, and a condominium's own rules can bar short stays entirely. No Heron association publishes its rule. Ask for it in writing.
The county roll suggests how Heron homes are used: 22 of the 63 carried a homestead exemption on the 2026 roll, the rest being second homes, seasonal homes or otherwise held, per the parcel roll. The roll does not say which of those are rented.
Pet rules at The Heron at The Forest are not published; each condominium's declaration and rules set the number, size and type of pets allowed and any leash or common-area rule. Florida law protects a resident's right to an emotional support animal or service animal as a reasonable accommodation even where the documents restrict pets.
The Heron associations' articles give each board the power "To make and amend reasonable rules and regulations for the maintenance, conservation and use of the Condominium Property," per the Coach Houses articles, and a pet rule is typically one of them. The master association's leasing, pet and architectural rules are likewise not published publicly; they sit inside its resident portal. A buyer bringing a dog should read both before signing, and a seller should include both in the resale package.
An association's pet restriction does not end the question for a resident with a disability. Florida's Fair Housing Act, including section 760.27 on emotional support animals, governs requests for an assistance animal as a reasonable accommodation, and the Florida Commission on Human Relations administers the state act.
A Heron home at The Forest comes with the Heron Master's own recreation parcel and pool on Heron Coach Way, a garage, and everything The Forest's master association provides: staffed gates, a nightly patrol, private streets, sidewalks and a playground. Golf, tennis, the clubhouse and dining come only with an optional Forest Country Club membership.
Amenities at The Forest sit in three different hands, and the Heron illustrates all three. Knowing which is which answers most buyer questions about what a fee buys.
The Heron is one of the few neighborhoods in The Forest with its own pool parcel on the public record. The Lee County roll lists a 0.459-acre recreation parcel at 16502 Heron Coach Way, owned by The Heron Master Association, Inc. and flagged with a pool, with a 308-square-foot heated structure first built in 1989, per the parcel layer. The Forest Country Club does not list a pool among its amenities, and pools at The Forest belong to individual associations; the other public example is the Fairway Woods recreation parcel for Fairway Woods Sections II and III. Pool hours, guest rules and heating are set by the Heron Master and are not published.
From The Forest Property Owners' Association, a Heron owner gets the two gates (the Main Gate staffed 24 hours a day and the Island Park Gate from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM), a nightly patrol, vehicle barcode entry, the DwellingLive guest system, the private street network and sidewalks, and Ruthie's Park, the association's children's playground, per its resident portal and its 2022 plan. The portal puts it this way: "A Tennis Court, Pro Shop, Clubhouse and the award-winning golf courses are available with a membership at the Forest Country Club."
The Forest Country Club owns the two 18-hole courses, the Bear and the Bobcat, and the clubhouse at 6100 Club Boulevard, with tennis, pickleball, bocce, fitness and dining. The Bear reopened December 1, 2025 after a full renovation, per the club's December 2025 scorecard. None of that comes with a Heron home.
No. The Forest is non-bundled, so buying a home at The Heron at The Forest does not make you a member of The Forest Country Club. The club's own membership page describes "a non bundled gated community offering resident and non resident memberships," and the master association's portal says the same.
The Forest Country Club's membership page and the master association's resident portal ("The Forest is a non-bundled gated community") agree, independently. For a Heron buyer, that means the golf and club costs are a separate decision, made after the home decision, and never a condition of it.
The club does not publish its dues or initiation schedule; figures are provided to prospective members on inquiry. Because membership is separate from home ownership, a club membership should not be assumed to transfer with a home. The club's public tax filings show members were specially assessed in 2022, 2023 and 2024 for capital, golf-course renovation and a hurricane capital assessment, per its Form 990 filings; those fall on members only.
Non-bundled membership widens the Heron's buyer pool: a buyer who wants a gated, garaged coach house or villa without a club obligation is exactly who the Heron suits, and a golfer can still join. When we list a Heron home we market to both, in the club's and the association's own words.
The Heron at The Forest sits on low ground in Evacuation Zone A, in a community that took Hurricane Ian's surge in 2022, but its buildings are recorded at one and two stories and the Villas are the youngest condominium buildings in The Forest. The storm questions that matter are roof age, opening protection, the elevation certificate and the association's insurance and reserves.
Data updated: September 2026
No public record we reached reports storm damage to a specific Heron building. What the record does hold is a measured picture of Ian inside The Forest, the Heron's ground elevations, and the ages of its buildings.
U.S. Geological Survey crews surveyed a Hurricane Ian high-water mark about 2.9 feet above ground at a Waters Edge condominium building inside The Forest, reading 9.5 feet NAVD88, per the agency's Short-Term Network record. No USGS mark was surveyed at the Heron. The Heron's median ground, 6.2 feet at the Coach Houses and 6.6 feet at the Villas, is close to the ground implied by the Waters Edge mark, 6.6 feet, so the surge surface measured there is a fair reference for the Heron; whether water entered any Heron home is not in the public record, and interior flooding depends on each building's finished-floor elevation. On the golf property, the club's superintendent described 5 feet of seawater crossing the courses, per Golf Course Management.
Lee County's development order record inside The Forest names Ian once, for four canopies replacing damaged pergolas at the club, per its development orders layer. The only development order that names the Heron is LDO2019-00092, "Heron Coach Way," closed and finaled in May 2019, before Ian; the layer does not describe its scope. The county's facility damage inventory and its public initial damage assessment layer return no features inside The Forest. Lee County publishes no bulk layer of re-roof permits, so a Heron roof date has to come from the association or the seller.
Every Heron building is recorded at one or two stories, so none falls under Florida's milestone-inspection and structural integrity reserve study requirements for condominiums of three stories or more; Sparrowood's three buildings are the only three-story residential buildings in The Forest, according to Lee County property records. The Coach Houses (1990 to 1992) and Villas (1994 to 1996) predate the statewide Florida Building Code, effective March 1, 2002, per the Florida Building Commission. Replacement roofs, windows and shutters installed since then were permitted under the code in force at the time.
The whole of The Forest, the Heron included, is in Lee County Evacuation Zone A and Storm Surge Zone 1, per the county's evacuation zones layer. The Coach Houses sit on some of the lowest ground in The Forest, a median 6.2 feet, tied with Partridge Court and above only Pheasant Court Villas (5.9) and Timberwood II outside the gates, per the county's 2018 LiDAR spot elevations. Owners who leave for the summer should register a key holder with their unit association before the season starts.
Ask for the roof permit date on your building or villa, a current wind-mitigation inspection, whether the association has installed or requires opening protection, the association's master policy declarations and deductible, and its reserve schedule for roofs and painting. For a Villa, check the declaration for who maintains and insures the roof, because in a land condominium that allocation varies.
Every home at The Heron at The Forest is in FEMA flood Zone AE, a Special Flood Hazard Area, with a base flood elevation of 11 feet NAVD88, on panels effective November 17, 2022. Median ground is 6.2 feet at the Coach Houses and 6.6 feet at the Villas, 4.8 and 4.4 feet below the base flood elevation.
Data updated: September 2026
"Is the Heron in a flood zone?" has a one-word answer, yes, and a more useful longer one about panels, ground and what the elevation certificate does.
The Heron's parcels are in Zone AE, coastal floodplain, base flood elevation 11 feet, inside the Special Flood Hazard Area, per FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer and Lee County's FIRM layer. The Heron straddles two panels: the Villas and most Coach House parcels are on 12071C0438H, and 16 Coach House parcels are on 12071C0576H, per FEMA's panel index. Both panels took effect November 17, 2022. For flood insurance the Heron is in NFIP community 125124, Lee County Unincorporated Areas.
Heron condominium | FIRM panel(s) | Median ground, ft NAVD88 (range) | 11 ft BFE minus median ground (our arithmetic) |
|---|---|---|---|
Heron Coach Houses | 0438H (35 parcels), 0576H (16) | 6.2 (5.9 to 6.6) | 4.8 ft |
Heron Coach House Villas | 0438H | 6.6 (6.2 to 7.6) | 4.4 ft |
Source: Lee County 2018 LiDAR spot elevations, nearest ground point to each parcel, stated vertical accuracy plus or minus 0.57 feet; parcel counts include common-element parcels. Ground is not a finished floor.
The November 2022 map revision raised the base flood elevation across The Forest by one foot, from 10 to 11 feet NAVD88; Lee County keeps the superseded map as a pre-coastal-study layer. The zone did not change; the elevation did. An older elevation certificate or insurance quote that cites a 10-foot base flood elevation predates the current map.
Lee County applies FEMA's substantial improvement and substantial damage rule in unincorporated Lee County: work or damage costing 50 percent or more of the building's market value requires the whole structure to meet current flood rules, including elevation, per the county's substantial improvement page. New and substantially improved buildings in the Special Flood Hazard Area must be built one foot above the base flood elevation, which by our arithmetic puts a rebuilt Heron home's lowest floor at 12 feet NAVD88, about 5.4 to 5.8 feet above median Heron ground. In a condominium building that rule applies to the building, which is why the association's insurance and reserves matter to every owner in it.
Pull the current panel from FEMA's Map Service Center and Lee County's flood information pages, and ask the seller or the association for the building's elevation certificate. FEMA's Letter of Map Amendment index shows one amendment request inside The Forest, at Partridge Place, and it was denied; none touches the Heron.
Selling at the Heron? Put the elevation certificate in the listing file from day one; get a free home valuation for your Heron home or Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072. Buying? Call Marc at (239) 287-5873, or read how we represent buyers in Southwest Florida.
Insuring a Heron home at The Forest splits between the association and the owner: the condominium association insures the building under its master policy, and the owner insures the interior and contents under a unit-owners policy. Every Heron home is in the Special Flood Hazard Area, so a federally backed mortgage requires flood insurance, and Unincorporated Lee County's Class 5 CRS rating cuts NFIP premiums 25 percent.
Data updated: September 2026
We do not publish premiums for Heron homes, because there is no public source for one we would stand behind; a premium quoted without the building's elevation certificate, the roof's age and the association's master policy is a guess. What we can publish is every rule that moves the number.
Under section 718.111(11), a condominium association insures the condominium property under its master policy, and the unit owner insures what the statute and declaration leave to the owner, typically interior finishes, contents and liability under a unit-owners (HO-6) policy. At the Heron, ask each association for its current master policy declarations, its windstorm deductible and whether it carries flood coverage on the buildings. At the Villas, read the declaration for exactly what the association insures, because a land condominium can allocate the villa structure differently from a conventional one.
FEMA's flood maps drive the mandatory purchase requirement, per FEMA's Risk Rating 2.0 page, so a mortgage from a federally regulated or insured lender on a Heron home will require flood insurance. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP prices each building by its own characteristics, including elevation and cost to rebuild, and most rates may not increase more than 18 percent a year. Unincorporated Lee County is Class 5 in FEMA's Community Rating System, a 25 percent discount inside the flood zone, per the FEMA CRS list and the county's CRS discount page; FEMA kept that discount in its November 2024 review, per WGCU.
Florida law makes flood coverage mandatory for Citizens Property Insurance personal-lines policies on property in the Special Flood Hazard Area, but it exempts policies written on a condominium unit-owners form, under section 627.351(6). Whether a Villa owner's policy is written on a unit-owners form or a dwelling form depends on what the declaration makes the owner insure, which is one more reason to read it first.
Under section 627.7011(5), an insurer may not refuse to issue or renew a homeowner's policy solely because a roof is less than 15 years old, or, for an older roof, solely on age if an inspection shows at least 5 years of remaining life. Under section 627.0629, rate filings must include discounts for wind-resistive features. A current wind-mitigation report is what turns a Heron building's roof connections and shutters into credits.
The Heron at The Forest falls in the same Lee County school choice zones as the rest of The Forest: Elementary Zone O, Middle School Zone MM and High School South Zone 2. Rayma C. Page Elementary, the nearest Zone O choice, has earned an A from the Florida Department of Education three years running.
Data updated: September 2026
Every neighborhood inside The Forest's gates tested into the same zones on the district's own lookup, so a Heron address sits in the same zones as the rest of the community, per the district-linked 2026-27 zone map. Lee County assigns students through a zone of school choices rather than a single school per address, and families apply through the district's Choice Application, per its student enrollment page.
Level | Choices in the Heron's zone | 2026 state grade (2025, 2024) |
|---|---|---|
Elementary, Zone O | Rayma C. Page, Heights, Villas, Tanglewood | A (A, A); A (B, B); B (B, C); B (A, B) |
Middle, Zone MM | Cypress Lake Middle, Lexington Middle | A (A, A); B (C, B) |
High, South Zone 2 | South Fort Myers, Cypress Lake, Estero, Fort Myers, Bonita Springs, Dunbar | C; A; B; A; B; C |
Source: Florida Department of Education 2026 school grades file and the Lee County School District's 2025-2026 school grades report. Grades listed in the order of the schools named.
Dunbar High School is among the South Zone 2 choices, but the district's 2026-27 transportation plan does not provide Dunbar bus service to The Forest's subzone. The district states that the plan "does not limit a student's access to choose a school for the programs it offers. The plan only limits the transportation," per its transportation optimization page. Barrier-island schools are open to every zone by request, without district transportation, per the district's school zones page.
With a third of homes homesteaded and the rest largely seasonal, the Heron is not primarily a school-driven market, but the three-bedroom Coach Houses and the Villas suit families, and the zones are the same as for any Forest home. Confirm current zones for a specific address on the district's lookup before you rely on them.
Lee County's records show very little activity at The Heron at The Forest: one development order names Heron Coach Way (LDO2019-00092, closed and finaled in May 2019), the Heron's land is zoned planned development on the county roll, and no pending rezoning, plat or site plan touches it as of September 2026.
Data updated: September 2026
A built-out condominium generates few county records, and the Heron's are routine. Everything below comes from Lee County's own layers and case system.
Lee County's development orders layer holds one record named for the Heron: LDO2019-00092, "Heron Coach Way," status Closed-Finaled, dated May 13, 2019. The layer does not describe its scope; the case file is in the county's case system. Other recent orders nearby in The Forest are parking reseal and restriping at Dove's Nest (2023) and Waters Edge (2026) and the club's Bear Course renovation, generator and canopy projects.
The county roll codes the Heron Villas, the Heron Master's recreation parcel and the Heron Coach Way right of way as PUD, planned unit development, and the state's condominium records carry the special qualification "Planned Unit Development" on both Heron projects. That is consistent with the land's origin as a replat of tracts in The Oaks Unit One: The Oaks was approved separately as a planned development in 1982, while most of The Forest was rezoned under Lee County's RM-2 district in 1980. The Heron's own zoning resolution was not among the public records we reached, so we do not publish which approval its 63 units were counted under.
Lee County's residential new-construction permit extract, dated March 2025, holds no new construction at the Heron. The county publishes no bulk layer of re-roof, window, shutter or repair permits, so a Heron roof or window date has to come from the association's records or a permit search on the specific address in the county's Accela system, which also carries the live case below.
The Heron at The Forest is surrounded by built-out Forest land: The Oaks' single-family streets, the golf courses and the preserved mangrove to the west. The nearest live county case is a proposed 149-foot wireless monopole on the golf course property, about 0.4 mile from the Heron in a straight line, In Review with no hearing scheduled as of September 23, 2026.
Data updated: September 2026
A special exception and variance for a 149-foot wireless monopole on the golf course property (Lee County cases SEZ2026-00001 and VAR2026-00001) were In Review as of September 23, 2026. No hearing has been scheduled and no decision has been made. By our measurement on the county's zoning cases layer, the case site is about 0.4 mile southeast of the center of the Heron in a straight line. Until a hearing is held, nothing about the tower has been approved.
The Heron's land was replatted out of The Oaks Unit One, and The Oaks' single-family streets surround it inside the gates. West and south of The Oaks, the parcel roll shows a 609.9-acre mangrove parcel owned by the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund of the State of Florida, state land that is not going to be developed. The Lee Plan's future land use map classes The Forest as Suburban. The larger changes near The Forest are on the US 41 side, about a mile or more east, including the proposed Dia Crossing mixed-use rezoning (DCI2023-00020), described on our guide to The Forest.
Daily life at The Heron at The Forest runs through The Forest's master association for gates, guests and streets, through the Heron associations for the building, the road and the pool, and through county and private utilities: Lee County Utilities water, private Forest Utilities sewer, county Service Area 2 trash and Hotwire fiber.
The master association runs the gates from its office at 5990 Forest Boulevard and is managed by FirstService Residential, per its website. The Heron's own associations handle what happens on Heron Coach Way.
Residents enter by vehicle barcode, requested on the association's barcode request form, which asks for the Forest address, vehicle details, registration and driver license. Guests are pre-registered by residents through the DwellingLive visitor system. The Main Gate is staffed 24 hours a day and the Island Park Gate from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM, per the master association's 2022 plan.
Lee County's utility franchise maps place The Forest in Lee County Utilities' water service area. Sewer service is provided by Forest Utilities, Inc., a private utility, and The Forest lies outside the county's wastewater service area; its rates are not published online. Lee County bills solid waste on the tax bill in Service Area 2, at $348.75 per unit for fiscal year 2026 plus a $2.55 administrative charge, per the county's adopted rates. Collection points for the Coach Houses and the Villas are set by each association and are not published.
The Forest has a community Hotwire fiber arrangement, per the master association's website; whether it is billed through the association is not published. Ask the seller whether Hotwire service appears on an association bill or on a separate Hotwire bill.
Every Heron home is recorded with a garage on the county roll. Guest parking, vehicle and boat rules, and golf-cart rules on Heron Coach Way are set by the Heron associations and on The Forest's streets by the master association; none is published. Ask for the rules before you move a second car, a boat or a golf cart in.
Mail and package arrangements at the Coach Houses and Villas are not published by the associations. Ask the seller where mail is delivered for the specific home, and register regular delivery services through DwellingLive.
From The Heron at The Forest, the clubhouse is about 1.7 road miles and 7 minutes away, and from the clubhouse Southwest Florida International Airport is about 8.6 miles and 16 minutes, Gulf Coast Medical Center 4.5 miles and 9 minutes, and Naples about 44 minutes, as typical free-flow drives.
Data updated: September 2026
The Heron-to-clubhouse figure was computed from the center of the Heron's parcels on the OpenStreetMap road network with the OSRM routing engine on September 24, 2026. The rest are the clubhouse-based figures from our guide to The Forest, computed the same way from The Forest Country Club's address at 6100 Club Boulevard; from the Heron, add the few minutes it takes to cross the community. OSRM has no traffic model, so these are off-peak figures; January to April traffic on US 41, Summerlin Road and I-75 runs longer.
From the clubhouse to | Road miles | Minutes (free-flow) |
|---|---|---|
Southwest Florida International Airport terminal | 8.6 | 16 |
Gulf Coast Medical Center | 4.5 | 9 |
Bell Tower Shops | 3.9 | 8 |
Hammond Stadium (Minnesota Twins spring training) | 4.5 | 10 |
Coconut Point, Estero | 8.4 | 15 |
Downtown Fort Myers River District | 10.3 | 21 |
Fort Myers Beach, Times Square | 10.7 | 21 |
Sanibel Causeway, mainland end | 12.2 | 21 |
Naples, Old Naples | 26.5 | 44 |
Source: our OSRM computation on OpenStreetMap, September 23, 2026, from the clubhouse at 6100 Club Boulevard; the Lee County Port Authority operates the airport.
The Heron at The Forest and Fairway Woods at The Forest are the two largest condominium groups in The Forest, together 181 of its 439 condominium units: the Heron is newer, smaller, pricier per square foot and three-tiered; Fairway Woods is larger, older, on higher ground and sells its space for less per foot.
Data updated: September 2026 (Southwest Florida MLS Matrix, retrieved 23 Sep 2026)
A buyer weighing a condominium inside The Forest's gates will usually look at both, because together they hold 181 of the 439 condominium and land-condominium units Lee County records inside the community. Fairway Woods at The Forest is The Forest's largest condominium cluster, 118 units in three recorded sections, and the Heron is its newest. The table sets them side by side on the same yardsticks and the same MLS pull.
Yardstick | The Heron at The Forest | Fairway Woods at The Forest |
|---|---|---|
Homes | 63 (48 Coach Houses, 15 Villas) | 118 (three sections of 40, 38 and 40) |
Built | 1990 to 1996 | 1986 to 1991 |
Association layers | Three: unit association, Heron Master, master association | Two: section association (I, or II covering II and III) and master association |
Stories on the county roll | 1 and 2 | 1 and 2 |
Developer of record | Forest Joint Venture | Rutenberg-Gnagey, Ltd. (Section I); Arthur Rutenberg Corp. (II and III) |
Median county heated area | 1,679 (Coach Houses); 1,993 (Villas) | 1,937 |
Median 2026 county just value | $246,498 (Coach Houses); $334,217 (Villas) | $218,505 to $221,917 by section |
Closings, last 12 months | 6 | 9 |
Closings, 36 months to 09/23/2026 | 13 | 26 |
Median sold, 36 months | $375,000 (odd n) | $355,000 (middle pair $350,000 and $360,000) |
Median per sq ft of MLS living area, 36 months | $197.69 | $140.22 |
Median sold-to-list, 36 months | 95.27% | 95.52% |
Median days on market, 36 months | 40 | 54.5 |
Listed on September 23, 2026 | 2 | 5 |
Pool | Heron Master recreation parcel with pool | Recreation parcel with pool for Sections II and III |
Median ground, ft NAVD88 | 6.2 (Coach Houses); 6.6 (Villas) | 8.5 to 9.1 by section, the highest in The Forest |
FEMA zone | AE, 11 ft BFE, panels 0438H and 0576H | AE, 11 ft BFE, panel 0438H |
Sources: Southwest Florida MLS Matrix, pulled September 23, 2026; Lee County parcel roll and spot elevations; the state's developer file; the Fairway Woods Section III association's merger record.
The Heron is the newer product, the Villas are the only condominium buildings in The Forest completed after 1993, every home has a garage, the Villas are all one story with their own street numbers, and the Heron has its own pool parcel. Heron homes have also held value per square foot better: $197.69 against $140.22 over the same 36 months, and they sold faster, a median 40 days against 54.5.
Fairway Woods gives more space for the money: its larger units run to 2,962 square feet and sell for about $57 less per square foot of living area over 36 months. It sits on the highest ground in The Forest, 2 to 3 feet above the Heron's median ground, which matters to a flood insurer pricing an elevation certificate. It has one fewer association layer to budget for and to collect estoppel certificates from, and it has more choice on the market today, five listings to the Heron's two.
Choose the Heron if you want a one-story villa or a garaged coach house in the newest attached product in The Forest, value a private pool on your own street, and are comfortable budgeting for three association layers. Choose Fairway Woods if you want the most square footage for the price, the highest ground in the community, one fewer association, and more listings to choose from now. If you are selling either, price from your own condominium's sales, never the other's: a $57-per-square-foot gap is too wide to average away.
Selling at the Heron or Fairway Woods? Get a free home valuation priced from your own condominium's sales, or Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072. Buying? Call Marc at (239) 287-5873, or read how we represent buyers in Southwest Florida.
The Heron at The Forest trades near the top of The Forest's condominium market: over 48 months its Villas' median of $400,000 was second only to Waters Edge's $425,000, and both Heron condominiums sold at about $198 to $200 per square foot of living area, level with Waters Edge, Quail Cove and Dove Hollow and well above Fairway Woods.
Data updated: September 2026 (Southwest Florida MLS Matrix, retrieved 23 Sep 2026)
The benchmark below uses one yardstick for every condominium and villa neighborhood inside The Forest's gates: closings, median sold price and median price per square foot of MLS living area over the 48 months to September 23, 2026, the full 48-month pull, the widest we hold.
Forest condominium or villa neighborhood | Closings, 48 months | Median sold | Median per sq ft of MLS living area |
|---|---|---|---|
Waters Edge | 11 | $425,000 | $202.91 |
Heron Coach House Villas | 8 | $400,000 (middle pair $400,000 and $400,000) | $200.45 |
Fairway Woods II | 9 | $360,000 | $138.42 |
Fairway Woods III | 14 | $352,500 (middle pair $350,000 and $355,000) | $151.37 |
Eagle's Landing | 4 | $347,500 (middle pair $325,000 and $370,000) | $167.59 |
Heron Coach Houses | 8 | $336,250 (middle pair $332,500 and $340,000) | $197.60 |
Quail Cove | 9 | $325,000 | $202.62 |
Fairway Woods I | 8 | $309,500 (middle pair $294,000 and $325,000) | $138.54 |
Dove Hollow | 10 | $297,500 (middle pair $290,000 and $305,000) | $209.80 |
Sparrowood | 8 | $282,500 (middle pair $265,000 and $300,000) | $160.02 |
Dove's Nest | 10 | $279,500 (middle pair $260,000 and $299,000) | $196.96 |
Pheasant Court Villas | 3 | $219,000 | $157.89 |
Source: Southwest Florida MLS Matrix, pulled September 23, 2026, 09/24/2022 to 09/23/2026, as published on our guide to The Forest. Every row is a small sample; Eagle's Landing and Pheasant Court Villas are fee-simple villa neighborhoods, not condominiums.
The one neighborhood that outsold the Heron on median price is Waters Edge at The Forest, a 36-unit condominium with two-story buildings from 1984 and 1985 and one-story duplex villas added in 1991, the highest median 2026 just value of any condominium in The Forest, $300,820. Waters Edge is the closest match to the Heron Villas for a buyer who wants a one-story attached home: similar size (a median 1,989 heated square feet against the Villas' 1,993), similar price per foot, and two association layers instead of three.
Sparrowood is the contrast buyers sometimes miss. Its three buildings are the only three-story residential buildings in The Forest, according to Lee County property records, which places Sparrowood alone under Florida's milestone-inspection and structural integrity reserve study requirements; the Heron's one- and two-story buildings are outside both. Over the same 48 months Sparrowood's median was $282,500 on eight sales.
The Heron at The Forest's strengths are real: the newest attached product in The Forest, garages throughout, one-story Villas, its own pool and optional club membership. Its costs are real too: three association layers with no published fees, low ground in Zone AE, and a thin, slow-moving resale market that rewards careful pricing.
We give both sides because a Heron buyer who hears only the first list is the one who is surprised at closing.
Weighing a Heron sale? Get a free home valuation for your Heron home or Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072. Weighing a Heron purchase? Call Marc at (239) 287-5873, or read how we represent buyers in Southwest Florida.
A buyer at The Heron at The Forest needs more paper than any other Forest buyer: three estoppel certificates, the unit association's and the Heron Master's budgets and minutes, the declarations with every amendment, the insurance declarations, the elevation certificate, and written answers on any approval, leasing or pet rule.
Florida law gives a condominium buyer the right to most of this. Section 718.503 requires a unit owner selling a condominium to provide the declaration, articles, bylaws, rules, the most recent year-end financial information and the frequently asked questions and answers document, and section 718.116 governs the estoppel certificate and caps its fee.
Document | From | Why it matters at the Heron |
|---|---|---|
Estoppel certificate | Unit association (Coach Houses or Villas) | States the unit association's assessment, what is owed and any special assessment |
Estoppel certificate | The Heron Master Association | States the Heron Master's dues and what is owed; the Heron Master publishes no fee anywhere |
Estoppel certificate | The Forest Property Owners' Association, through its manager's resale page | States the community master assessment |
Declaration, articles, bylaws and rules, with every amendment | Unit association and Heron Master | Leasing, pets, any approval of sale or lease, architectural rules, who maintains and insures what |
Budget, reserve schedule and last year-end financial statement | Unit association and Heron Master | The only public route to the real fee and the reserve position |
Master insurance policy declarations and deductible | Unit association | Who insures the building, the windstorm deductible, whether flood is carried |
Board minutes, last 12 months | Unit association and Heron Master | Any roof, paint, paving or pool project and any special assessment under discussion |
Elevation certificate | Seller or association | What a flood insurer prices; every Heron home is in Zone AE |
Roof permit date and wind-mitigation report | Seller or association | Insurability and wind credits for a 1990s building |
Club membership terms, if you want to join | The Forest Country Club | Dues and initiation are not published and membership does not transfer automatically |
Ask for all of it in the first days of the contract, because three associations mean three response times. If either declaration requires approval of the sale, the approval period needs to fit inside the contract before a closing date is set.
Selling? Get a free home valuation for your Heron home or Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072. Buying? Call Marc at (239) 287-5873 and we will request the whole file, or read how we represent buyers in Southwest Florida.
If you're searching for a The Heron at The Forest listing agent, or thinking, 'I need someone to sell my The Heron at The Forest home...', McGreevy and Comisar are the team built for a Heron sale: three association layers, a thin comparable set, unit numbers that mislead and a buyer who needs the flood file on day one.
McGreevy and Comisar's listing-agent credentials:
Data updated: September 2026 (Southwest Florida MLS Matrix, retrieved 23 Sep 2026)
In the last 12 months we tracked 6 closings at The Heron at The Forest in the Southwest Florida MLS Matrix, pulled September 23, 2026: $2,432,000 in closed volume, a median 36.5 days on market and a median sold-to-list ratio of 93.03%, with none at or above asking. Because six is under our 10-sale floor, the headline window widens to 36 months, 09/24/2023 to 09/23/2026: 13 closings, $4,883,500 in volume, a median $375,000, a median 40 days on market and 95.27% of list. We do not claim a count of Heron sales we represented; the figures above are the whole market we tracked.
Four things make a Heron sale different from a sale anywhere else in Fort Myers. First, the paperwork: three estoppel certificates, two declarations, and a sub-master association most buyers have never met, so we assemble the whole file before the first showing. Second, the approval question: both Heron condominium associations' filed articles give them the power to approve or disapprove transfers "as may be provided by the Declaration," so we confirm your declaration's rule and build its timeline into the contract. Third, the unit number: we state the building and the story count from the county roll in the listing, so no buyer, appraiser or insurer reads unit 402 as a fourth floor. Fourth, the comparables: Coach Houses and Villas are different markets, and the Villas themselves split between 1,993-square-foot and 2,718-square-foot plans, so we price from your plan's sales, adjusted for condition, roof age and updates, not from a Heron-wide median. No 55-plus restriction appears in any public record we reached, and club membership is optional, so unless your declaration says otherwise we market to every buyer pool.
Get a free home valuation for your The Heron at The Forest home: we compare it with every Heron sale in four years, the two county-recorded sales the MLS does not show, and today's two listings, and send you a number with the comparables behind it.
Talk to Jesse direct: (239) 898-6072, text or call. Buying instead? Call Marc at (239) 287-5873, or read how we represent buyers in Southwest Florida.
Over the 36 months to September 23, 2026, the median Heron sale took 40 days on market, per the Southwest Florida MLS, but the range ran from 0 to 535 days. Well-priced homes in good condition have gone in days; the long waits ended below list. Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072.
Yes. Over 36 months the Coach Houses sold at a median $332,500 and the Villas at a median $399,500, but per square foot of living area they were within about $2 of each other, $196.83 and $198.95. The Villas cost more because they are larger.
Three estoppel certificates (your unit association, the Heron Master and The Forest's master association), plus the declaration, articles, bylaws, rules, budget and year-end financials that section 718.503 requires a condominium seller to provide.
Possibly. Both Heron condominium associations' articles include the power "To approve or disapprove the leasing, transfer, mortgaging, ownership, and possession of Units as may be provided by the Declaration." Whether your declaration uses it, and how, is set in the declaration; we read it before we list.
It can. The first digit of a Coach House unit number is the building, never the floor, and the county records every Coach House building at one and two stories. We state the building and story count in the listing so lenders and insurers do not ask for reports that do not apply.
That depends on your plan and your building, not on a forecast. The Heron's last-12-month median was $389,500 on six sales, its 36-month median $375,000 on 13, and two Coach Houses are listed today, about 4.0 months of supply. We will show you where your home sits in that record before you decide.
Jesse McGreevy and Marc Comisar are the McGreevy and Comisar team behind this guide to The Heron at The Forest, and they lead Domain Realty Group from an office on US 41 in Bonita Springs, south of The Forest on the same highway. Jesse leads the listing side, and Marc works with buyers across Lee and Collier counties.
Jesse McGreevy, Sales Associate, and Marc Comisar, Broker Associate, built the team on a simple idea: the seller or buyer who understands the record before the first showing negotiates from strength. Read more on our about the McGreevy and Comisar team page.
McGreevy and Comisar lead Domain Realty Group, a full-service Southwest Florida real estate team. Learn more about our team at DomainRealtyGroup.com.
On a Heron page, the credential that matters more than any award is preparation. Before a word of this guide was written we read the three Heron associations' filed articles and every corporate filing since 1990, the state's condominium project records, fee history and developer file, all 67 Heron parcels on the Lee County roll, FEMA's panels and the county's LiDAR ground elevations, and 48 months of Southwest Florida MLS closings checked address by address against the roll. When we list a Heron home we put that work to use three ways. We order all three estoppel certificates and both sets of governing documents on the first day. We describe the home by building, plan and story count from the county record, so the unit number never misleads. And we put the flood file, including the elevation certificate, in front of buyers from the first showing, because every Heron home is in Zone AE and that is the first thing an insurer prices.
Jesse McGreevy and Marc Comisar are top-reviewed The Heron at The Forest realtors on Google, and the quotes below are five-star client reviews reproduced in each reviewer's own words. We publish no aggregate score and no star-rating widget. Read the full set on the McGreevy and Comisar Google Business Profile.
★★★★★ "Marc Comisar did an excellent job working with a very difficult client (me) selling our condo in a tough condo market. He went above and beyond." Verified Google review
★★★★★ "Jesse was very professional, helpful and kept in touch with ideas and suggestions which developed into a sale. Highly recommend his company for their excellent follow through." Verified Google review
★★★★★ "Jesse listened to what we were looking for and found us exactly what we wanted. Jesse was always available to answer any questions and helped us through the entire process." Verified Google review
★★★★★ "So knowledgeable! You can tell they truly have a high level of expertise and were incredibly professional from start to finish." Verified Google review
Jesse McGreevy (Sales Associate) and Marc Comisar (Broker Associate) are licensed Florida REALTORS® with Domain Realty; Florida real estate licensure is regulated by the Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC). License status for either name can be verified through the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation's public licensee search.
Selling a home at the Heron? Get a free home valuation for your Heron coach house or villa, or call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072.
Buying at the Heron? Call Marc at (239) 287-5873, or read how we represent buyers in Southwest Florida.
For the community around the Heron, see our guide to The Forest and its neighborhoods, including Fairway Woods at The Forest and Waters Edge at The Forest, and for the wider market our Fort Myers guide.
These are the questions buyers ask about The Heron at The Forest, answered from the public record: what the Heron is, who governs it, what it costs, what the flood maps say and what the market is doing. Where the record is silent, the answer says so and names the document that holds it.
McGreevy and Comisar: the #1 team in Southwest Florida since 2012, Top 1% Real Estate Agents Nationally Since 2008, over $900 million in personal sales, and the team that built this Heron guide from every MLS closing, the county roll and the Heron associations' own filings. Call Marc at (239) 287-5873.
The Heron at The Forest is a 63-home condominium enclave inside The Forest, a gated golf community in south Fort Myers: the Heron Coach Houses (48 homes, 1990 to 1992) and the Heron Coach House Villas (15 one-story villas, a land condominium, 1994 to 1996), both developed by Forest Joint Venture.
Yes. The Heron is inside The Forest's gates, its associations hold two seats on the master association's condominiums-and-villas board per the master association's 2022 plan, and its developer of record, Forest Joint Venture, also developed Dove's Nest and dedicated the plats of Unit Three and The Oaks.
"Heron Coach Houses" is the MLS name for both Heron condominiums. "Heron at the Forest" is an older label: The Heron at the Forest Condominium Association, Inc. was filed in 1988 and dissolved in 1991, per its corporate record, and one Villa sold under that name in 2022.
Because the Heron was built as one development of two separate condominiums. Each condominium has its own association, The Heron Master Association holds the shared common areas, road, utility easements and pool, and The Forest Property Owners' Association runs the gates and streets. A buyer needs an estoppel certificate from each.
No Heron fee is published at any layer. The unit association, the Heron Master and The Forest's master association each publish no assessment; the amounts are in each budget and on the estoppel certificates issued at resale under section 718.116. We request all three for every Heron buyer.
No. The Forest, including the Heron, is not on Lee County's special districts roster, and the county's MSTBU layer returns no taxing unit inside the community.
No. At the Heron the first digit of a Coach House unit number is the building: unit 402 is in building 4 at 16540 Heron Coach Way, and the county records every Coach House building at one and two stories.
All 15 Villas are recorded at one story, and so are the 24 Coach Houses whose unit numbers end in 1 to 4 (1,499 square feet). The 24 Coach Houses ending in 5 to 8 (1,859 square feet) are recorded at two stories, per the county roll. The roll does not say which level of the building a one-story coach house sits on, so confirm stairs in person.
Yes. The Lee County roll records a garage at every Coach House and every Villa.
Yes. The Heron Master Association owns a 0.459-acre recreation parcel at 16502 Heron Coach Way that the county roll flags with a pool. Pool hours and guest rules are set by the Heron Master and are not published.
No. The Forest is non-bundled, per the club's membership page and the master association's resident portal. Golf, tennis and the clubhouse come with an optional membership.
Leasing rules are in each condominium's declaration and rules, which are not published, and both associations' articles give them the power to approve or disapprove leasing as the declaration provides. Under section 718.110(13), a later rental restriction binds only owners who consent and later buyers.
Pet rules are not published; they are in each condominium's declaration and rules. Florida's Fair Housing Act, including section 760.27, governs assistance-animal requests regardless of a pet restriction.
No public record we reached identifies the Heron as housing for older persons, and neither Heron association's filed articles mentions an age requirement. Any restriction would be in the declaration, which is part of the resale package.
FEMA Zone AE, base flood elevation 11 feet NAVD88, on panels 12071C0438H and 12071C0576H effective November 17, 2022, per FEMA's flood hazard layer. The Heron is also in Lee County Evacuation Zone A.
With a federally regulated or insured mortgage, yes, because every Heron home is in the Special Flood Hazard Area. Unincorporated Lee County's Class 5 CRS rating cuts NFIP premiums 25 percent, per the FEMA CRS list.
No. Florida's milestone inspection and structural integrity reserve study requirements apply to condominium buildings of three stories or more, and the county records every Heron building at one or two stories. Sparrowood is the only three-story building group in The Forest.
Over the 36 months to September 23, 2026, the Heron's 13 closings ran from $290,000 to $570,000 at a median $375,000, per the Southwest Florida MLS; Coach Houses at a median $332,500 and Villas at $399,500.
Two, both Coach Houses at 16540 Heron Coach Way, listed at $318,000 and $199,000 on September 23, 2026, per the Southwest Florida MLS. None was pending.
Elementary Zone O, Middle School Zone MM and High School South Zone 2, the same as all of The Forest; Rayma C. Page Elementary, the nearest Zone O choice, earned an A in 2026, 2025 and 2024, per the state's 2026 school grades file.
The Heron is newer, smaller and three-tiered, and sold at a median $197.69 per square foot over 36 months; Fairway Woods is larger, on higher ground, two-tiered and sold at $140.22. The full decision table is in the comparison section above.
Lee County Utilities for water, Forest Utilities, Inc., a private utility, for sewer, and a community Hotwire fiber arrangement, per the master association's website and the county's wastewater service area layer.
If a Heron home is your permanent residence on January 1, Florida's homestead exemption removes up to $50,000 of assessed value, the second $25,000 from non-school taxes only, under section 196.031, and starts the Save Our Homes cap. Apply with the Lee County Property Appraiser.
These are the questions Heron owners ask before they sell, answered from the public record and from how we run a Heron listing. Every figure is sourced; where a Heron association keeps a number private, the answer says so and says how to get it.
McGreevy and Comisar: the #1 team in Southwest Florida since 2012 and Top 1% Real Estate Agents Nationally Since 2008, with over $900 million in personal sales, and the team that has read every Heron filing and closing on this page. Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072.
It depends on which condominium, which plan and what condition. Over 36 months Coach Houses sold at a median $332,500 and Villas at $399,500, at about $197 to $199 per square foot of living area. Get a free home valuation for your Heron home priced from your own plan's sales.
A median 40 days on market over the 36 months to September 23, 2026, per the Southwest Florida MLS, with a range from 0 to 535 days. Pricing and condition, not the season alone, decided the long waits.
Over 36 months the median Heron sale closed at 95.27% of its list price, and 2 of 13 closed at or above asking; in the last 12 months the median was 93.03%, with none at or above asking.
Two Heron Coach Houses were listed on September 23, 2026, both in building 4, and none was pending. Buyers who want an attached home in The Forest will also see Fairway Woods, Waters Edge and the other condominiums, which is why we price your home against those as well.
Yes on price, barely on price per foot. Over 36 months the Villas sold at a median $399,500 and 98.03% of list, the Coach Houses at $332,500 and 93.85%; per square foot of living area they were $198.95 and $196.83.
No. Lee County's 2026 just values, a median $246,498 at the Coach Houses and $334,217 at the Villas on the parcel roll, are mass-appraisal figures set for taxation, and they sit well below recent Heron closings.
Because they measure differently. The county records every Coach House at 1,499 or 1,859 heated square feet, while MLS listings for the same homes have shown 1,707, 1,714, 1,946 and 1,956 square feet of living area. We state which figure a price per square foot uses and why.
It can, so we fix it in the listing. The first digit of a Coach House unit number is the building, not the floor, and every Coach House building is recorded at one and two stories. We state building and story count from the county roll so lenders and insurers ask the right questions.
Three estoppel certificates (your unit association, the Heron Master, The Forest's master association) plus the declaration, articles, bylaws, rules, year-end financials and the frequently asked questions document required by section 718.503.
The Heron managers do not publish their estoppel fees, but Florida law caps what a condominium association may charge under section 718.116, and homeowners' associations under section 720.30851. Who pays is a contract term.
Possibly. Both condominium associations' articles give them the power to approve or disapprove transfers "as may be provided by the Declaration." Whether your declaration requires it is not public, so we read it before listing and build any approval period into the contract.
The brokerage commission (negotiated, not set by law), documentary stamp tax on the deed at 70 cents per $100 under section 201.02, prorated taxes and assessments at all three association layers, estoppel charges, and any title costs the contract assigns to you. Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072 for a net sheet.
Yes, some, and the contract decides the rest. The seller customarily pays the documentary stamp tax on the deed and prorated taxes through closing; other costs, including any seller credit, are negotiated line by line.
No law sets commissions in Florida; every fee is negotiated and written into the listing agreement. Licensing and conduct are regulated by the Florida Real Estate Commission. We explain exactly what our fee covers for a Heron listing before you sign.
Whoever the written agreements say pays them. The listing agreement sets the seller's brokerage fee, and a buyer's agent is paid under the buyer's own agreement; any seller contribution is a negotiated term. Florida's brokerage-relationship rules are in section 475.278.
The lender's policy is a buyer's loan cost. Who pays for the owner's policy, and who chooses the title agent, is written into the purchase contract; the standard Florida contract forms let the parties decide. We show you the contract term before you sign.
Yes. Florida requires a written flood disclosure at or before contract, covering flood damage during your ownership, flood insurance claims and federal flood assistance, under section 689.302. Every Heron home is in Zone AE, so it matters on every sale.
Yes. An as-is contract lets the buyer inspect and walk away within the inspection period without requiring you to repair, but it does not remove the flood disclosure or your duty to disclose known material defects. A 1990s Heron home sells best as-is with the roof, wind and four-point reports in hand.
Yes, but you would handle alone three estoppel requests, two declarations' worth of documents under section 718.503, gate pre-registration for every showing, any approval step, and the flood disclosure. We do those every week. Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072.
It is the most useful flood document you can have. A buyer's insurer prices the home from its elevation certificate, and the Heron's ground sits 4.4 to 4.8 feet below the base flood elevation. Ask the association whether one is on file for your building, or check Lee County's flood information pages.
Not automatically. At the Coach Houses the roof is typically an association responsibility set by the declaration, so the roof date and the reserve schedule matter more than your own spending. At the Villas, read the declaration first. Either way, bring the roof permit date and a wind-mitigation report to the listing.
Usually, with the right file. The association's master policy covers the building, the buyer insures the interior under a unit-owners policy, and a roof under 15 years old or inspected with 5 years of life left cannot be refused on age alone under section 627.7011.
Not automatically. The club does not publish its dues or initiation schedule, and because membership is separate from home ownership, a club membership should not be assumed to transfer with a home. Your buyer's membership, if they want one, is their own transaction with the club.
It is a question buyers may raise, so we answer it with the record. A 149-foot monopole on the golf property, about 0.4 mile from the Heron, was In Review under Lee County case SEZ2026-00001 on September 23, 2026, with no hearing scheduled and no decision made.
Heron closings have come in every season, but The Forest's heaviest closing month in the last year was February, when seasonal buyers are in town. Listing in the fall lets a Heron home be ready, with its association file complete, when those buyers arrive.
Yes. About two thirds of Heron homes are not homesteaded, so selling from out of state is routine here. We handle showings, gate registration, the three associations' documents and closing coordination locally, and the title agent can usually close without your travel.
Federal law lets you exclude up to $250,000 of gain ($500,000 for a married couple filing jointly) on your main home if you owned and lived in it at least two of the five years before the sale, per IRS Topic 701. Florida has no state income tax. Confirm your position with a tax adviser.
Yes, within limits. Florida portability lets you carry your Save Our Homes difference, up to $500,000, to a new Florida homestead established within the following three years, under section 193.155.
Very likely, if you have owned for a while. The Save Our Homes cap resets on a change of ownership under section 193.155, and your buyer will also see the 2.3590-mill San Carlos Park fire levy and the $348.75 solid waste assessment on the bill. We explain that to buyers up front.
Yes. The Villas trade as one-story homes with their own street numbers, and within the Villas the 2,718-square-foot four-bedroom plan sells well above the 1,993-square-foot plan: the February 2026 sale at 16529 closed at $570,000 against four 1,993-square-foot Villas at $394,000 to $400,000 in the same year.
We answer with documents, not estimates. Because no Heron fee is published, we get the three estoppel certificates and budgets early and give buyers the real combined number, so the fee question is settled before it can stall a contract.
Yes. We offer discreet, off-market marketing to our qualified-buyer database when a sale needs to stay quiet, and we still assemble the full association and flood file, because an off-market Heron buyer needs the same documents.
Balanced to buyer-leaning. The last 12 months' six Heron sales closed at a median 93.03% of list with none at or above asking, and two listings are about 4.0 months of supply at that pace, per the Southwest Florida MLS, pulled September 23, 2026.
Every fact about The Heron at The Forest on this page traces to a named public record: the Heron associations' filings with the Florida Division of Corporations, the state's condominium project records and public data extracts, Lee County's parcel, zoning, flood and utility records, FEMA, the U.S. Geological Survey, Florida statutes and state agencies, and the club's and the master association's own publications.
Market figures are cited in the text as "Southwest Florida MLS, pulled September 23, 2026," a member-only system with no public link. No realtor site, listing portal or brokerage page is used as a source anywhere on this page.
The public records that govern and describe The Heron at The Forest are linked below at the authority that issued or holds each one; we do not re-host any of them, and some government hosts refuse automated requests but open normally in a browser.
Several Heron records are not posted anywhere public, and we say so rather than link a copy: the Coach Houses' declaration of condominium (Official Records Book 2140, Page 1789), the Villas' declaration (Official Records Book 2598, Page 1964), the Heron Master's Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions, and every Heron budget, reserve schedule and set of rules (member records, provided at resale). The recorded instruments are held in the Lee County Clerk's official records and can be retrieved there by book and page.
Document | What it is | Link |
|---|---|---|
The Heron Master Association, Amended and Restated Articles (2004) | The sub-master's purpose: common areas, roadway and utility easements of both Heron condominiums; five directors; dues set by the board; the Heron's 9.99-acre land description | |
The Heron Master Association, Articles of Amendment (2020) | Adds indemnification of directors, officers and committee members | |
The Heron Coach Houses Condominium Association, Amended and Restated Articles (2004) | Purpose, powers (including approval of leasing and transfer as the declaration provides), voting, board, amendment rules | |
The Heron Coach House Villas Condominium Association, Amended and Restated Articles (2003) | The same for the Villas, with its own amendment rule | |
The Heron Coach Houses Condominium Association, 2026 annual report | The association's current officers and agent on file | |
The Heron Coach House Villas Condominium Association, 2026 annual report | The association's current officers and agent on file | |
The Heron Master Association, amended 2026 annual report | The sub-master's current officers and agent on file | |
The Forest Property Owners' Association Emergency Preparedness Plan (updated May 2022) | Board roster seating The Heron and The Heron Villas, sub-association contacts, gates, re-entry rules | |
FEMA FIRM panel 12071C0438H (effective November 17, 2022) | Flood map for the Villas and most Coach House parcels | |
FEMA FIRM panel 12071C0576H (effective November 17, 2022) | Flood map for 16 Coach House parcels | |
Lee County Evacuation Zone A map | The county evacuation zone covering all of The Forest | |
FEMA Community Rating System eligible communities (April 1, 2025) | Lee County (unincorporated) Class 5, a 25 percent NFIP discount | |
San Carlos Park Fire District FY2025/2026 Final Budget | The 2.3590-mill fire levy on Heron tax bills | |
Florida Building Code effective dates | The code-era reference for the Heron's 1990s buildings |
Market data from Southwest Florida MLS, pulled September 2026. McGreevy and Comisar, Best Realtor for The Heron at The Forest. Brokered by Domain Realty. Jesse McGreevy, FL Lic. SL3101296 · Marc Comisar, FL Lic. BK3060671.
Thinking about buying or selling in Southwest Florida? Tell us what you are trying to do and we will tell you honestly what it will take. McGreevy and Comisar, Domain Realty Group.
