by Ryan Johnson
On Sept. 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian gave Southwest Florida the most expensive stress test in the state’s history. In a matter of hours, the Category 4 storm showed exactly which buildings were ready for a major hurricane… and which were not.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Ian caused more than $109.5 billion in damage in Florida and at least 156 deaths. In Lee County, 52,514 structures were impacted, and 5,369 were destroyed, including roughly 900 on Fort Myers Beach alone.
For our team at Benchmark General Contractors, the storm was personal. Our own office sat under five feet of water. Earlier this month, we broke ground on Gulf Beach Condominium, our 160th project on Sanibel since Ian, for owners who have been out of their homes for four years.
Four years in, the question is no longer whether we rebuild. It’s what we’re rebuilding for. After more than 30 years in commercial development, I can tell you that answer is being decided right now, in design meetings and permit applications, long before anyone sees a crane.
Water, not wind, is the design challenge
Ian was a surge storm. Water rose 10 to 15 feet in parts of the coast, and a team of structural engineers led by the University of Florida found that Ian’s winds over land were actually below the design wind speeds required for Lee County. What our coastal communities were not ready for was the water.
That reality is reshaping coastal commercial design. On the barrier islands, ground floors are increasingly reserved for parking, lobbies and breakaway construction, with revenue-generating space and building systems moved up. That creates real challenges for restaurants and retailers that depend on street-level energy, and it’s where experienced design and construction teams earn their keep: keeping a property inviting at grade while protecting what matters above it.
The code works
The most encouraging lesson from Ian is that modern standards performed. The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety found that none of the 455 single-family homes it studied that were built to the modern Florida Building Code suffered structural wind damage, while homes built before 2002 had nearly twice the rate of structural damage. FEMA’s post-storm assessment found that elevation was the strongest single indicator of how buildings performed in flood insurance claims.
Those studies focused on homes, but the principles translate directly to commercial work, and the math supports them. The National Institute of Building Sciences found that modern building codes save $11 for every $1 invested while adding only about 1% to construction costs compared with 1990 standards. The smartest owners I work with treat code as the minimum, raising electrical and mechanical systems above required flood elevations and planning for backup power before the first drawing is finished.
Resilience starts in preconstruction
The most expensive time to make a resilience decision is after a project is designed. Flood zone requirements, soil conditions, insurance underwriting and entitlement constraints should shape a project from day one. That’s one reason collaborative delivery methods like design-build have gained traction in our market. The builder is at the table while the big decisions are still flexible.
Timing matters, too. The 9th Edition of the Florida Building Code takes effect statewide Dec. 31, 2026, and projects permitted before that date are generally reviewed under the current edition. Any owner planning a 2027 project should be talking with their design and construction teams now about which code will apply and what it means for the budget. Condominium associations face their own decisions, as state milestone inspection and structural integrity reserve study requirements push many boards to weigh major repairs against replacement.
Growth doesn’t stop at the causeway
Resilient development isn’t only a barrier island story. In Cape Coral, our team is building Midpoint Gateway Retail Center, a 7,500-square-foot, five-tenant center that will keep jobs and services close to home. Just northeast of Fort Myers, Babcock Ranch kept its power on through Ian thanks in part to buried utility lines, proof that resilience is a planning decision as much as a structural one.
The buildings rising now will stand for decades and face hurricanes none of us can name yet. Ian taught Southwest Florida an expensive, painful lesson. Four years later, the best way to honor what this community lost is to build like we learned something.
About the Author
Ryan Johnson is vice president of Benchmark General Contractors, a Fort Myers-based firm founded in 1984 that specializes in commercial and luxury residential construction throughout Southwest Florida. For more information, visit benchmark-gc.com.
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