Abandoned home becomes nuisance for Cape Coral neighbors

CAPE CORAL, Fla. – An unfinished home is an eyesore and a safety concern, nearby residents in Cape Coral said.

The home is located on a property on Kamal Parkway and has not been touched in months. It is a mess of styrofoam blocks, metal rods and cinder blocks. Barbara Deboer lives next door and said a wall fell over after a storm in the last several weeks.

She said she called Cape Coral about the property five times in the last year, even leaving messages, but not getting much information.

“I said ‘I really don’t understand why you are allowing this sit there like that because it is a disaster waiting to happen,'” Deboer said. “If we have like a bad storm, or another tornado like they have had here, this could tear things apart here like break windows.”

The property is owned by Thomas Reutter of Germany. His contractors, Freedom Builders of Punta Gorda, brought construction to a halt when Reutter ran out of money. Reutter then abandoned the unfinished home and returned to Germany.

Cape Coral said it sent a violation notice to Reutter after the permit for the property expired six months ago. Reutters never responded.

Freedom Builders said it will be on the property with a dumpster Thursday after closing with a new investor. The site should be cleaned up by the end of the week.