Effort underway to build a St. Jude Dream Home Showplace in Cape Coral
Cape Coral will soon be home to the first St. Jude Dream Home Showplace in the state of Florida.
Organizers are hoping to raise $1 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital through the effort with the help of local builders, contractors, vendors and more.
“We’re building the home from ground zero with the support of sponsors, the community and the city,” said Ava Bahnam of Bahnam Builders at a “Lot Pop” ceremony held Thursday. “It will be something spectacular. We are excited. There will be a lot of people interested in the home once it’s built.”
Bahnam Builders announced its official partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to a St. Jude Dream Home Showplace through a concerted community-driven homebuilding effort.
The “Lot Pop” champagne celebration was held on the site at 4848 S.W. 24th Ave., bringing out city dignitaries, as well as local trade partners, vendors, businesses and national sponsors who will contribute their time, expertise, labor and materials toward the home’s construction.
Bahnam said one of her sales reps helped put the project together by contacting St. Jude. This will be a huge undertaking., she added with the goal being to build entirely through donations.
Building representative Queen Ellis said the event was a historic moment for the city and that for a long time, the state would not allow such a home to be built.
“The answer in the beginning was no. However, after a small work-around and vetting Bahnam Builders and visiting Cape Coral in person, they explored a way to make an impossibility possible,” Ellis said.
State Sen. Jonathan Martin said St. Jude represents the best of humanity when the most innocent among us need help.
“They don’t just give children hope, they give us hope. Hope for recovery, hope for a medical miracle and hope for humanity,” Martin said. “Seeing us come together to do something so good and us come together after horrible tragedy. We can see this building not just as a metaphor, but something tangible. We can see hope.”
For Sheri Harris, of the Integrity First Group and leader of the Bahnam sales team, the project is personal following the challenges her 5-month-old grandson underwent.
“He spent a month in the NICU. The first three days, his parents couldn’t hold him. It was heartbreaking,” Harris said. “He’s had two operations and two hospital stays in his short life. We saw so many families go through similar things and wonder how they were going to pay for this. What happened solidified what we’re doing here today.”
Approximately 100 trade partners and vendors will be needed to help bring the home to life. Bahnam Builders is inviting local contractors, skilled tradespeople, vendors and businesses to become part of this historic project by donating their time, talents, materials, services or expertise.
The home will be around 3,000 square feet with four bedrooms and three baths and a three-car garage, spacious backyard, outdoor kitchen, Bahnam said.
Upon completion sometime late next year, the public will tour the home during a series of open-house events. It will be featured during the 2028 Builder’s Showcase and the Parade of Homes. The house is expected to cost more than $1 million at sale.
The net proceeds from the sale of the St. Jude Dream Home Showplace will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Danny Thomas started St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in 1962. At the time, the chance of childhood cancer survival was 20 percent. It is now 80 percent.
Its goal is that no child dies of cancer with families not having the pay.