Who’s Really Behind Fortress Secured LLC? (The Jaycee Park Contractor)
- Take Out The Trash
- May 26
- 6 min read
Let’s take a closer look at Fortress Secured LLC, the firm awarded the contract for the redevelopment of Jaycee Park that was an "unsolicited proposal". Who exactly are they, and how did they land this project?
The company is co-owned by Charles Cordes, a businessman best known for his work in the self-storage construction industry a sector that’s seen explosive growth across Cape Coral. Ever wonder why our city is overflowing with self-storage units? Cordes may be part of that answer. You can view his profile on the website of another company he owns: Summit Construction Group.
But here’s where things get interesting.
The second listed owner of Fortress Secured LLC is Shannon C. Everett, who happens to be Charles Cordes’ daughter. Everett isn’t a full-time contractor or construction executive. Apparently, she’s the Clinical Supervisor of Nursing at Brooks College of Health, where she oversees faculty and students in the nursing program. You can view her official faculty bio HERE.
So, the question becomes: How is someone with a full-time academic role in healthcare managing a multimillion-dollar public park renovation project? Is this just a paper ownership structure? Or is there more we don’t know?
During the December 10, 2025 Regular Council Meeting, our city manager adamantly stated (paraphrasing) that there was a misunderstanding about Fortress Secured LLC that is doing business all over the country and you only need to look at their financials to see they are a multi-billion-dollar corporation. "No issues there”.
So where are those “financials” that Mr. Ilczyszyn claims Fortress Secured, LLC is a multi-billion dollar company? A records request to the city determined there were no such documents. So where did the statement by Mr. Ilczyszyn that Fortress Secured was a multi-billion dollar corporation come from? Please provide, as our investigation into Fortress Secured, LLC could not verify his claim.
So let’s get this straight.
We have a company, Fortress Secured LLC, awarded an $18 million-plus contract for the redevelopment of Jaycee Park. The two listed owners? One is in the self-storage construction business, and the other works full-time in nursing education. Neither appears to be actively managing the project.
How do we know?
Because on May 1, 2024, the Cape Coral City Council had to vote to hire an outside Project Manager, approving an additional $280,000 for someone to actually oversee the work, something the contractor was supposedly hired to do. Now Matt Everett (Shannons Husband) is defined as the Point of Contact for Fortress Secured. So why would the City Manager and the City Attorney have the City Council vote to hire an Outside Project Manager approving an additional $280,000.00 for someone to oversee the work Fortress Secured was contracted to do? Matt Everett, who is the point of Contact for the Developer. His employment history is as follows: Cleveland Indians, 06/1998 thru 06/2001; Bakers Sporting Goods, 08/2002 thru 02/2022; Self Employed, 12/2019 thru present with Fortress Secured, LLC.
Why wasn’t Fortress Secured handling this themselves? Because they don’t have employees. That’s right, no employees. And how do we know that? Simple, they don’t carry Workers' Compensation Insurance. In Florida, any construction company with even a single employee (including owners/officers) must have workers' comp coverage. The only way around that is if the owners file an exemption (owners/officers only) with the state, which you can check for yourself HERE. The only exemption on file was for Shannon. Apparently, Charles doesn't follow the law.
How do Firearms play into this?
Now if you click OPENGOVUS, you will find Fortress Secured, LLC is a manufacturer and importer of firearms with an active Federal Firearms License which expires in March of 2027. That license number is; FFL #1-59-031-07-7C-54548 (Manufacturer of Firearms), and another associated FFL License: FFL# 1-59-031-08-7C-54550 (Importer of Firearms), showing the same address Fortress Secured used in their "unsolicited proposal" for Jaycee Park. So the question is, what did the City Manager’s office use to “qualify” Fortress Secured, LLC for the Jaycee Park project and how many other contracts were similarly “qualified?”
We would like answers.
Which leads to the next question:
Is this how the City gets around the usual procurement process? By hiring a shell contractor who then subcontracts everything out, possibly to preselected firms?
It certainly raises concerns about transparency, oversight, and the potential for backroom deals. The public deserves to know who is really doing the work, who is making the money, and whether the process was fair and above board. Because right now, it’s not looking that way.
So how is Fortress Secured, LLC, with no staff, managing an $18 million-plus construction contract? By hiring one subcontractor who are handled through third party subcontractors, not Fortress Secured. City records uncover a troubling truth: Fortress Secured LLC, the company awarded the Jaycee Park contract for $18,081,607, doesn't appear to be performing any of the work. Instead, Fortress Secured shifted what seems to be the entire project to Florida Premier Contractors for $17,315,968 while still collecting $765,639 of taxpayer money. Fortress still seems to be moving the money between Florida Premier Contractors and the City of Cape Coral.
In Resolution 209-24, page. 2, paragraph.3 states: “The qualifications and experience of the private entity that submitted the proposal and such entity’s ability to perform the project”. We would like Mr. Ilczyszyn to provide a detailed explanation for each of the following, specifically addressing how he determined Fortress Secured was qualified and who provided the list of purported Fortress Secured, LLC projects that are detailed in the resolution. A quick search of the below listed projects by our team determined the following:
Laishley Park & Marina (Punta Gorda)—was developed and built by Marina Park, LLC, not Fortress Secured, LLC
South County Regional Park (Punta Gorda) was developed in 2005, recent renovations in 2014. Fortress Secured was incorporated on 12/04/2019.
Ann & Chuck Dever Regional Park (Charlotte County)—Built in 2007, recreational center built in 2019 by Tandem Construction.
Sunseeker Resort (seawall & riverwalk) Allegiant was the developer. Construction began in March, 2019. Seawall and riverwalk contracted to Florida Premier Contractors, Boston based Suffolk, Las Vegas based architect Steelman Partners and Orlando based architect L2 Studios made up the construction & design team. Fortress Secured was incorporated on 12/04/2019.
Crest Lake Park (City of Clearwater). Wharton-Smith, Inc did recent renovations starting 02/2020.
Hercules Park (City of Zephyrhills). Contractor Wharton-Smith started 11/28/2023.
Rowena Park (Plant City). Tiny park and no reference as to who the contractor was, who installed new, lit basketball court(s)
Southwest Water Reclamation Facility Operations Maintenance Building (Cape Coral) —Stantec designed. Wharton-Smith was/is the builder 09/2024.
Naples Classical Academy (Naples). Contractor was Summit Construction Management Group; construction started in January 2021.
The other projects listed in para. 3. had little to no information available that could be readily verified.
One must wonder exactly how thoroughly potential developers/contractors are screened prior to being awarded contracts. This is the first and most important step the city should take before considering rewarding any developers/contractors a city contract. Based on the above findings, the procedures utilized to award the Jaycee Park Project, if they were utilized at all, are woefully inadequate.
This above information begs the question: how many other city contracts have been approved with minimal scrutiny by staff? One would think not only the City Manager would at least do a basic Google search to verify things like Letters of Recommendation, none of which bear the name Fortress Secured, LLC. OK, if the City Manager and his staff overlooked that obvious fact, the City Attorney is responsible to assure contents of Resolutions are accurate and lawful. That did not happen here and council subsequently approved a resolution awarding the Jaycee Park contract to a company that submitted false and misleading information.
In addition, the outright false letters of recommendation provided in the Unsolicited Proposal from Fortress Secured - which mirror those listed in the approved resolution detailed above - should have immediately disqualified them from any contract.
But not in Cape Coral, where staff apparently takes the company’s word rather than investigating their claims and verifying documentation submitted.
This isn’t just about one project. It reflects a larger issue of trust in local government. Transparency is the foundation of good governance and right now, that foundation feels shadowy in Cape Coral.
So to recap: We awarded a massive public contract to a company with no staff, which does not carry Workers Compensation insurance because they have no employees, and no one actively managing the project. So, then City management had to contract with another company and pay them $280,000.00 just to do what Fortress Secured was contractually obligated to do in the first place, oversee and manage the project!
Is this what Fiscal Responsability looks like?
Is the lack of transparency just an oversight or something more intentional? When contracts are awarded without clear and public vetting of contractors, it opens the door to cronyism, backdoor deals and political favoritism. Are specific companies being brought in through the back door while the public is kept in the dark? Without oversight, there is no way for the public to know, and that is a serious problem!
All information has been thoroughly investigated and reported by the Take Out the Trash Committee of Cape Coral and/or its authorized volunteers!
