If not, I have included an article below that sheds light. 

Pretty,  as others have stated here, the permitting process through the City of Cape Coral has been hindered by their ability to scale up their staff to handle the massive demands for all permitting including new construction but also anything else that requires a permit, home improvements, sea walls, alternative sea walls, pools and more.From your post, I can see that you are frustrated, and I believe some of that is due to not understanding the steps and processes of new construction, including what must be done prior to submitting permits.

However, this will be brutal for Non-EU countries including the United States. 

Your 'cost' should include everything, from land purchase, soft costs, holding costs, and hard costs.

On the lease, he'll pay me $100/m over my HELOC payment and all other expenses, including the refi cost, inspections, title work, etc... 

Quote from @Pablo Avila: There are plenty including myself!

This also leaves me with $3,750 stuck in the deal (not including financing and closing costs, which could easily add another $20,000).In total, if I had to include closing costs and financing costs, I’d have about $23,000 (if not more) tied up in the deal and lose close to $700/month before accounting for expenses.

True, but (a) they were typically experienced investors, and (b) today's market includes record prices and high mortgage rates, which is a double whammy. 

Once you become licensed you subject yourself to all the laws required of licensees, including the requirement of broker supervision.

Quote from @Caleb Brown: Someone else asked but what would market rents be including the extra storage?