Q: Any idea if Oakes is going to rebuild on Davis Boulevard? Lots of people miss it dearly. — Barbara Montinaro, Naples  

A: Oakes Farms plans to build a new larger store on Davis Boulevard after its longtime farm market was severely damaged last fall by up to 5 feet of water from Hurricane Ian’s storm surge.  

“The interior of it was ruined from the flood so all the electrical was bad, all of the drywall, the equipment that was in there was bad, so eventually, it’s just going to be a teardown and a rebuild,” said General Manager Dan St. Martin.  

When reached last October within a couple of weeks after the storm, Oakes Farms founder Alfie Oakes was thinking about adding a mezzanine above the ground floor of Oakes Farms Market in East Naples as he did at Oakes Farms’ Seed to Table store in North Naples.   

“Not as big as Seed to Table, but a smaller version of something like that might go well down there,” Oakes said then.  

But plans to rebuild Oakes Farms Market, which always retained a mom-and-pop atmosphere, are not as grandiose as Seed to Table’s expansive destination.  

“His vision is he wants to have a bottom-floor market, second-floor restaurant, third-floor rooftop bar,” St. Martin said about Oakes’ rebuilding proposal for the smaller store.  

Oakes also owns contiguous parcels totaling about 5.5 acres directly across Brookside Drive from Oakes Farms Market, which occupies only 1.68 acres at 2205 Davis Blvd. The question is whether Oakes will use that additional acreage for store parking or to expand the existing footprint of the store.  

“I don’t really know the answer to that,” St. Martin said. “It’s obviously going to be for parking, if the footprint stays the same. The goal is to expand the footprint. But again, it’s all about how much property we have.”  

Meanwhile, Oakes Farms Market remains closed more than 10 months after the hurricane made landfall in Southwest Florida. Despite the store’s closing, Oakes was able to keep its employees on the payroll by reassigning them to other company properties, such as Seed to Table and the two locations of Food & Thought.  

Oakes Farms Market would have celebrated its 30th anniversary next year. It opened in 1994 as the original retail store in the Oakes Farms family of companies. The small grocery store offered farm-fresh produce, meat, seafood, baked goods and a deli with daily chef specials.  

Square footage added to the original market about a decade ago doubled the store’s space and nearly tripled the size of its deli. Of course, a much larger makeover may be in the works this time.  

“I look at it as an opportunity for us to make Oakes Farm better than ever,” Oakes said last fall.  

As far as Oakes Farm Market being renamed Seed to Table 2, don’t count on it. That original Oakes Farms Market represents the seed that sprouted Alfie Oakes’ local business growth.  

“Oakes Farms is his heart. You know, it’s where it all started for him. So, it’ll be Oakes Farms Market,” St. Martin said. “People ask all the time if it’s going to be Seed to Table 2. No. There’s a lot of sentimental meaning to that building, to that spot. That’s where it all started from.”  

Apartment aspirations  

Q: What is going to be built on the south side of Immokalee Road before you get to Walmart on Juliet Boulevard? — Kat Whitsell, Naples  

A: Clearing of a 9.35-acre forested commercial lot in North Naples recently began for a new apartment community named Aspire Naples.   

Originally proposed as Blue Coral Apartments, Aspire will be the third, consecutive multifamily residential complex in that small stretch along the south side of Immokalee Road. Windsong Club Apartments on the hard corner of Livingston and Immokalee roads already abuts the Bermuda Palms low-rise condo development across the street from Oakes Farms’ Seed to Table store.  

Aspire is being built between Bermuda Palms and the future location of Germain Lexus of Naples. The new multifamily community at 5035 Aspire Way will have more than 250 apartments in a pair of four-story buildings, as well as carriage homes in a third smaller inline building.  

Both larger G-shaped apartment buildings average 160,000 square feet and wrap around courtyard areas. Amenities in the first building include an indoor bar, lounge and clubroom. The building’s courtyard includes a swimming pool with a water feature, a spa, cabanas, a firepit, a grill area and a raised deck with outdoor seating, preliminary plans show.  

The second building’s landscaped courtyard features a grill area with barstool seating, firepits with seating, a spa, and hammock and game zones. Other amenities in the development include a dog park planned on the northern edge of the property along Immokalee Road and electric vehicle charging stations between the two main buildings, plans show.  

Six two-story carriage homes will be built above ground-floor garages in a 10,496-square-foot building planned along the rear of the property. More than an acre of preserve area will separate Aspire from the Livingston Lakes residential development behind it.  

The new residential community will share a right-in/right-out entrance on the south side of Immokalee Road with a new and used luxury automobile dealership proposed immediately to its east. Germain Lexus of Naples plans a two-story, 77,000-square-foot dealership, service area, parking deck, private car wash and detail center on about 9 acres associated with the Germain Immokalee commercial planned unit development, plans show.  

Aspire will be developed, owned, and managed by Cincinnati-based CIG Communities, formerly known as Capital Investment Group, a full-service, family-owned real estate company founded in 1984. Aspire was permitted by Collier County in late April and the project’s start date was in May. The project’s overall completion date is expected in June 2025, county records show.  

Aspire Naples is the second residential development in North Naples proposed by CIG, which also plans to develop, own and manage Ascend Naples, a 208-unit apartment complex proposed on more than 17 acres on the south side of Vanderbilt Beach Road about a half-mile east of the Logan Boulevard intersection. The Ascend project abuts the western edge of the Palm Royale Funeral Home & Cemetery.  

The “Tim Aten Knows” weekly column answers local questions from readers. Email Tim at tim.aten@naplespress.com.