A Naples retail center soon will have a new name after its recent sale for more than $29 million.
The Gateway of Naples, the 60,000-square-foot commercial property on the northeast corner of U.S. 41 and Golden Gate Parkway, was purchased for $29,250,000 by Centre Pointe Associates Two-Seven LLC of Greenwich, Connecticut.
The Greenwich company is part of Fareri Associates, which is owned by Naples seasonal resident John Fareri, a developer, owner and manager of commercial, industrial and residential real estate in New York and Connecticut.
“Our immediate plans include a rebranding campaign with a change in name to Centre Pointe,” said Daniel Goldstone, a Naples resident and representative of the new owner. “A new monument sign at the center’s entrance, resurfacing and restriping of the parking lots, exterior painting and other minor renovations will take place in the coming months, while more significant renovations are planned for 2024.”
Built in 1991, The Gateway of Naples, 2100 9th St. N., is next to Naples High School at a busy intersection that includes Coastland Center mall and Naples Plaza. The center’s largest tenants include Food & Thought, Thoughtful Threads, Scan Design, Pure Skill Fitness, Dorona restaurant and Panera Bread.
Baltimore-based Continental Realty Corp., doing business as CRF Gateway Limited Partnership, purchased the L-shaped inline center in September 1999 for $10.55 million, Collier County property records show. Continental continues to own and operate Marquesa Plaza and The Colonnade on Fifth in Naples, Ridgeport Plaza in North Naples, The Esplanade Shoppes on Marco Island and The Shoppes at Pelican Preserve in Fort Myers as part of its 16 holdings in Florida. Continental is not releasing any information about the recent sale of The Gateway of Naples, said Larry Lichtenauer, a representative of the company.
“This is the third time that IPC has sold it,” said David J. Stevens, principal of Investment Properties Corp. who negotiated this transaction. “Because of the long-term relationship and a very close relationship between IPC and the then-owners of the property, and the fact that we’ve been doing the leasing since the building was built in the early ‘90s, we had a knowledge about their interest in possibly selling the property.”
The new owner was attracted to the center because of its central location in the city.
“In addition to being highly experienced and a major property owner in Connecticut, and a Naples part-time resident, he recognized that that’s Golden Gate and 41,” Stevens said. “That’s about as Main and Main as you could get. So, I think he just felt the location was extremely durable, and that there was upside, cosmetically and financially.”
Stevens said it also was a plus that Fifth Third Bank recently built its new 5,000-square-foot branch on the previous footprint of Frantz EyeCare on the center’s lone outparcel space while Fareri was under contract.
“That is a piece of the same deal. He owns that land,” Stevens said. “Fifth Third built that on the land at their expense and did a ground lease, so that’s a very valuable instrument.”
In addition to owning the new Centre Pointe and a beachfront home in Naples, Fareri is the managing partner of Cocoon Naples LLC and owns the local showroom and workshop for the Cocoon Gallery furniture and decor business on Fifth Avenue South and Fifth Avenue North, respectively. Cocoon’s roots also are in Greenwich, Connecticut.
