Naples Design Review Board unanimously granted final design approval to Encore, the last of Naples Square’s luxury condo buildings at Fifth Avenue South and Goodlette-Frank Road.

The DRB on Nov. 22 approved the three-story building, featuring 15 luxury homes on two floors atop 6,825 square feet of retail, commercial and office space at 192 Goodlette-Frank Road. The approval hinged on several conditions recommended by city staff and DRB members.

“We’ve done everything we can do to make this the best we can possibly make it, and we think we’re there,” Mark McLean, national director for Naples-based MHK Architecture, told the board before the vote. “We think we’ve satisfied a lot of people, and we have support of the homeowners association.”

Among conditions the board and staff requested were to increase a hedge hiding trash containers, revise a recycling bin staging area so it can’t be seen by residents across the street, replace a garage door with a more decorative version and continue a white banding accent across the building above the garage entrance.

Naples Square was first approved by City Council in 2013 as a walkable, bikeable 20-acre community close to downtown, and continues to grow after its fourth condominium, Quattro, was completed in late 2022. So far, it features 300 homes.

Encore is the fifth phase of Naples Square. Plans by WSR Naples Square Commercial, an affiliate of The Ronto Group, have gone through reviews and votes since 2021, when Council approved a revised site plan with two one-floor commercial buildings totaling more than 15,000 square feet, including 1,790 square feet of outdoor dining.

A year later, the developer revised plans again, asking for a mixed-use building with homes and a 7,500-square-foot restaurant with 2,900 square feet of outdoor seating. Ruth’s Chris Steak House was suggested, but neighbors opposed that due to traffic and noise concerns. After the DRB objected to the size, the commercial portion was reduced.

This September, Council barely approved the site plan, voting 4-3, with Mayor Theresa Heitmann, Vice Mayor Terry Hutchison and Beth Petrunoff, contending it didn’t meet city codes, especially involving open space. Conditions for approval required stormwater upgrades, road improvement cost-sharing with the city and prohibiting permanent structures on dedicated easements. Council also barred outdoor dining and restaurants requiring grease traps, but a small cafe without a grease trap would be allowed.

During the hearing, McLean explained that Encore’s second- and third-floor homes are arranged in a courtyard configuration around a second-floor pool and amenity area. Each will have access to ground-level garages, while a separate parking lot accommodates commercial uses. There are entries and exits on the east side of 12th Street South.

But much of the hearing focused on the trash and recycling area and ensuring they’re obscured, after a couple whose $1.6 million Naples Square condo faces the 12th Street South façade cited concerns because their living room window is just 30 feet away from where recycling bins are placed once a week. It was the one response out of 1,394 letters the city sent to property owners within 1,000 feet to notify them about the Encore hearing.

“It’s not that frequently that we get any sort of response from the residents, so I think it’s really important that we as a board make sure that we flesh out whatever issues that resident brought up. That’s what I’m trying to do here,” DRB member Chae duPont said.

McLean said most of the issues were discussed by the DRB, Planning Advisory Board and City Council and they’ve remedied residents’ concerns, but are willing to do what’s necessary.

“I think the board is seeing what’s gone into the four years of baking this project to get us here today,” McLean said. “Every single-family home, every condominium building, every commercial building generates trash and there’s the reality that there’s a trash pickup somewhere.”

After much discussion between board members, McLean and Christian Andrea of Architectural Land Design, they came to an agreement.

“Unfortunately, when you buy a property like this in Naples Square and you have a commercial zone across from you that’s going to be developed, you’re going to have to deal with some things in that space that you might not be excited about,” DRB member Douglas Haughey said, noting that recycling bins only go out for a few hours. “It’s part of living in an urban environment.”

There’s just one Naples Square approval left for the DRB, nearly an acre of commercial development at 325 12th Street S., which includes a restaurant reduced from 5,000 square feet to 3,500 square feet, with 500 square feet of outdoor dining. The maximum potential was 5,291 square feet. It’s expected to be heard Dec. 20. Council voted 6-1, with the mayor opposing, to approve plans in October. The mayor cited concerns about screened mechanical equipment on the roof that would be visible to other residents.