“Out with the old and in with the new” could be a slogan for 2024 in the Naples area. Redevelopment remains at the forefront of the local real estate market.

Two of the most notable demolition projects in 2024 occurred just north of the Naples city limits and practically across U.S. 41 from each other. The final frame for the longtime landmark Beacon Bowl on Trail Boulevard and the razing of the former Nordstrom store at Waterside Shops were newsworthy events. Naples Excavating was contracted to demolish the bowling alley, while Detroit-based Sachse Construction brought down the two-story department store.

“There aren’t a ton of demolition contractors out there that can handle these large buildings,” said Nick Radick, director of sales and marketing for Naples Excavating.

Construction will start soon on The Carnelian, a luxurious six-story boutique hotel that will be built on the cleared site of the former bowling alley. Restoration Hardware will build a lavish furniture and home decor gallery on Nordstrom’s former footprint. Both properties also will host upscale restaurants.

Demolition by Honc Destruction of another memorable building turned heads over the summer. “The Castle” on Goodlette-Frank Road in Naples was toppled after starting its 45-year existence as a series of restaurants and nightclubs; and ending it as bank branches.

The eye-catching building with a stone turret was outdated and more of a hazard than an asset, said AJS Realty Group’s Andrew J. Saluan, who is part of the real estate’s ownership group, Naples-based Castle Partnership.

“We don’t have a specific use yet for ‘The Castle’ bank building,” Saluan said. “During the new year we’ll be marketing it and probably retail or something like that will wind up there. It’s a little too early to tell.”

The gift shop that had been used as the Naples Zoo’s entrance and exit since the 1970s was torn down in June by Naples Excavating and a new entrance and gift shop were built nearby at the local attraction. Another major project last year for the local demolition company was the leveling of a 36-unit beachfront residential community on Gulf Shore Boulevard North’s “Miracle Mile” in Naples.

Built in the 1950s, the Bahama Club was a four-story condominium cooperative damaged by Hurricane Ian in 2022. A South Florida partnership purchased it for more than $100 million last year and plans to build a 12-unit ultra-luxury enclave on 2.5 acres in the Coquina Sands neighborhood.

The Bahama Club property sits between two other major redevelopment projects on Naples’ Gulfshore. Under construction next to it and expected to launch this year are the Four Seasons Resort and the Naples Beach Club luxury condos being built by The Athens Group on the former site of the 75-year-old Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club.

The Ronto Group started construction in September on Rosewood Residences, a 42-unit luxury waterfront condominium development just north of Lowdermilk Park. The beachfront redevelopment project replaces the former 32-unit Mansion House, a cooperative that featured eight two-story buildings built in 1963.

Small mixed-use redevelopment projects continue to be built in the city of Naples.

The former Lemon Tree Inn property on U.S. 41 is being redeveloped to create Two Ten West, a three-story building with 12 residential condominiums above a ground floor of commercial units. Next door, the former Contessa building is being transformed into The Cayden, six private residences with garages and a rooftop pool. A block north, Stella Naples nears completion at the former longtime site of the Sea Shell Motel. The three-story boutique enclave includes 10 high-end residences on the top two floors with small shops planned on the first level.

In East Naples, a former Wells Fargo Bank branch was recently razed to make way for a future 7-Eleven convenience store and gas station under construction on the northeast corner of Airport-Pulling and Radio roads in East Naples. The longtime studio for the WAVV radio station on U.S. 41 East was recently demolished ahead of a proposed Home Depot on its property and the adjoining strip of vacant land.

These and more projects are coming in the new year to replace old buildings occupying choice locations in popular high-traffic areas.

“The cycle we’re in is going to continue that started a few years ago,” Saluan said. “It’s going to continue for the foreseeable future.”

Construction continues on the Old Naples Hotel with boutique accommodations and retail shops coming to the former site of The Plaza on Third Street. Meanwhile, the final piece of Naples Square is in the planning stages for the former Grand Central Station property on Goodlette-Frank Road.

More demolition will occur nearby before The Avenue new mixed-use buildings are built on the Fifth Avenue South site of the former St. George & the Dragon landmark restaurant. Also on U.S. 41 in Naples, the Aquarius Hotel and a Rolls-Royce dealership are planned this year with the proposed redevelopment projects of longtime retail strips.

“The value of the land has gotten so expensive that it’s time to tear down those obsolete, single-story old strip centers and replace them with something more modern and economically feasible in today’s world,” Saluan said.

Publix Super Markets is behind two area redevelopment projects along U.S. 41 that will include the demolition of some retail units. The grocery chain’s 38-year-old store in Neapolitan Way Plaza closed in late November and will be demolished soon to make way for a larger, modern Publix store in Naples. In North Naples, two vacant stores and additional square footage in the Gateway Shoppes at North Bay on Wiggins Pass Road will be demolished to create space for a new Publix supermarket.

Medical redevelopment projects include the three-story Hospital for Special Surgery under construction by DeAngelis Diamond on the former Bear’s Den Childcare Center site on the NCH North Naples campus. Nearby on Immokalee Road, the Arthrex Academy child daycare and development center is under construction by Waltbillig & Hood general contractors on the site of a former bank building that was demolished in late 2023.

In the city of Naples, NCH also plans to demolish the Telford Center for Continuing Education on its Downtown Baker Hospital campus to build a premier heart institute. Chicago-based Northwestern Memorial HealthCare Corp. has proposed a state-of-the-art medical facility to replace the 60-year-old hotel property that most recently carried the Collins Hotel flag but was best known as a former Ramada Inn and Holiday Inn.

This story was published in The Naples Press on Jan. 3.