Twelve luxury residences over retail shops are planned to be built near Fifth Avenue South at a proposed three-story downtown development to be named 331 of Naples after its address at 331 Eighth St. S.
The new development continues a series of recent residential projects stretching south from Central Avenue along the eastern edge of Eighth Street South. “Really quality projects by each of the developers along the corridor really have paved the way for the extension of Fifth Avenue,” said Jay Barnes, vice president of development for Northern Capital Investments, the Naples full-service commercial real estate development firm behind 331 of Naples.
The latest condominium project will feature residences with private rooftop amenities. The units will be above about 15,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor. “We’ve got a lot of interest already from buyers who want to own the retail and some end users,” Barnes said.
Rather than restaurants or food services, expect the commercial space to host businesses such as high-end clothiers or an interior design studio. “It would have to be two-fold: low impact and something we would feel is an amenity for the residences,” Barnes said.
Reservations for the living units may be taken as early as this fall. “We expect to sell out reservations as soon as we start taking reservations,” Barnes said.
Construction is expected to begin in about a year with a timeline of about 30 months, depending on supply chain disruptions and scheduling, Barnes said. “We anticipate up to 12 months for the design phase and approvals, and construction to commence immediately thereafter,” he said.
Conceptual drawings on the firm’s website, NCIrealestate.com, are not finalized yet. “We haven’t really dialed in the final footprint yet. We are still massaging the design,” Barnes said. “It gives you an idea of the design concept we are leaning toward at this point.”
Northern Capital Investments, doing business as NDTL LLC, 711 Fifth Ave., Suite 210, Naples, purchased the 0.73-acre vacant lot on Dec. 28 for $6.5 million from Fort Myers Broadcasting Co. The Eighth Street lot between Third and Fourth Avenue South previously was home to Meridian Broadcasting’s WINK-TV offices, which were razed in late 2014. The regional broadcasting company had purchased the land in December 1996 for $1.2 million.
Last September, WINK News’ sister station Fox News Radio 92.5 placed 2,977 flags on the empty lot to represent the people who perished 20 years ago in the terrorist attack on 9/11.
