Q: Any new information about the vacancies in “Bed Bath & Beyond Plaza”? – Chris Wowk, Naples
A: Four new businesses are coming to Ridgeport Plaza in North Naples, including Sprouts Farmers Market, which plans to share the vacated Bed Bath & Beyond anchor space with Golf Galaxy.
The more than 45,000-square-foot big-box store at 5351 Airport-Pulling Road will be divided for the two co-anchor tenants: a 24,491-square-foot Sprouts supermarket and a 20,780-square-foot Golf Galaxy retail store, according to site improvement plans recorded this month by Collier County Growth Management. Sprouts will take the northernmost unit created in that large space at Ridgeport Plaza, the retail center on the northwest corner of Airport-Pulling and Pine Ridge roads.
An opening date is still to be determined for the new Sprouts grocery store, which will be slightly smaller than the Phoenix-based chain’s first regional location in North Naples. That initial 29,843-square-foot store launched in 2019 to anchor Logan Landings at Logan Boulevard and Immokalee Road.
The new Golf Galaxy will be downsized considerably from its existing 35,355-square-foot freestanding building nearby in the Promenade at Naples Centre. The retail chain plans to relocate less than a half-mile south on Airport-Pulling Road to the inline space in Ridgeport Plaza. Owned and operated by Dick’s Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy promotes itself as the world’s largest golf superstore for golf clubs, equipment, accessories, gear and apparel.
Plans show that Sprouts plans to file a variance request by May 5 to permit the supermarket to install a more than 380-square-foot wall sign where only 150 square feet is allowed by the county’s land development code. The Sprouts name also is proposed for the main spot atop the monument signs at Ridgeport Plaza’s main entrances at both Airport-Pulling and Pine Ridge roads.
A marketing brochure for the retail center promotes a color scheme change proposed for the plaza’s façade, replacing the existing warm colors of its barrel roof tiles and painted stucco with grays and white. These plans, though, could not be confirmed with the center’s owner, Baltimore-based Continental Realty Corp., doing business locally as Ridgeport Limited Partnership.
More in Ridgeport
Q: Have you heard what’s going in the old Truist Bank spot at Ridgeport Plaza? They have a dumpster and are working pretty hard. – Christine P., Naples
A: Sanitas Medical Center is busy building out the freestanding outparcel space that formerly was a branch office for Truist and BB&T banks, site development plans show. The new 4,780-square-foot medical center is expected to open this year at 5475 Airport-Pulling Road, between McDonald’s drive-thru and Firestone Complete Auto Care.
Sanitas already operates regional locations on U.S. 41 in North Naples and in Pebblebrooke Center on Collier Boulevard, as well as in south Fort Myers, Cape Coral and North Port. They are among nearly 70 locations throughout Florida with another eight centers in Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee.
The organization partners with Florida Blue and has medical centers offering primary care, select specialty care, urgent care and laboratory and diagnostic services. Founded in 1980 as Colsanitas in Colombia, the health care company expanded into other Hispanic markets in the 1990s and into the United States in 2014.
Elsewhere in Ridgeport Plaza, Fort Myers-based Sterilecare Naples LLC recently leased a 1,520-square-foot space for the future Purewell Pharmacy, according to a real estate transaction negotiated by Tara L. Stokes of Investment Properties Corp. The compound pharmacy will build out a former fitness center unit at 5413 Airport-Pulling, next door to Neapolitan Gourmet Italian Market & Deli.
Restaurant Row update
Q: Do you know if they still plan on putting a Maple Street Biscuit Company in East Naples? I haven’t heard anything about it lately. – Paul Timm, East Naples
A: Restaurant Row Naples developer Charles B. Ladd of Amera Corp. and Barron Real Estate Inc. confirms that interior construction work is expected to start by the end of April on Maple Street Biscuit Co., which is still targeted to open this year on Collier Boulevard near its intersection with U.S. 41 East.
Before the project’s permit expired April 15, a 90-day extension was requested earlier this month by Florida-based Kaneco Construction and granted by Collier County, development records show.
The 6,351-square-foot building will be split by Maple Street Biscuit and a TD Bank branch with drive-thru lanes. The restaurant will have a 450-square-foot patio for outdoor dining on the southern side of the building along Triangle Boulevard, the entrance into Freedom Square retail center.
It will be the first regional location for Maple Street Biscuit Co., known for its scratch-made Southern comfort food. The nearest locations for the restaurant chain are in Pembroke Pines and Sarasota.
Two other multiunit buildings are planned for this second phase of Restaurant Row on Lely Resort commercial parcel 1R.
The “Tim Aten Knows” weekly column answers local questions from readers. Email Tim at tim.aten@naplespress.com
