By Dave Feight, GSAC Board Member
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Traveling on GSBN in the area of Athens Group’s Naples Beach Club project, one can’t help but notice that the pace of construction is accelerating. There are five active cranes. The golf course has numerous construction trailers and offices. The temporary construction road from 41 through the golf course is being used every day to deliver hundreds of loads of materials and provide parking for 500-700 workers on site. Flagmen are keeping traffic on GSBN moving smoothly, and considering the scale of the overall project, disruption has been minimal.
We caught up with Jay Newman, Chief Operating Officer of Athens, who filled us in on many of the details.
On the west side of GSBN:
The 215 room Four Seasons Hotel has been topped off and closed in. Exterior and interior finishes are underway with a projected completion and opening during late 1st quarter 2025. Still under consideration by the City is a porte cochere that will provide a covered point of arrival for guests and protect them from the elements.
The three beachside buildings that will include 58 luxury condominiums are “out of the ground” and should be topped off by the end of this year with completion in late 2025.
The updated HB’s restaurant and Sunset Beach Bar, continuing a long-standing Naples tradition, will be open to the public. Construction will begin by this summer to be completed in the 1st quarter of 2025 to coincide with the hotel.
On the east side of GSBN:
The Market Square/Conference Center should begin construction in the coming months with anticipated late 1st quarter 2025 completion.
The new Fazio 18-hole golf course is in the final planning stage. Work will depend on timing of removal of the temporary construction road. Very preliminarily, the golf course could be playable in early 2026. The five golf-side condominium buildings are in the final planning stages. Construction could begin in late 2025.
GSBN:
Working with the City, Athens will be installing new underground utilities for their project, as well as replacing City infrastructure at their expense saving taxpayers about $ 2.5 million and minimizing disruption from two GSBN construction projects. It will require a temporary “jog” of the roadway from Oleander to South Golf Drive for about six months which will probably begin in the next month or so.
Conservation Easement:
The City and Athens entered into an historic agreement several years ago to preserve 104.6 acres of open space into perpetuity through a conservation easement administered by a third party the North American Land Trust. Recording of the easement is tied to two remaining building permits both of which should be issued in the coming months.
To sum up, after four plus years of planning and three to four years of construction, the new Naples Beach Club, A Four Seasons Resort, will soon become a valued asset for guests and residents and will add to the fabric of our great City of Naples.
