Well its here! The long-awaited and project delayed $38 million over-pass at the intersection of Airport-Pulling Road and Golden gate Parkway opened at 6am this morning much to the delight of project managers and county officials. The over-pass was vehemently opposed by not only residents of the Grey Oaks and Bear’s Paw communities, but many Naples City residents as well.

The residents of the Grey Oaks and Bear’s Paw communities feared traffic noise, coupled with what they perceived as an unsightly eyesore monstrosity running in between the two developments on Golden Gate Parkway. The finished product certainly isn’t unsightly at all. As a matter of fact, the county seems to have taken great pains to make it as esthetically pleasing as possible, including brick pavers that cover the sides. As far as the traffic noise, that will most likely be determined during the upcoming season.

The great fear with Naples residents was that the traffic that clogged the intersection at Airport and Golden Gate Parkway for years would just be delivered to the intersection at Golden Gate Parkway and Goodlette-Frank Road faster. Again the real test will come in season, when the snowbirds get back into town. The other issue will be how much of that traffic will try to scoot down side roads through the residential areas, trying to avoid potential delays at that intersection.

I guess time will tell!

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After three years of immense bickering between the Naples City Council and the Collier County Government, the controversial ‘fly-over’ (at Golden Gate Parkway and Airport-Pulling Road) is about two months away from completion, albeit more than two months later than originally projected.

The project was forced by the county because of feared traffic congestion at the intersection of Airport Road and Golden Gate Parkway. The County theorized that because of the then eminent Golden Gate interchange to be built off 75, (it is now completed), traffic would cause major blockages at the intersection, so why not eliminate it entirely. After extensive studies it was decided that the best route to take was the ‘fly-over’, rather than a round-a-bout or any other proposed form of re-routing.

Driving by the ‘fly-over’ the other day, I noticed two things. First, they seem no where near the two month projected completion date that was recently announced. Second, I couldn’t help but notice a majority of the workers on site feverishly ‘pavering’ the sides of the project.

With regard to the beautiful pavers, or whatever you call the brick-like blocks being put there, I found myself thinking what an enormous waste of tax dollars. I’m not too sure what the price tag of doing both sides of it is, but I imagine that given the length of the ‘fly-over’, it is significant). Anywhere else in this vast country of ours, projects like this would be finished in their original cement form. I also thought that since they are already late for the original projected finish, they might want to be spending a majority of the time getting it completed, so that traffic can start to flow. Pavering the sides can be done at a later time, without obstructing traffic flow.

Only in Naples!!!

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One of the many things that Naples is best known for is its world-class shopping. Having said that, it never ceases to amaze me that, in this relatively slow residential market, the new commercial retail building as well as commercial retail re-doing continues with at a staggaring pace. There seems to be no end in sight to the amount of retail space that is being filled.

The  recently completed completed overhaul of The Waterside Shops at Pelican Bay, as well the many other projects that have been completed this year, serves notice that Naples is a highly desired place to be for the up scale major retailers.

Waterside now houses all the famous names, such as Louie Vitton, Gucci, Saks Fifth Avenue, Hermes, Burberry, Christofle, Brooks Brothers, Tumi, Tiffany & Co., just to name a few.

There are so many places to shop in Naples, that I truly think that one could get totally confused. There is 3^rd Street, 5^th Avenue, Bayfront, Village on Venetian Bay, Waterside, and The Promenade. The list is endless!

It makes you wonder how far the retail dollar can be stretched, and yet, far better and smatter heads than mine seem to know and understand that there is plenty of money to go around. In Naples, it just never seems to end!

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5th Avenue South is a mixed-use street that offers a variety of businesses that range from coffee shops, (and there are many) to gourmet restaurants, ice cream shops, delicatessen, antique shops, art galleries, jewelers, gift stores, banks, real estate brokerages, stock trading offices, travel agencies, professional offices and condominiums upstairs. The list is endless and 5^th Avenue literally is the main street in downtown Olde Naples and especially in ‘high season’, the place to be and be seen.

5^th Avenue wasn’t always that way. It took long range planning, the hiring of Andres Duany, the famous architect, city planner and theorist along with a significant amount of money and effort to turn the street around. It was fast becoming deserted, with retailers, restaurants and businesses fleeing to some of the newer projects like the Waterside Shops and others.

Today all that has changed. It is back, alive and vibrant as ever, with per square foot prices bringing almost $80 to $90. As a matter of fact, on any given evening in season, there are better than 7,000 people shopping, dining or just plain strolling around doing some people watching. It’s a fun place, very popular with the tourists because it is so full of life.

The one sad thing is that it has driven many of the older businesses out because of the pricing. They just cannot afford to stay paying those kind of rents. The ma and pa stores are gone, along with the Old Naples Pharmacy, a fixture for years and years. Too bad, but I guess that it is just progress, and hopefully for the better!

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5th Avenue South in Naples has always housed some of the finest restaurants in the area. One of the jokes, although it is not really a joke at all but a factoid, is that every year some 15 new ones come in and some 15 go out.

Sadly, the latest victim is Zen, a great place to just wander in when you felt like it, sit at the sushi bar, have a few drinks and wolf down some of the best sushi to be found anywhere in the land. Interestingly, the restaurant has come and gone twice in the past three years, but this time its demise is for good. For sure Zen wasn’t cheap, but it was always well worth it. Upon gorging on a Volcano to cap off an evening, often I would be presented with a bill well in excess of $100 and that was just for myself. As a matter of fact, I can’t ever remember a bill running less than $100, and that includes the times that I did take-out. But boy was it good!

The building is now quietly for sale for a reputed 5 million plus dollars. The woman who owns it, refuses to lease it again. Although it is not that old at all, has become somewhat of a white elephant because it has a checkered history of good restaurants coming in and then quickly vacating. I’m not sure I quite understand why, maybe it has to do with management or something else. There was talk about the first Zen and someone in management doing a bit of embezzling. (One of the co-founders was reportedly a member of the New Kids On The Block or one of those other boy bands). There also is talk of the building being full of mold…who knows.

All I know is that someone will come along and buy it, they always do and another in a long list of restaurant tenants will inhabit the place. Its a great spot on 5th Avenue South (at 4 corners), with a storied history, and at one time the hub of Naples. Maybe the next one will stick!

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How quickly the long-anticipated Naples Winter Wine Festival comes and goes, and once again, toping its own world record raising $16.5 million dollars for an assortment of deserving charities benefiting the underprivileged children in Southwest Florida. Talk about kicking it up a notch, every year it gets better and better, with more and more famous chefs and celebrities than ever. The festival has quickly become the most significant charity wine festival in the world and has raised a staggering amount of money over the few short years of its existence. 

The Naples Airport, already the 3rd busiest private jet airport in the world was bustling as some 160 private jets flew in Friday from all over the globe with an array of important people, the chefs, as well as Hank Aaron and other famous sports celebrities. This year, as he has for the past three years, Emeril Lagasse cooked up a storm, this time at the home of Ken & Grace Evenstad of Port Royal, while Wolfgang Puck entertained diners at Jim & Linda Molones’ Bay Colony mansion. In all there were some 18 pre-auction dinners on Friday evening, with each cooked by a world-famous chef and his or her staff, held at some of the most prominent homes in Naples. Vintners from all over the globe brought in wines for every palate, from the rarest of the rare to some newer vintages.

The auction took place on Saturday, as it normally does at the Ritz-Carlton, as bidders worked themselves into a frenzy bidding on lot packages ranging from fancy wines to trips around the world to exotic automobiles. The highest amount bid was for a 2008 Rolls-Royce Drop Convertible, the very first of its kind delivered to North America. (There will only be 200 made by Rolls-Royce). The car brought $2,000,000, bid by Raymond Lutgert, founder of the Naples-based Lutgert Cos, once again setting a Winter Wine Festival record for the highest single bis ever.

What a time was had by all in attendance, the fun, frivolity, as well as the extravagance, but all for a great cause because, in the end, it’s all about the kids!

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