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Antaramian still waits on downtown Naples project, eyes 2010

By KATY BISHOP (Contact)
9:45 p.m., Friday, April 18, 2008

Submitted

Redevelopment rendering of Renaissance Village on the site of the former Grand Central Station on the southern end of Goodlette-Frank Road in Naples.

Submitted

Redevelopment rendering of Renaissance Village on the site of the former Grand Central Station on the southern end of Goodlette-Frank Road in Naples.

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A 22-acre vacant tract in downtown Naples will continue to wait for its renaissance.

Jack Antaramian has announced that he won’t build Imperial Landing in Bonita Springs, but he said he will move forward with Renaissance Village in Naples in about two years.

In the past year, the high-profile developer’s company sold several buildings on Fifth Avenue South, opened Naples Bay Resort on U.S. 41 East and backed out of a deal to purchase the Naples Daily News property on Central Avenue.

It will be “at least two years before this market stabilizes” and Renaissance Village moves forward, he said Friday.

The mixed-use project is planned for about 22 acres along U.S. 41 East, between Goodlette-Frank Road and 10th Street South, and construction originally was slated to begin in late 2007.

Antaramian put the project on hold in May 2007, citing the downturn in the real estate market.

Plans for the development include about 300 luxury condos and townhomes that originally were priced from $765,000 to $2.26 million, as well as 205,000 square feet of commercial space for shops and restaurants.

Naples city leaders approved those plans in June 2005 and the planned development will expire in June 2010, said Adam Benigni, city planner.

Nearby, Antaramian’s Naples Bay Resort is open on U.S. 41 East, with a hotel and commercial space on Naples Bay and cottages at U.S. 41 East and Sandpiper Street. A restaurant created by the developer, Olio, is open for business and Bonefish Grill is set to open there in the coming months.

Meanwhile, in June 2007, Antaramian sold seven buildings and a piece of land on Fifth Avenue South, Naples’ main street shopping district, for $77.5 million to BlackRock, a New York-based global investment, risk management and advisory company.

Then, two months later, the developer announced that he wouldn’t buy the Naples Daily News’ property on Central Avenue because of the market conditions.

“I don’t know what the world is going to be like in 2009, 2010 and I didn’t want to spend $20 million to find out,” he said about the Daily News property. “Reading crystal balls is not my business.”

There has been recovery in the lower end of the market recently, but Antaramian is concerned that the volume of negative publicity about the market will discourage buyers, even when it is publicity about other markets like Miami and not Collier County, he said.

“The psychological damage of the constant news that people aren’t buying, people are walking away from deposits and lenders are foreclosing on the buildings,” he said. “... Does it affect Collier directly, no, but it’s collateral damage that concerns me.”

The developer believes the market will come back around 2010, although Collier County may be more resilient, he said.

Variables affecting property values and purchases for development are countless, including changing local governments, today’s more stringent financing requirements and lower prices that can be charged for residences, he added.

“I feel it’s going to get worse before it’s going to get better,” he said.

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Smart man.

#1 Posted by volochine on April 19, 2008 at 1:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Well this will give me something to "get crazy" about now that the teachers have been spanked enough. If I hear about Jack getting a permit to build even a dog house in this town, I will personally make it my life's mission to stop it.

#2 Posted by RadioNews on April 19, 2008 at 11:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

#3 Posted by STONECRAB on April 19, 2008 at 2:28 p.m.

Come on! We need some more styrofoam in Naples.

#4 Posted by cupcake on April 19, 2008 at 7:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)

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