Reader Nancie Harper checked in the other day.
"Wondering what is being built on east side of U.S. 41 in Estero, north of Coconut Point," she said. "It’s a long piece of land, bordering U.S. 41 near Rapallo, between Via Rapallo Drive and Sweetwater Ranch Boulevard."
A lot of doings around there. So let's give you a sampling.
Here's what to know.
What will new Marketplace of Coconut Point feature in SW Florida?
Deerfield Beach-based Konover South has begun work on the 9.6-acre Marketplace of Coconut Point, representing the last remaining commercial frontage within the Coconut Point development, which has about 1.5 million square feet of retail.
Among the additions, according to Konover: Miller's Ale House, Starbucks, McDonald's and Noire the Nail Bar, with more to come as leases are signed for the 15 slots. Some of the targets: Restaurants with outdoor seating, specialty desserts shops, boutiques and family and specialized medical services, according to Jeffrey Williams, Konover's executive vice president of development and construction.
The plaza "addresses every day needs" in Estero and complements the 482-acre Coconut Point, Williams said, noting the more than 56,000 cars that pass by it every day and a nearby average household income of close to $110,000 annually. The adjacent gated Club at Rapallo has about 540 homes.
GCG Construction is the contractor, and work is expected to be completed by January.
Southeast of the Marketplace and slightly closer to Coconut Point mall, a 115-room Hilton Garden Inn is popping in on 2.2 acres at 8009 Sweetwater Ranch Blvd., just among other enterprises converging to that area. We'll have more on Coconut Point later in today's column.
What about a Wawa and another Starbucks for Estero, Florida?
Konover also is placing a Starbucks on an Estero Town Commons outparcel off Corkscrew Road near I-75 in front of the Lowe's. It's adjacent to the slated Wawa site that has been talked about for years and is still in the planning books, a topic Estero reader Ron Hopkins and others have been nudging me on recently.
A general contractor had not been hired as of earlier this month for the popular convenience store, according to village officials. The Ruby Tuesday building that had been there is long gone.
However, just a few feet away at the Corkscrew and Three Oaks Parkway corner, Seagate Development Group started about 10 days ago on a new 20,000-square-foot store for Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida. The completion goal is March, replacing Goodwill's nearby smaller spot.
Readers wait for anticipated Lake Park Diner debut in Bonita Springs
We first told you more than three years ago it was coming, but now some antsy readers have told In the Know they're worried about a long-anticipated debut that hasn't happened yet for the new Lake Park Diner in Bonita Springs.
"Thank you for your column," said Helen Siebert of Estero. "For over a year we watched a new restaurant being built. It has been just sitting unopened even though it looks like it is done. There was a sign saying 'Opening Soon' but it is gone now. Will it ever open?"
"Do you know the status of the Lake Park Diner on Bonita Beach Road?" Reader Rich Schmidt asked "Construction has been finished for many months with no sign of an opening."
They're talking about 3601 Bonita Beach Road, the previously vacant parcel purchased for $987,500 in an October 2020 deal that has been slated as a third location after the original local collaboration by late developer Adam Smith and Paul Fleming, a name synonymous with concepts, such as Fleming’s Steak House, P.F. Chang’s and Pei Wei. The second, under the Paul Fleming Restaurant Group umbrella, rolled out in May in Founders Square, the area at Immokalee Road and Collier Boulevard quickly becoming a hub of dining options.
Operators say while the timeline is off, they're pushing forward.
"We're still working on it," Lake Park Diner said in a statement last week. "Due to unforeseen circumstances, our opening is delayed."
What's behind a move from Naples to Coconut Point in Estero, Florida?
North Naples reader Marilyn Moser asked In the Know about one of the Galleria Shoppes of Vanderbilt complex's early entrants that was founded two decades ago: The Real Seafood Co.
"I have enjoyed Real Seafood for more years than I can remember, a real staple here," M-Squared said. "Do you know why they are moving?"
In the Know didn't have to go far to find our foodie source, colleague Diana Biederman, who provides the meatiest of columns in the culinary world. Lotsa sauce, too, and oodles and oodles of noodles.
Nothing fishy here though.
"Its last day in North Naples was May 31, but it's heading to what was formerly Bokamper’s space at Coconut Point in Estero," Lady Di said. "The building is being sold, and the lease is expiring."
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Kevin Gudejko, president and CEO of Mainstreet Ventures Restaurant Group, which operates this chain's five locations, told her he wanted a new site with more visibility and foot traffic.
“The building is being sold, but that wasn’t the impetus for the move to Coconut Point,” Gudejko said of the Fontana del Sol Way structure just off Airport-Pulling and Vanderbilt Beach roads.
The targeted return: Autumn, after renovations are complete at 8001 Plaza del Lago Drive, just off Via Villagio by Tony Sacco's Coal Oven Pizza.
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What Philadelphia concept decided to cut ties to Southwest Florida?
An In the Know reader was also one of the first to notice within hours a Naples shuttering last month while Lady Di was on vacation, breaking her heart and that of pizza lovers "big time" when she found out.
"Do you have any information on the recent closing of Pizzata Pizzeria on Pipers Boulevard?" reader Arnold Saslavsky asked, on her favorite North Naples pie joint that had a two-year run in the Piper's Crossing plaza off Immokalee Road.
Pizzata Pizzeria & Apertivo "shut on June 9 so the owners could focus on their Philly locations," she said. "The name Pizzata translates to pizza party. The concept originated in 2020 in Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. That original location earned raves from Barstool Sports’s Dave Portnoy."
Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@gannett.com) grew up in Southwest Florida and has led Pulitzer Prize-winning efforts. He writes In the Know, one of USA TODAY Network's most read local news columns in the state. Support democracy. Subscribe to a newspaper.
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