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In the Know: Publix coming at Pine Ridge Road and Collier Boulevard
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Q: I noticed they are clearing the trees on the southwest corner of Pine Ridge Road and Collier Boulevard. I heard rumors of a Publix going in there. What is happening in that corner?
- Mike R., Naples
A: Brooks Village, a neighborhood shopping center scheduled to open in early fall 2009 at that location in Golden Gate Estates, will be anchored by a 46,000-square-foot Publix grocery store. The center also will include Walgreens, Fifth Third Bank and Bank of America outparcels, as well as up to 20 other smaller stores.
The 105,000-square-foot shopping center will face Collier Boulevard and have entrances off both Collier Boulevard and Pine Ridge Road. Building construction is expected to begin by the end of this summer, said Amber Overby, a spokeswoman for The Sembler Co., the project’s developer.
In addition to the stores mentioned above, Sembler also has signed leases for a Rio Wraps restaurant, a Hair Cuttery salon, a nail salon and a Chinese restaurant, Overby said.
I think “neighborhood shopping center” is industry code synonymous with a grocery store, a bank, a Chinese restaurant, at least one other mom-and-pop restaurant, a chain restaurant, a Starbucks, a Walgreens, a dry cleaners, a florist, a specialty store or two, and hair, nail and tanning salons. Throw in a couple of professional offices such as an optician, a real estate agent, a chiropractor or a dentist and you can pretty much fill in the blanks.
Sembler owns nine parcels of vacant commercial property about 2.5 acres each along Collier Boulevard from Pine Ridge Road to 11th Avenue Southwest. When combined with a parcel owned by Fifth Third Bank, Brooks Village property totals 22.5 acres.
The shopping center is named for Larry Brooks, a previous owner of the land.
Q: There is a new lake that has just been dug at the intersection of Interstate 75 and Immokalee Road. It is located just west of the I-75 southbound entrance ramp and south of Immokalee Road. Our coffee group has watched them working there for months now. Is this lake involved in the widening of I-75? If not, what will be the purpose of this new lake?
- Jim Moutes, North Naples
A: That’s one of the new storm water retention ponds for iROX, the project widening I-75 to six lanes from Golden Gate Parkway exit 105 in Collier County to Colonial Boulevard interchange 136 in Lee County, said Debbie Tower, a Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman.
Twenty-three ponds, an integral part of the interstate’s drainage system, will be dug out or reshaped as part of the iROX project.
“These ponds hold storm water runoff and improve the quality of the water before it moves into the Cocohatchee canal,” Tower said. “As ponds are built, dirt from excavation is used as fill material in the I-75 median, eliminating the need and cost to purchase fill.”
Tim Aten is chief online editor of the Daily News. E-mail questions with your name and city of residence to intheknow@naplesnews.com.
Find a complete archive of “In the Know” at naplesnews.com/intheknow/
Comments
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Seriously...Do we really need another shopping center? Aren't there enough empty stores as it is? Stupid county won't be happy until there's not a tree to be found.
#1 Posted by Coler on April 23, 2008 at 8:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
How about one out by Randall & Immokalee. There is one at the Vineyards which is about 2miles up the road from the proposed store. They are putting another at Ave Maria which has about 200 homes.
#2 Posted by hadenuf on April 23, 2008 at 11:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
No, we do not need another shopping center. But $$$$ talks. Grease spreads better than common sense.
I will be interested in seeing just how fast (or not) this facility proceeds. I watched as this proposal worked its way through various committees and commissions and finally to the BCC.
As the time drags on you may find there will be some surprises about this unfortunate choice of location. I would recommend Tim check on it now and then to see what is really happening.
The entire unfortunate event reminds me of a plot of a Carl Hiaasen novel. The ending, I am afraid may not hold any poetic justice for the environment...Stay tuned.
#3 Posted by BlueTonguedVole on April 23, 2008 at 11:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Creeping urban infill...coming to a neighborhood near you! Incrementalism is another name for this odious practice.
#4 Posted by BlueTonguedVole on April 23, 2008 at 11:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
With every new shopping center that goes up, it's the same stores over and over and over. At what point does this compound redundancy become overkill? Or has it already?
#5 Posted by Pontiaction on April 23, 2008 at 12:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
AnotherPOV: sure, go for it. I think they could use the business. Many of the businesses in this plaza are going out of business. Why? overbuilt retail.
I like Sweetbay. Their produce is great. Their weekly sales specials are good but the bakery is not close to a Publix. Prices tend to be higher when compared as well.
We shop at Sweetbay, Publix, Costco and WildOats/Fresh Market to find what we need. The distances are not too bad and we plan the shopping trips to maximize efficiency and savings. Having retail creep ever eastward is not based on good sustainable environmental or economic development.
How much would you be prepared to pay directly out of your pocket urbanize your part of the Estates? If it is between 20 and 50K you could lobby for this and the subsequent destruction of the semi rural and agricultural area. Destroy the quiet life? Yep. Goodbye to all the wildlife...good bye horses, chickens, goats...Hello to living in URBAN SPRAWL. If you really do like this kind of convenience move to Tampa, Orlando, or Miami. Jacksonville is another spot you may want to consider. Lovely...stores everywhere. Oh, these cities overbuilt retail also and many of their strip malls are standing empty.
#6 Posted by BlueTonguedVole on April 23, 2008 at 1:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I just get a big charge at how marketing by developers has conditioned people to call borrow pits, quarries, storm water detention/retention ponds lakes! Glad to see Tim knows the difference.
Theme parking of Florida continues. Persuade the public to adopt that paradigm shift and market a false vision to the naive newcomers.
The St. Pete photographer who helped create the postcard image that NDN featured as "ideal" Florida did the state no real favors. Mouseworld and its creator brought a lot of money to the state and to Orlando, but the created environment perpetuated this false image. Too bad.
Then there is the ultimate facilitators of environmental degradation in this part of Florida: the Army Corps and the canals...BIG $ugar...and yes even the Colliers.
Visit the Naples Preserve, Fakahatchee, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and see what real Florida once was. See Lettuce Lake to see a natural wetland/lake.
We still have natural beauty around us if we don't allow it to be marketed away.
#7 Posted by BlueTonguedVole on April 23, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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