Airport Road

Airport-Pulling Road in Naples offers an eclectic mix of upscale residential communities and country clubs, shopping centers, automobile dealerships, office buildings, nurseries and other agricultural uses.

From its southern starting point at U.S. 41 -- home of the Collier County Government Center -- to its ending at the less developed Immokalee Road intersection, Airport Road, as it's more commonly known, has three distinct personalities, says Scott Cameron of Cameron Real Estate.

One section boosts several industrial parks. Another is home to the sprawling Grey Oaks Country Club and Naples Bath and Tennis Club, offering a more residential flavor. Automobile dealers and other commercial ventures are sprinkled throughout.

"I see it as being very diverse," agrees Pam Watson, with John R. Wood Realtor's commercial division.

The Time Is Right

The road is "coming of age," according to commercial broker David Stevens, also with John R. Wood. Once just a two-lane road to the airport and an industrial park and home to the government complex, Airport Road has grown to six lanes in some sections. It took a long time to get there.

In the past, retailers and national restaurant chains wouldn't consider any other location but the Trail, U.S. 41. "It's changed dramatically over the years," Cameron says.

Growing automobile dealerships that couldn't afford the rising prices along U.S. 41 began to relocate to Airport Road, because there was no appropriately zoned land on Goodlette Frank Road, another major thoroughfare.

But things started to change -- an evolution Watson credits to I-75, the changing role of the airport as a private facility and the emergence of major east-west corridors intersecting Airport Road. "We've really seen the evolution of Airport Road because of all of those factors," she says.

Cameron says retail use along Airport Road traditionally required "a lot of outdoor area," perfect for dealerships, nurseries and boat dealers. Now property along the road is becoming pricey, he says.

Stevens points to a client's shopping center at the Pine Ridge intersection as a prime example of a turn around. Once the home of a Winn-Dixie and Rite Aid, the two chain stores pulled out in the mid-1990s. And competition from two new centers under construction on the other corners threatened a bleak future.

The new owner opted to give the center a facelift, "a lipstick job" that Stevens says did the trick. Once at 38 percent occupancy, the center is full, anchored by a home furnishing store with a handful of smaller businesses like a bagel shop, seafood restaurant and the local chapter of the American Automobile Association. "My client felt the strength of the location was everlasting," he says.

That premonition paid off. "It's been hugely successful."

Stevens says that Airport Road has emerged as a "viable area for commerce," second only to U.S. 41 in activity in Naples. He observes that the center of town gradually drifted north as Naples became more developed. Located at Fifth Avenue and U.S. 41 nearly 30 years ago, he now sees the heart of town as Pine Ridge and Airport as development spreads east. By next year, the city's hub will have pushed north to Vanderbilt Beach Road, where development now flourishes.

He also believes that the tendency of business to locate on the west side of 41 to serve well resourced residents kept Airport Road from maturing earlier.

Now, there are upscale golf communities like Tiburon, the Greg Norman/WCI Communities project at Vanderbilt and Airport, that features expensive homes and a future Ritz-Carlton golf lodge. Other such developments are in the works.

But with all the rush to the future, there are still shadows of the road's agricultural past. Several nurseries dot the northern section, and a late-hours produce market surrounded by growing fields at the Golden Gate intersection harkens back to the road's origins.

Congestion Concerns

County engineers say Airport Road is quickly reaching peak traffic counts. In fact, Gavin Jones, staff director of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, expects some deficiencies along sections of the road when fourth-quarter traffic counts are tallied.

That's why a project to widen it from four to six lanes from Pine Ridge to Vanderbilt Beach is in the works. The $6 million project will begin in a year and once completed, will leave only the section from Vanderbilt Road to Immokalee Road at four lanes.

Jeff Bibby, public works engineering director for the county, says the entire length of Airport Road will eventually be expanded to six lanes. And there's already talk of extending Livingston Road, another north-south corridor between Airport Road and Interstate-75, northward to Bonita Beach Road in Lee County.

Bibby sees the Livingston extension as a major alternate to help ease traffic on Airport Road between Golden Gate Parkway and Radio Road, which exceeded trigger volumes last year.

A recently finished project near the Immokalee Road intersection may dump more traffic onto the north end of the road. It consisted of building a bridge over the Cocahatchee canal and connecting to Piper Boulevard. Opened May 21, the bridge provides direct access to Airport for those who live in a large residential area just north of the canal.

When discussing the future of Airport Road, mention of the decades-old controversy to extend it by building a second bridge over the Gordon River is inevitable. Most say the much-disputed project will eventually come to fruition.

Under several scenarios, the extended road and bridge would connect "some place in downtown Naples," with a possible connection to Livingston Road, says Ed Kant, transportation service director for Collier County.

Depending on which route is pursued, residents or businesses could be displaced. There's also controversy over the location and actual need. "Our long-range needs plan show another Gordon River crossing is necessary," says Kant. "It would redistribute traffic that's already there and keep the roads from reaching failing levels of service."

"It's on the books," Cameron says. "It needs to happen."

Watson expects Airport Road to continue to develop with "a very good, diverse mix." She points to the Ritz Carlton lodge, noting Naples is one of only two cities to boast two Ritz Carlton facilities. "That should say something."

Stevens sees strong development at the Vanderbilt Beach/Airport intersection and predicts the Golden Gate Parkway intersection to burst with high-end retail stores, restaurants and office parks in a few years with two planned major developments there.

"That will give more credibility to Airport Road as time marches on."

Commercial growth along Airport Road, he says, will be limited to activity centers at major intersections -- an edict of zoning regulations. "Zoning does not permit buying nurseries and replacing t