Ritz-Carlton Estero Bay tops off second tower

The American flag unfurled below four palm trees on a platform connected to a massive crane, one that towered even over the 22-story Ritz-Carlton Residences Estero Bay. 

On Sept. 18, Coastal Construction hoisted that flag at 5000 Coconut Road in what’s technically Bonita Springs, commemorating the topping off of the second tower. The milestone event included more than 400 construction workers, who received door prizes, a meal catered by Mission BBQ and the rest of the day off. 

The construction project by developer London Bay, which costs more than $500 million to build, now heads toward the finish line. Interiors on the second set of 112 units are slated to be finished over the next eight months, with move-ins and project completion scheduled for August 2027.

Tower One, a near-identical twin to Tower Two and also with 112 units, opened in April and is more than 90% purchased. 

Tower Two is about 45% purchased. 

Coastal Construction, the project’s general contractor, began construction on the development in July 2023. 

Every floor offers views of Estero Bay and surrounding mangrove swamps to the southwest and the Saltleaf Golf Preserve to the east. 

Units start at about $3.8 million and eclipse $15 million for the penthouse suites, which have 14-foot-high ceilings compared with almost 10 feet for the rest of the units. 

“The two towers are exactly the same, but facing in the opposite direction,” said Stephen Wilson, executive vice president and CFO of London Bay. 

The amenities in each tower are also slightly different. Tower Two has a movie theater and a golf and sports simulator. Tower One has a children’s play area. 

Mark Wilson founded London Bay in 1990; Stephen Wilson joined his brother’s company in 1999. Their knowledge of the market, Stephen Wilson said, gave them the confidence to build to their grandest scale yet. 

“We’ve been working in the luxury home market for 36 years, and we know this area very well,” said Stephen Wilson, noting London Bay sold two homes in Naples earlier this year for $36 million and $40 million, respectively. “We saw what was happening with more wealth coming to Southwest Florida. We assessed what we had here, with views second to none. 

“Sure, we were in the penthouse, but the view from every single unit is exactly the same other than the height from it.” 

Brion Salatino, senior project manager for Coastal Construction, addressed the construction workers, thanking them for their contributions. He revealed some of the project’s details. 

So far, 779,385 manpower hours have been recorded. 

“We talk every day about schedules, production, manpower and getting the job done,” Salatino said. “But none of that is more important than making sure the people who walk through these gates every morning walk back out of them. So, before anything else, we need to thank God for watching over this project — and thank every person standing here for watching over one another.” 

So far, there have been more than 3,260 tons of reinforcing steel, 6.5 million pounds of concrete, 5,600 concrete trucks coming through the site’s gates and 130,000 concrete blocks installed, Salatino said.

Topping off ceremonies, he said, were a tradition going back a thousand years.

“Traditionally, builders placed a tree at the highest point of a structure as a symbol of life, growth, good fortune and safe construction,” Salatino said. “In America, we eventually added our flag as a symbol of the men and women who built it. Traditionally, a pine tree is used, but in Southwest Florida we used a palm tree.”