Tim Aten Knows: Green Tree Center set for major expansion

Q: Do you have any updates on the Sweetbay that used to be on Airport and Immokalee? — Joseph Scalise, Naples  

A: Green Tree Center promises to announce future tenants soon for the long-vacant Sweetbay Supermarket space on the southwest corner of Airport-Pulling and Immokalee roads in North Naples.  

“I am working with a number of very interested tenants right now, and I feel very confident that that space will be leased in the next month or two,” said Jack Crifasi of Crifasi Real Estate, which manages and leases Green Tree Center. ”There’s been significant interest and we have been very, very choosy as to who we have go in there. I would say we have had 30 or 40 different types of businesses who have approached me for this space for all kinds of different uses.”   

There’s a reason the local leasing agent is being so selective in filling the 51,000-square-foot space at 2482 Immokalee Road that has been empty since the Sweetbay grocery brand retired in 2013.  

“We’ve been very, very selective as to who we’re going to put in there, but we feel like it has got to be compatible with what our vision is for the space. If it is, then we’re going to lease it. If it’s not, then we’ll continue to wait until we find the tenant that works for us,” Crifasi said. “We’re focusing on a couple of different uses.”  

The prospective tenants have been culled to another national grocer and a national retailer, or an entertainment concept. “Those are the two that we are focusing on right now, and we’ll just see how that all turns out,” Crifasi said.  

If the entertainment concept is chosen, it will use the entire square footage available. The space will be split if the national retailer and grocer are selected.  

Crifasi doesn’t think the new anchor tenant or co-anchors will be open this fall, but he believes they will be under construction by then.  

“I’m excited about the future,” he said. “The best is still coming to Green Tree.”  

More restaurants  

Before the old Sweetbay is filled, shoppers will notice a flurry of activity this season on new food-and-beverage spots in Green Tree Center.  

Brandy and Zach Mersch are relocating their Scoops Ice Cream & Acai Bowls this month to a remodeled unit between CVS and UPS on the other leg of the center. The move to the former storefront of United Uniforms/Sew Shore was necessary to create a larger 5,000-square-foot space for a new restaurant that will combine Scoops’ current unit and the vacant unit next to it. Crifasi kept the corner unit vacant next to Scoops until he found the perfect restaurant tenant.   

While he won’t divulge specific details yet, Crifasi said the new eastern European/Mediterranean restaurant and bar will be operated by a local restaurateur. Plans show a bakery and deli within the future business. 

“The restaurant’s going to be very, very nice,” he said. “They’re going to do something very special.”  

A Spanish restaurant also is coming to a new 3,500-square-foot Green Tree unit between UPS and the NCH Whitaker Wellness Center.  

“They are in for permitting now. They’re going to have a very nice high-end restaurant,” Crifasi said. “I anticipate them to be open at season, as well as the 5,000-square-foot restaurant; that will be open for season at the end of the year.”  

Meanwhile, Joey D’s Italian Restaurant & Bar is expanding again, adding on to its kitchen and dining room, as well as creating an adjacent 1,700-square-foot Italian market and deli.  

“It’s going to be really nice,” Crifasi said. “They’re going to have an authentic Italian market/deli. It complements their Italian restaurant, which is next door. They anticipate being open in a couple of weeks.”  

Joey DiPascale and his wife, Jennifer, nearly tripled the size of their original restaurant in 2011 to add a full bar and more space. This latest expansion will double the size of the local business, giving it a total of nearly 10,000 square feet.  

“They have additional seating and additional booths, and then they’re going to have the Italian market. But a lot of the space they added onto is kitchen space to accommodate their very large carryout business,” Crifasi said.  

Crifasi expects the Italian market to open in February and the expanded section of the restaurant to be completed in March. “Within a month, it all will be open,” he said.  

Next door to Joey D’s, Aqua Seafood & Steaks recently opened its new lounge, which has experienced standing-room-only business during this season. “It’s really very popular,” Crifasi said.   

Making progress  

Five years ago, Green Tree Center spent millions of dollars to add new landscaping, covered outdoor seating, fountains, fire pits and artwork to create a different vibe with a pedestrian-friendly exterior for its busy dining spots, which — in addition to Aqua, Joey D’s and Scoops — include Black Forest Restaurant, Boston Beer Garden, Em-On’s Thai Cafe, LuLu B’s Diner and Planet Smoothie, as well as outparcel drive-thrus for Taco Bell and Wendy’s. It was a major facelift for a shopping center that was mostly built in the late ’80s on more than 20 acres.  

“I really put a lot of time and effort into it,” Crifasi said. “It took me three years just to redesign the shopping center and redevelop it. It was worth it because the results have been overwhelming. It’s just lent so much to the shopping center, our tenant mix. That’s why we have a big waiting list.”  

The waiting list also grows because Green Tree Center doesn’t experience a lot of tenant turnover. “There’s an energy now,” Crifasi said. “But the energy in the center next year will be fabulous.”  

The Tim Aten Knows weekly column answers local questions from readers. Email Tim at Tim.Aten@NaplesPress.com.