Tim Aten Knows: Moon Valley Nurseries coming to Naples

Q: Wondering what’s going on at the Pulling-owned property at 2420 Orange Blossom Drive. It’s been a longtime nursery and looks like it’s being cleared of plants and trees. — Brent Smith, Naples

A: A national plant nursery company is coming to the southeast corner of Orange Blossom Drive and Airport-Pulling Road in North Naples after making an offer that the longtime local plant nursery there couldn’t refuse.

Moon Valley Nurseries, a Scottsdale, Arizona, company known as the nation’s largest box tree grower, is targeted to open in September on about 7 acres on that 9-acre corner lot at 2420 Orange Blossom Drive. Moon Valley will replace the space vacated July 1 by Naples Botanicals, which operated there for nearly 15 years.

Moon Valley serves homeowners, builders and landscapers with plant nursery products and landscape design services from more than 45 retail nursery locations and 1,800 acres of farmland nationwide. The private company has nursery locations in Riviera Beach on Florida’s east coast and Lady Lakes in Central Florida, as well as locations throughout Arizona, California, Georgia, Nevada, Tennessee and Texas. The first Florida location opened in late 2023 in Palm Beach County.

Moon Valley Nurseries plans about 25 locations throughout the Sunshine State, said John Hardiman, CEO of American Farms, a Naples-based wholesale landscaping grower that is part of the Hoffmann Family of Companies. American Farms will continue to operate a satellite location at 2428 Orange Blossom on that same North Naples corner.

A Moon Valley Nurseries marketing representative could not confirm specific information regarding the company’s growth plans in Florida.

“We’re always exploring opportunities to bring the best and biggest trees to areas where we can meet consumer demand. While we don’t comment on specific future location plans, we continually evaluate markets and retail locations as part of our longterm growth strategy,” emailed Matthew Swope of MassMedia public relations agency.

Moon Valley is a high-end retailer of nursery stock that is very honorable and respected nationwide, Hardiman said.

“We’re excited to have them there. They’re going to be good partners with us,” he said. “They are a huge retail entity. They are becoming huge in Florida.”

Naples Botanicals owner Scott Furst witnessed firsthand the might of Moon Valley Nurseries, which began as a modest familyowned business in Arizona in 1995 and was acquired four years ago in a $775 million transaction by Stonecourt Capital, a private investment firm based in New York City.

“They do a completely different kind of business,” Furst said. “They gave us money to leave the property.”

Moon Valley approached property owner John Pulling Jr. and offered him a lot more money to lease the corner lot. Pulling told the company that it first had to make a deal with Naples Botanicals, which had been leasing there since Dec. 1, 2010, Furst said.

“We took over when Landscape Depot went out of business,” he said. “That business there provided my wife and I and my family a good income.”

John Ruscigno and Mark Eilers of Colliers represented the tenant, Moon Valley Nurseries, in the offmarket lease transaction.

“We’re thrilled to have helped Moon Valley Nurseries secure their new long-term home in Naples,” Ruscigno said. “This property is in a desirable area of Naples, with a mix of residential communities and golf courses, schools and retail surrounding the site — making it a great fit for Moon Valley’s first Gulf Coast location.”

Scott Furst’s son, Jordan, who was general manager of Naples Botanicals, is continuing the Naples Botanicals business name but he now operates as a local plant broker, an intermediary connecting buyers and sellers of plants. Scott and Tammy Furst will soon launch their new nursery business, Wildcat Botanicals, at 17581 Wildcat Drive in Fort Myers.

“We’re still in the process of building it,” Scott Furst said. “I would imagine by October we’d be fully up and running and ready to rock and roll.”

Sushi Sake setback

Q: Do you know why Sushi Sake in Riverchase Plaza in North Naples hasn’t opened yet, even though the restaurant looks like it’s been fully constructed for about a year and has had a “Coming Soon” sign posted in the windows for about the same amount of time? Do you have any idea when they will open? — Judy Tuttle, North Naples

A: Initially targeted to open last fall before encountering permitting issues, Sushi Sake restaurant is planning to launch Aug. 25 and celebrate its grand opening in early September on the northeast corner of U.S. 41 North and Immokalee Road in North Naples.

The South Florida-based dining chain with more than 50 locations opened or coming soon is known for its visually striking atmosphere and expansive menus of sushi rolls, hibachi dishes and craft cocktails. The fast-growing Japanese restaurant chain hit a snag last year while remodeling the interior space of the former Chicken Salad Chick and Saladworks at 11180 Tamiami Trail N. in the Publix-anchored Riverchase Plaza. Before its stylish interior could be experienced by diners in North Naples, the modern Japanese restaurant elicited a wow factor from local building inspectors.

Representatives of North Collier Fire Control visited the restaurant site last fall to inspect work for a demolition permit when they observed that the interior of the 2,831-square-foot unit already had been completed. Because of the complaint regarding unpermitted interior renovations of a commercial building, Collier County Code Enforcement issued a stop work order on Oct. 7. The code enforcement case was closed Dec. 26 after the issue was abated by the contractor and a notice of noncompliance was issued to Zoma Construction Corp., county records show.

A local building consultant was retained this spring to investigate, certify and determine code compliance for the construction work performed without a permit. To determine whether the work was installed to plans and specifications, engineers used an articulating borescope camera, electrical tester, plumbing snake with plumbers’ assistance, construction images, a flow test and other tools to access concealed areas, records show.

The county issued the restaurant its certificate of occupancy on Aug. 7.

The “Tim Aten Knows” weekly column answers local questions from readers. Email Tim at tim. aten@naplespress.com.