Q: Do you know what is happening on that cleared lot on Triangle Boulevard and Collier Boulevard across from Staybridge Suites? It was supposed to be a bank, two fast-food restaurants and something else I believe from an old post you did. They cleared the land quickly and then nothing for months. —Cathy Fuertez, Naples
A: Construction of the final phase of Restaurant Row Naples was stalled for months because of financial issues but the three-building project was recently revived, said Charles Ladd, president and principal of Barron Real Estate Inc., who is developing the dining-centric collection with Amera Companies of Coral Springs, Florida. Ladd said work will be restarting on the 4.5-acre development near the Collier Boulevard entrance into the Freedom Square retail center. The Lely commercial site is framed by Collier Boulevard to the east, Celeste Drive to the northwest and Triangle Boulevard to the southwest.
A lease was signed in late April for a breakfast-brunch restaurant to complete the building under construction in the final phase of Restaurant Row, Ladd said.
Maple Street Biscuit Co. plans its first regional location with outdoor dining space in a multitenant building it will share with a TD Bank branch with drive-thru lanes. That’s the first building already under construction at 6917 Collier Blvd. The deal was delayed and construction came to a standstill this year because the Restaurant Row development project was being refinanced, Ladd said.
Because of extended inactivity after the first building’s shell was built, nearby residents filed Collier County code enforcement complaints about what they reported as an eyesore with overgrown weeds and construction debris. Inquiring readers wondered if the developer had abandoned the project.
“We didn’t walk away,” Ladd said. “We were in the middle of a refinancing that got delayed and finally is getting done.”
Work will continue on the site’s first building and then start on two more structures, which also will likely feature restaurants, Ladd said.
“We’ve talked to a number of people,” he said. “The area is ready. The growth down there is amazing.”
A building previously earmarked for possible medical office space could be a larger sit-down restaurant.
“We came very close to a deal with a restaurant. The lease was out for signature, and they backed away,” Ladd said. “They prefer to do another restaurant, but we’ll just have to wait and see what transpires.”
Ladd believes more restaurants will be interested in the site once they can better visualize the development.
“I’d like to get further along with construction so people can understand what’s happening there. Right now, it’s just a big mud pit,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of interest, so I think over the next couple of months we’ll end up striking a couple of deals.”
Maple Street Biscuit Co. is targeted to open this fall, said Kate Knight, digital marketing manager for the breakfast and brunch chain that features a menu of scratch-made Southern comfort food with a twist.
In addition to biscuits and gravy, biscuit selections include everything from buttermilk biscuits with house-made jam to The Cowboy, a biscuit sandwich with country-fried steak, bacon, cheddar, egg and sausage gravy or shiitake gravy with a kick. The Squawking Goat, which was featured on the Food Network, is a biscuit sandwich with fried chicken, a goat cheese medallion and pepper jelly.
Twisty entrees include Biscuit French Toast, batter-fried biscuits served with vanilla creme and maple syrup; Bacon & Cheddar Frittaffle, an omelet baked in a waffle iron and served with Smashbrowns and roasted jalapeno salsa; and Bluegrass Grits Bowl with hominy grits, pecan wood bacon, egg, green onions, cheddar and hot sauce.
Sidekicks and shareables include maple sausage meatballs, fried green tomatoes and maple kettle chips. Beverages include a variety of coffee drinks, peach-berry lemonade and mimosas.
Co-founders Gus Evans and Scott Moore opened their first Maple Street community store in Jacksonville in late 2012. Tennessee-based Cracker Barrel purchased Maple Street Biscuit in 2019. Cracker Barrel has a nearby location off Collier Boulevard about 6.5 miles north of the future Maples Street in Restaurant Row.
The Maple Street Biscuit chain has locations in nine Southern states and expanded into Ohio last year. It has more than 60 locations, the nearest of which are in Sarasota and Pembroke Pines.
Filling the rest of Maple Street Biscuit’s commercial duplex in Restaurant Row will be TD Bank, which has been expanding in the area in the last few years. TD Bank has other locations in the Naples area on Fifth Avenue South, in the Park Shore area and in Naples Park. The bank has more than 1,000 branch locations across 15 states.
TD is short for Toronto-Dominion because New Jersey-based TD Bank Group is subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank in Canada. The federally chartered bank, one of the largest in the United States, markets itself as “America’s Most Convenient Bank.”
The three buildings in the new phase of Restaurant Row Naples are planned to be about 8,530, 6,350 and 5,100 square feet. The new development proposes three access points: a southwest connection to westbound Triangle Boulevard via a right-in/right-out access; a northwest connection to northbound Celeste Drive via a right-in only access; and a northeast connection to northbound Celeste Drive via a full access opening.
This second part of Restaurant Row builds upon the larger six-building property on 7 acres fronting Collier Boulevard on the other side of Triangle Boulevard. Restaurants there include Texas Roadhouse, Miller’s Ale House, Chipotle Mexican Grill, TheSen Asian Noodle Bar, Jersey Mike’s Subs and Starbucks Coffee.
Information about a possible tenant to replace the freestanding unit vacated in November by Pollo Tropical is not available yet. The Florida-based restaurant chain was one of the first in Restaurant Row when it opened its drive-thru location in October 2016.
The “Tim Aten Knows” weekly column answers local questions from readers. Email Tim at tim.aten@naplespress.com.
