Although local politics has altered the scope of the 625-acre community redevelopment district, the 18-acre site at the intersection of US 41 Highway and Tenth Street appears ripe for rehabilitation if a so-far unidentified buyer follows through on a contract to buy the property from Naples Community Hospital Inc. The nonprofit community group listed the property for sale last September for $25 million.

"We do have it under contract, and we're about halfway through the due diligence," R. Scott Cameron, principal of Naples-based Cameron Real Estate Services Inc., tells GlobeSt.com. If the acquisition proceeds on schedule, Cameron expects the buyer to complete the due-diligence report within the next 30 days. Closing is scheduled for 60 days afterward.

Acknowledging the owner deferred maintenance on the property, Cameron says zoning restrictions permit the development of an additional 142,000-sf on the site. "However, that is not the plan," the broker says. "Unfortunately, I'm not at liberty to disclose the plan at this time." He calls the deal "the largest commercial property transaction brokered locally to my knowledge."

Leased now to Community Healthcare Partners Inc., the property at the southernmost entrance to this Southwest Florida city stood out prominently in a Downtown redevelopment report that Pennsylvania-based Urban Design Associates Inc. prepared in 1997 for the Naples City Council.

"Around that time, Grand Central Station was deemed in the consultants report to be the linchpin for success in redeveloping the area for a number of reasons," Naples senior planner Ann Walker tells GlobeSt.com. Built in the early 1980s, the property also is located within walking distance from a highly successful six-block Downtown redevelopment district known as Fifth Avenue South.

"With the all the talk about 'new urban development,' we're fortunate we had urban development, and we didn't have to re-invent it," Walker says. Now Downtown Naples is known as a destination that draws consumers during the daytime to art galleries and fine jewelry shops and families during the evening hours to gourmet dining and entertainment establishments. Elected officials have even allowed open-air cafes for the first time in the city's history.

"Redevelopment has occurred over the past several years all along Fifth Avenue South, about a block and half west of Grand Central," Cameron tells GlobeSt.com. "Fifth Avenue South is a result of some very clear thinking architectural-design work that has for the first time in the city's history allowed mixed residential uses on the top floors with retail and professional uses on the lower floors."

Instant Insights /

Mystery Buyer Checking Out $25-Mil Grand Central Station Site

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