September 11-September 17, 2026
Hi, it's Jeremy. This week Naples and Bonita are both getting some development news worth knowing about: a Whole Foods just got confirmed for a big East Naples project, and Vuori opened its doors at Waterside Shops. On the numbers side, mortgage rates ticked up again and Naples inventory keeps tightening. Here's everything else you need to know before your weekend.
⚡ The 239 in 60 Seconds
🏡 Naples homes are selling faster than a year ago (105 days versus 114) even as the median price pulled back to $1.25M over the last three months, per Redfin's listing data.
💡 Naples Zoo is gearing up for a $100 million fundraising campaign, but first it needs to sort out land certainty with Collier County since its lease on zoo property runs out in 2039.
🛍️ Whole Foods is confirmed to anchor Vitano, an 82-acre mixed-use development planned at Davis and Santa Barbara boulevards in East Naples.
✈️ Page Field pilots in Fort Myers are fighting proposed hangar rent hikes of up to 125%, and Lee County port commissioners just approved a softened three-year phase-in instead.
🎟️ Sizzle Dining is back for its 10th anniversary all month, with a record 138 restaurants across Collier and Lee counties running prix-fixe menus through September 30.
New Around the 239 - Opened & Closed
🧘 Vuori opens its first Naples store at Waterside Shops
🍔 Whataburger opens its first Southwest Florida location today in south Fort Myers
🏥 Naples-based Avow hospice expands its service area into Lee County
🛒 Whole Foods confirmed to anchor 82-acre Vitano project in East Naples, via Tim Aten
🎬 Alamo Drafthouse is closing its cinema at Mercato in North Naples
The 239 Market: This Week's Market Pulse
Naples: Median sale price $1,249,374 over the last 3 months, down 5.7% year over year; 337 homes sold in July, up 24.2% from a year ago; median days on market 105, down from 114 a year ago. (RedFin)
Bonita Springs: Median sale price $552,223 over the last 3 months, down 0.5% year over year; 457 homes sold in July, up 17.9% from a year ago; median days on market 83, down from 86 a year ago. (RedFin)
Marco Island: Median sale price around $1.4M last month, up sharply (38.1%) from a year ago, per Redfin. (Marco Island's small monthly sales volume makes this figure prone to big swings from a handful of luxury closings) (RedFin)
Jeremy's Take: The interesting thing in this week's numbers isn't the price, it's the pace: homes in both Naples and Bonita Springs are going under contract faster than they were a year ago, even with median prices holding flat to slightly down. That's not the same market a lot of people still picture when they think "Naples is overpriced and sitting." Marco Island's eye-popping 38% jump is more a function of a thin sales sample than a market shift, so I wouldn't read too much into that one on its own. Read the entire update here.
30-year mortgage rate: 6.76% as of September 10, up from 6.71% last week, versus 6.35% a year ago. Freddie Mac PMMS
Curious What’s Selling Near You?
See What's Happening in Your Neighborhood:
📍 239 Community Spotlight - Pine Ridge
Pine Ridge is one of North Naples' more distinctive addresses, bounded roughly by Vanderbilt Beach Road to the north, Pine Ridge Road to the south, US-41 to the west, and Goodlette-Frank Road to the east, and it looks nothing like the gated communities that surround it.
Lots here run from about one acre up to seven, with roughly 532 single-family homes spread across 1.75 square miles of mature oaks, pines, and small lakes. It's also one of the few non-gated, minimal-HOA neighborhoods left this close to the coast, and some parcels carry agricultural zoning, which makes it a genuinely equestrian-friendly corner of Naples where owners keep horses on their own land.
New construction keeps trickling in alongside the older estate homes, with builders currently working on individual lots targeting fall and winter 2026 completions. For anyone weighing an acre-plus lot with no rigid architectural review board against a gated community's amenities, this is the corridor worth a look, and it's still under two miles by bike to Clam Pass Park, so the tradeoff isn't beach access.
If you're comparing new-construction options in this corridor, using your own buyer's agent costs you nothing extra and protects your interests, since a builder's on-site sales rep represents the builder, not you.
Good to Know
🚧 FDOT is moving ahead with a 21-mile widening of I-75 between Golden Gate Parkway and Alico Road, spanning both Collier and Lee counties; the project just wrapped its public meeting round (Aug. 31-Sept. 2) and includes new express lanes, a diverging diamond interchange at Immokalee Road, and direct express-lane access at Vanderbilt Beach Road. SWFL Roads
🔧 Home Tip of the Week
We've spent the last few issues on hurricane prep, so this week let's talk about something that gets overlooked once storm season is on your mind: routine fall home maintenance that has nothing to do with wind or water.
Schedule an AC tune-up before snowbird season ramps up demand on local technicians; a unit that's been running hard all summer benefits from a filter change and coil cleaning now.
Test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and replace batteries, a simple task that's easy to let slide for months at a time.
Flush your water heater to clear out sediment that builds up over a Florida summer of heavy use, which helps it run more efficiently.
Walk your exterior and check caulking and weatherstripping around windows and doors; Southwest Florida's humidity swings can dry out and crack sealant faster than you'd expect. Check with your HVAC technician or a licensed contractor for anything beyond basic upkeep.
☀️ Weekend Weather
Saturday: High near 86°F with an 80% chance of rain, mainly showers and storms. Sunday: High near 86°F with a 90% chance of rain. National Weather Service
📅 5 Things to Do This Week
Candlelight Remembrance — Friday, Sept. 11, 6-7:30 p.m. A 9/11 memorial service with luminaries, candles, and a remembrance ceremony at Fred W. Coyle Freedom Park, 1515 Golden Gate Parkway, Naples.
The Creative Calusa — Saturday, Sept. 12, 11 a.m. A family craft event at the Collier Museum at Government Center, 3331 Tamiami Trail East, Naples, with clay-vessel shaping, natural paint-making, basket weaving, and mini-canoe carving (239-252-8476 or colliermuseums.com).
Naples Memorial Stair Climb — Sunday, Sept. 13, 7 a.m. The fifth year of this annual event, hosted by the Hilton Marco Island.
Brad Paisley in concert — Thursday, Sept. 17, 7:30 p.m., Hertz Arena in Estero.
Films Al Fresco: The Secret Life of Pets 2 — Friday, Sept. 11, 8:15-10:45 p.m. Free outdoor family movie night at the Piazza, Mercato, North Naples.
The 239 Five
Restaurant worth trying: Blackbird Modern Asian, the upscale Pan-Asian spot chef Tim Nickey opened at Naples Bay Resort & Marina, is worth a visit for the Sichuan smoked pork spareribs and Mongolian brisket bao buns alone. The dining room's got a life-size blooming cherry tree as its centerpiece, and there's an outdoor patio if you'd rather eat with a marina view.
Event worth attending: Sizzle Dining's 10th anniversary run, 138 restaurants across Collier and Lee counties offering prix-fixe menus all month. Gulfshore Business
Local business worth knowing: Sugarshack Downtown, the live-music venue and restaurant on Old 41 Road, packs in 260+ seats, two full bars, and five outdoor pavilions, open five nights a week (Wednesday through Sunday) with local, regional, and national acts on stage most of the year.
Outdoor/place recommendation: Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park's 1.2-mile stretch of white sand in North Naples routinely lands on "best beaches in the country" lists, and the park's 199 acres also cover the Cocohatchee River inlet, good for kayaking, paddleboarding, shelling, and spotting the occasional manatee or nesting sea turtle.
Interesting local fact: Naples Zoo's land lease with Collier County doesn't expire until 2039, but the zoo is already negotiating certainty on it now, ahead of a planned $100 million fundraising campaign.
👀 What We're Watching
NABOR's next monthly market report drops Sept. 18, the day after this issue's window closes, so by next week's issue we'll know whether August closed sales kept pace with the faster-moving market this week's Redfin data pointed to.
Property Spotlight
28851 Bermuda Lago CT Unit 304, Bonita Springs | $329,000 | 2 Den / 2 Bath | MLS# 226013581
Turnkey, top-floor Nassau floor plan in Bermuda Lago, a gated community west of US 41 in Bonita Springs. Nearly 1,600 square feet, 2 bed/2 bath plus a detached one-car garage, with vaulted ceilings and an open great room. The kitchen and both baths have been updated with quartz counters, the AC is about four years old, and a screened lanai and electric storm shutters round it out. Community perks include a resort-style pool, an elevator, newer roofs, and water/sewer included in the HOA fee. Minutes from Barefoot Beach and Bonita Beach.
Open House This Weekend - 9/13/26 - 1-3PM
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Have a great weekend!
Jeremy
