Wide shot of Naples Beach Club resort with all buildings and amenities on the waterfront

Planning

Commitment to the Watkins Legacy

Through extensive research – including numerous meetings with the Watkins family, neighbors, and stakeholders in the Naples community – The Athens Group embraced a number of the existing resort’s beloved features as the foundational core of its proposed plan, including:

 

  • Maintaining the family’s tradition of hospitality by the inclusion of a 216-room luxury hotel;
  • Preserving in perpetuity 104 acres of the property’s 125 acres as recreation and open space; and
  • Maintaining the tradition of the Sunset Beach Bar and HB’s on the Gulf as gathering places for guests of all ages throughout the year.

Environmental Planning and Sustainability

The Athens Group has a history of environmentally responsible and sustainable development practices. Bringing their award-winning approach to the Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort, Athens intends to create a resort that embraces the natural attributes of this unique beachfront setting. As part of this history, Athens will grant a restrictive easement on 104 acres of the property that requires this area to remain recreation and open space in perpetuity. In addition, 70 acres of the 104 acres of recreation and open space will remain as permeable open space in order for the entire City to receive preferential flood insurance premiums.

Gulf Shore Garden

The Gulf Shore Garden plan will transform the section of Gulf Shore Boulevard North that bisects the property into a lushly landscaped corridor that will further beautify this section of the City. In addition to landscaping and sidewalks, the plan preserves existing bike lanes and enhances the street to improve pedestrian safety, including a reduction in crossing points, a landscaped center pedestrian median, and an improved pedestrian “Coconut Connector” crossing with added safety features, including lighting.

Project Entitlements

The Athens Group has received the required City of Naples discretionary entitlements from the Planning Advisory Board and the City Council for the development of the Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort. The Athens Group continues to process the required development and building permits to ensure the property’s responsible development.

The City of Naples has a multi-step review and approval process that includes City planning staff and many City departments, such as Streets and Stormwater, FEMA and Naples Fire-Rescue, as well as the Design Review Board, the Planning Advisory Board, and the Naples City Council. In addition, key components of the project have been and will be thoroughly reviewed and approved by the state, such as its stormwater runoff and water quality plans.

Project Site Map

This image displays the proposed site plan for the Naples Beach Club project. Site work, including the creation of a construction access road through the golf course, began in 2022.