Q: I have noticed they were working around the structural steel on the corner of Davis and 951. Is there any update on what is coming there and how soon? Any restaurants?  

— Paul Harwood, Naples

Q: Do my eyes deceive me or is work underway at the metal monstrosity on the southwest corner of Davis and Collier boulevards? What’s coming? When? 

— Chris Mobley, East Naples

A: Preliminary work is being done to prepare for completion this year of the steel-frame building that has loomed for a decade on the southwest corner of Davis and Collier boulevards in East Naples.

Being built on spec by Florida-based Benderson Development Co., the shell of the nearly 105,000-square-foot commercial structure spanning the 15-acre property is targeted to be completed and ready for tenant build-out by the end of the year, said Todd Mathes, director of real estate development for Benderson.

“That building is being finished right now,” Mathes said Thursday. “We’ve been in permitting for quite some time working on the site.”

As part of the approved 125,580-square-foot mixed-use center named Davis Crossing, the main building at 8760 Davis Blvd. is planned as a mix of retail and office space, but possible tenants are not available yet. One undisclosed business plans to take a 15,000-square-foot unit, Mathes said.

“We’re pretty open there. We don’t have anyone else in mind,” he said when asked about what type of businesses might be locating there.

If Benderson completes work on the strip by the end of this year, tenants could start opening there in 2020.

Proposed plans for completing the one-story structure show a retail strip divided into 12 units, four of which could be considered anchor or junior anchor stores and face north toward Davis Boulevard. The largest anchor stores could exceed 30,000 square feet. Smaller units would face Collier Boulevard on the eastern end of the building.

The project still needs its final permits, but minor alteration work is being performed. The installation of a fire sprinkler system by Pipe Rite Fire Sprinklers Inc. of North Port and the inspection of all fire alarm components by Fire Brigade Alarm Systems of Sarasota were permitted within the last two weeks, according to Collier County Growth Management Department records.

The development has been a long time coming. Benderson purchased the acreage for $5 million in 2002, land clearing began in 2007 and the shell of the building was built in 2008, county property records show. After completion was stalled by the Great Recession, Benderson was granted extensions for the development, but the company is being fined hundreds of dollars a day by the county until all permits are obtained for the building and it receives a certificate of occupancy, county records show.

In addition to the large retail strip, plans have been proposed for three other freestanding buildings built in Davis Crossing. In its marketing brochure for Davis Crossing and the adjacent Market Center, Benderson shows an available outparcel between the eastern end of the unfinished structure and Collier Boulevard. Previous plans have proposed a 3,820-square-foot bank branch with drive-thru lanes for this location.

Additional phases previously proposed for the center show a nearly 14,000-square-feet strip and 3,000-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru fronting Davis Boulevard directly across the street from McDonald’s.

Know more

► Third Aldi store in Naples area targeted to open in early summer

► Clearing begins for future Habitat for Humanity community

► Neal breaks ground on multifamily community on Santa Barbara Blvd.

Have a local question? Email it with your name and city of residence to intheknow@naplesnews.com. Tim Aten’s “In the Know” is published every Monday and Wednesday. Follow In the Know on Facebook now at facebook.com/timaten.intheknow.

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