Category: 
Bonita Springs Shopping Tomato Capital of the World
So there I am sitting in The Brooks at the traffic light at Coconut Road and the Trail (Tamiami Trail/US 41) watching the work being done and waiting for green. You can see the Hyatt Coconut Point off in the distance so you know I’m heading west. I’m wondering, when enough is enough?
Remember when Bonita Springs was the tomato capital of the world? I do. There once were green tomatoes at every traffic light or turn in the road - no more. They’re shipping our tomatoes in from California now - unless you know where the fruit stands are with Immokalee tomatoes. Our tomato fields have turned to golf courses and shopping malls.
From where I’m sitting in traffic, just off to the right of the road crew is another condo development going in. It is/was being called Tangomar (by the Hine group) and it has sort have been languishing. I’m not sure what the name is anymore or if it has a name, it’s white noise at this point. I did see a small amount of movement this week, or maybe it was just a truck turning around. Just behind me to the left is another condo project called Mirosol. They’ve sprung a few buildings out of the dirt but they’re taking their sweet time, too. Oh, not to mention behind me to the right is The Residences at Coconut Point and Rapallo. They’ve just about staked a claim on every square inch of soil where Bonita Springs meets Estero. Who determined that there is a shortage of condo inventory and thought we needed more?
The retail space and commercial real estate is just about as flooded. How much shopping can one village possibly do? The Coconut Point Mall has dozens of restaurants - how much can one village eat? The restaurants in Bonita Springs and Estero will likely enter full crisis mode soon due to the flooded market, yet more are opening all the time. [in my humble opinion] Coming soon, Uno Pizza, TGI Fridays at the mall, Tijuana Flats on the Trail, plus a few closed restaurants have new tenants rehabbing, but the tenants haven’t been disclosed. Easter is just around the corner. When the droves of Boomers head north to wait for their crocus and daphodils to come up, it’s going to spank the retail sector in Bonita Springs and Estero, most especially the restaurants.
Is anyone else watching this freight train?
Want Bonita Springs updates? Subscribe to the RSS feed or
Comments
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 7:22 am
and is filed under Market Reports.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
1 Comment so far
[...] …http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/mar/30/proposed-law-would-target-people-who-steal-metal-s/When is Enough, Enough? Bonita Springs Shopping Tomato Capital of the World So there I am sitting in The Brooks at the [...]