The joke about Pelican Bay in July is that everyone with a second address is somewhere else, so the tram runs half empty and the reservation books at Sandbar and Marker 36 open up. That part is still true. What has changed this summer is that the ring of places most residents actually use, the retail center at the south edge, the resort at the north edge, and the performing arts campus in the middle, are all under active construction or fresh reopening at the same time. The off-season is doing more work than the season.
If you already live here, the practical question is not whether Pelican Bay is worth being in this summer. It is which of these changes are far enough along to enjoy in July and August, and which are worth planning around for the fall.
Waterside Is Halfway Through Becoming A Different Center
Waterside Shops sits at the southeast corner of Pelican Bay, which for most residents makes it the default afternoon errand rather than a destination. That framing is about to stop working. The roughly $100M investment reported around the September 2025 construction announcement is the most significant capital deployment at Waterside since Forbes Company acquired the property in the early 2000s, and managing partner Nate Forbes has framed it in terms of the regional market's trajectory rather than a response to any single tenant departure.
Here is what has actually landed on the ground versus what is still walled off:
- Dior has opened a standalone boutique at Waterside Shops in Naples after relocating from its former store-within-a-store location inside Saks Fifth Avenue.
- Eddie V's Prime Seafood recently opened at Waterside, and the new restaurant anchors several dining additions planned for the luxury shopping destination.
- Peter Millar is bringing its sportswear and golf attire to the former 2,517-square-foot White House Black Market space.
- Construction walls announce Anthropologie's upcoming relocation within Waterside; the retailer is moving into a larger storefront expected to open this fall.
- A temporary storefront graphic announces Vuori's upcoming arrival, with the California-based athletic apparel brand planning to open this fall.
- Omega is relocating in late 2026 or early 2027 to a 1,848-square-foot unit near Santa Fe Café, and its current space will be the new home of Van Cleef & Arpels.
- Piranesi is also opening its fine jewelry store this fall across from Dior in the 781-square-foot unit recently vacated by Gulf Coast International Properties.
The largest piece is still framed up on the north end. The former Nordstrom building, 74,591 square feet, has been the construction site for RH Naples, a concept that bears little resemblance to the department store it replaces. Six separate galleries with skylights will connect through landscaped courtyards and glass-roofed walkways, surrounding a central 4,143-square-foot, full-service restaurant and wine bar beneath an elongated glass atrium; the projected timeline points to late 2026.
For a summer errand run, the practical detail worth knowing is small. The center has introduced a seasonal program called "The Squeeze," and throughout July and August 2026 guests can pick up complimentary ice-cold lemonade from a traveling beverage cart during peak shopping hours every Friday and Saturday. That is not a reason to drive over. It is a reason to walk the loop you were already walking and see what has moved.
The Ritz On The Beach Is Open. The Ritz At Tiburón Is Not Quite.
The two Ritz-Carlton properties that bracket Pelican Bay are on opposite construction cycles right now, and it matters because they set the summer tone for the entire north end of the neighborhood.
The beachfront property finished its long renovation cycle a couple of years ago. The Ritz-Carlton, Naples reopened after a massive renovation that included the addition of 70 club-level suites and upgrades to all 474 guest rooms, with the new Vanderbilt Tower featuring an expansive new Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge, a new resort lobby, three new dining experiences, and new outdoor spaces including pools, bungalows, and cabanas. That work is done. Beach service, spa, and dining are back to full operation.
The inland sister property is where the current disruption sits. The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón is embarking on a transformational chapter set to begin in May 2026, and the property will remain fully open throughout the renovation, which includes a redesign of the resort's food and beverage offerings with two innovative new culinary concepts along with a new design across guestrooms, suites, lobby, and the newest meeting space, Swaying Palm, all debuting in Fall 2026. During the work, visitors maintain full access to the family-friendly Reservoir waterpark, championship play at Tiburón Golf Club, world-class instruction at the Mouratoglou Tennis Center, and dining at poolside Latin American restaurant RÃa.
The practical read for a resident is this: if you have a summer visitor and you want the finished product, book at the beach. If you want the golf course, Tiburón is playing normally and you are getting a preview of a resort that will look markedly different by fall.
Artis Is Not Dark In July
The assumption that the Phil closes down between seasons is one of the more durable pieces of Pelican Bay folklore, and it is wrong every year. This summer, the campus at 5833 Pelican Bay Boulevard is running a compact tribute-and-workshop slate that pairs neatly with the fact that most of your neighbors are gone.
Worth the walk or short drive over the next few weeks:
- Beethoven and Joplin with Konstantin Soukhovetski, part of the Narrative Musicales series, on July 16.
- Chi-Town Transit Authority, a Chicago tribute band, on July 21.
- A Creative Sculptures Make-and-Take Workshop at The Baker Museum on August 4.
- Sail On, a Beach Boys tribute band, in Daniels Pavilion on August 5.
The Baker Museum is also worth putting on the map for a rainy afternoon. If the weather turns and you were going to stay inside anyway, a Naples Philharmonic tribute night in the 200-seat Daniels Pavilion is a very different experience than the same act at a 2,000-seat hall, and August is the month you can get those seats without booking in advance.
The Beach Restaurants Are The Quietest They Will Get
The Foundation manages three dining rooms on the sand, and July and August are the only months of the year you can generally sit at any of them without a wait. Two main beachfront dining options anchor Pelican Bay's shores: Marker 36 at North Beach offers an upscale coastal kitchen with indoor and outdoor seating and seasonal live music, Sandbar at South Beach serves a more casual, Mediterranean-leaning menu, and The Nest provides a smaller snack and drink stop with views.
The live-music schedule is the specific thing to know if you have not been in a while. At North Beach, Marker 36 is described as an upscale coastal escape with island- and Caribbean-inspired dishes, and it also features seasonal live music on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tuesday and Thursday sunsets from the deck are the summer version of the winter reservation problem: everything you want without needing to plan around it.
The tram itself does not slow down for the season. The system is open-air, electric-powered, and runs through a raised berm conservation area with eight stations, and the Foundation says tram drivers make more than 900,000 trips to the beach and back each year. In July the ride quality is different from January in one specific way. You will almost always get a seat facing forward, and the drivers have time to talk.
A Short Reading Of What This Summer Means
Stand back from the individual updates and a pattern emerges. Waterside is spending roughly $100M to replace department-store retail with format-first tenants like RH and Buck & Rider that have no equivalent anywhere else in Southwest Florida, several of them arriving here before they exist anywhere east of the Mississippi. Tiburón is spending an undisclosed but visibly large number on a Parker Torres redesign to match what already happened at the beach Ritz. Artis keeps its lights on through the quietest weeks of the year because the campus is programmed as a year-round civic asset, not a season-only venue.
None of that is a coincidence. The institutions on the edges of Pelican Bay are all treating the community as a full-time market rather than a seasonal one. The residents who stay through summer, the ones reading this, are the audience those investments are aimed at. The lemonade cart and the Tuesday sunset at Marker 36 are how it shows up in a single afternoon.
If you have been meaning to walk the RH construction wall to see what is going up, or catch a tribute night at Daniels Pavilion, or take a first look at the Dior standalone before the fall crowds return, this is the six-week window when doing all three in a single day is realistic.
Considering A Move Within Or Into Pelican Bay
If any of this summer's changes has you thinking about how a particular building or block relates to the Waterside corridor, the tram stops, or Marker 36 access, the team at Luxury by Chad Long is happy to walk through the specifics of Pelican Bay's enclaves in person or by phone. Request a complimentary home valuation or private consultation, and we will tailor the conversation to the way you actually live in the neighborhood.
