The block between your front door and the Gulf has quietly become the most interesting stretch of pavement in Naples this summer. At one end, a $26.3 million construction site. At the other, two new dining rooms and a farmers market that has been running since 1994. Between them, a neighborhood most of your neighbors have to their cars.
If you already own a home in Aqualane Shores, this is a guide to walking the changes.
The walk you already take, changed
The route hasn't moved. Head west on any of the numbered avenues, cross Gordon Drive, and you're at either the 12th Avenue South beach access or the Third Street South shopping and dining district within ten minutes. What has changed is what's at each end.
The pier end is active construction. The Third Street end has two rooms that did not exist last summer, one restaurant returning from a full renovation, and a new music program a block off Broad. The Saturday market, the one constant, has more vendors than it did the last time most seasonal owners stopped in.
Summer here has always been the quiet version of Naples. This year the quiet frames a work-in-progress.
What broke ground at the end of 12th Avenue South
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Naples Pier Rebuild Project took place Monday, January 5, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. at the pier, accessible via the 12th Avenue South beach access. That access point sits a short walk from most of Aqualane Shores. For the next roughly eighteen months, the sightline from the beach is a working marine construction site.
The scope is not a cosmetic repair. The $26.3 million project represents the seventh reconstruction of the 137-year-old historic pier at the west end of 12th Avenue South. The historic pier was heavily damaged during Hurricane Ian in 2022, and the city has approved a $26.3 million project to rebuild the structure stronger and more resilient.
The design was locked in earlier this year. On March 4, 2026, the Naples City Council reached a unanimous milestone, officially approving the final design for the Naples Pier reconstruction 2026. The new design will maintain the traditional appearance of the Naples Pier while improving visitor flow and structural resilience. Plans include expanded fishing areas, bench bump-outs along the walkway to reduce congestion, and a raised gazebo feature near the end of the pier.
A few of the choices in that final design will shape how the pier reads once it reopens, and they are worth knowing while it is still a fence line:
- The new pier will be elevated about 3 feet higher than the old one, with sturdier materials, larger pilings with protective jackets, and reinforced decking to better withstand storms.
- The renovated Naples Pier will feature an underwater camera for marine life observation and a police and beach patrol office with restrooms, while food concessions will be replaced by a portable cart.
- Following FEMA guidelines that prohibit permanent structures like the former Cosmos at the Pier from being built over water, the City Council opted for a portable concession cart. The council agreed to install electrical power at the pier entrance to support a mobile cart. This "great compromise" will allow for the sale of water, ice cream, and soda without competing with the vibrant local businesses nearby on 5th Avenue South.
That last decision matters more than it looks. A permanent restaurant at the end of the pier would have pulled foot traffic away from Third Street and Fifth Avenue. A cart selling water and ice cream will not. For an Aqualane Shores owner who walks the beach in the morning and eats downtown in the evening, the geography of your day is being locked in for the next generation.
One other item, easy to miss from the seawall: on April 24, 2026, 59 concrete pilings were deployed at Wasmer Reef to expand an artificial reef first established in 2015. Pieces of the old pier are already offshore, doing work as habitat.
Construction is scheduled to run about eighteen months from groundbreaking, which puts a working pier back on the map somewhere around mid-2027. For the summer of 2026, the walk ends at a fence with a view.
Two rooms within ten minutes of your door
Third Street South and the blocks around it added two dining rooms since last season that are close enough to Aqualane Shores to count as walking destinations.
La Salière, 360 12th Avenue South
The address is the tell. Twelfth Avenue South is the same street that ends at the pier access, which means La Salière sits on the walking line between Aqualane Shores and the beach. La Salière Italian restaurant launched Nov. 7 in The Bevy's former space at 360 12th Ave. S. in Old Naples. The intimate 2,600-square-foot La Salière Naples is on the south side of 12th Avenue South just east of Third Street South.
The provenance matters if you follow Naples restaurant families. Frittella is a partner in several Naples restaurants on Fifth Avenue South, including BiCE Ristorante, Caffe Milano, La Trattoria and Vergina. Of Frittella's existing restaurants in Naples, perhaps La Salière may be closest in concept to BiCE, but it will be most similar to Casa Avenue 31, another one of the family's fine-dining concepts in Monaco. The brand is not new to Europe. "La Salière is different because it's Stefano's first restaurant that he ever opened in 1982, so it's a very important restaurant for us."
Hours favor the walking neighbor. La Salière serves dinner daily 5:30 p.m. to midnight, and brunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Happy hour is 3 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. daily. A 3 p.m. happy hour is a residents' hour, not a tourists' hour.
Annie's Bistro, Bar & Bakery at the Olde Naples Hotel, 200 Broad Street South
The building itself is the news. The hotel that opened on the block where Naples was founded in 1889 also brought a new dining option to Old Naples. Annie's Bistro, Bar & Bakery evolves throughout the day from morning café to full bistro and bar. Open to non-hotel guests. Steps from Third Street South.
For an Aqualane Shores resident, an all-day room that starts as a bakery and finishes as a bar, inside a hotel two blocks off Third, changes what a Tuesday looks like. There has not been an easy walk-up morning pastry counter this close in a long time.
One more note from the same block. BiCE Ristorante on the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue South and Third Street South is targeted to reopen soon after it was temporarily closed post-season for a physical transformation ahead of its 20th anniversary in 2026. If you have walked past the papered windows and wondered, that is the answer.
Saturday mornings behind Tommy Bahama
The market is the constant, and the constant is worth walking to. The nationally recognized Third Street South farmers market was first established in 1994 and today reflects the participation of nearly 60 vendors, the majority of whom are local agriculturally based businesses. The market began as a seasonal venture over thirty years ago and has become a much-loved, year-round Naples institution. The market runs continuously every Saturday from 7:30am to 11:30am. The Summer Market takes place in the parking lot behind Tommy Bahama, every Saturday from 7:30am to 11:30am and draws from throughout the southwest Florida area.
The summer version is thinner than peak season, which is exactly its appeal. You can actually see the tables. A short list of vendors worth knowing by name:
- Casa del Loro, rustic Argentinian street food, empanadas that reviewers keep singling out.
- Bella Maria Café, quiches, tartelettes, empanadas.
- Anita's Guacamole, made fresh with chips and salsa.
- Care2Grow, locally grown mushrooms.
- Best Popcorn Company, tropical saltwater taffy in key lime, mango, banana, and tangerine.
- Bella's Cakes, butter and almond cookies, madeleines, and specialty coffee.
Bring a tote. The walk back to Aqualane Shores is short enough that the produce survives it.
Summer-only economics of a downtown dinner
The math of eating out in Naples inverts in July. Reservations open up, and several rooms actively price to bring locals back through the door.
| Room | Summer 2026 offer |
|---|---|
| Chops City Grill | 25% off entrees and steaks through summer. |
| Bistro 821 | Summer prix fixe menus with multi-course options at reduced price points. |
| Ocean Prime | Recurring happy hour specials in the lounge area with reduced prices on cocktails and small plates. |
A discount of that size at a Fifth Avenue steakhouse is the clearest signal there is about the shape of a Naples summer. Chops is one of the best steakhouses on Fifth Avenue South offering its sharpest discount of the year. Bistro 821, in the same walking district, uses the same lever with a different mechanism. The Fifth Avenue staple plays particularly well for date nights during the off-season.
Third Street rooms tend not to advertise discounts in the same way. What they offer instead is availability. As foot traffic drops from peak season, walk-in availability opens up at rooms that are effectively unreachable in February. That is the local's dividend for staying through the summer.
One evening addition worth putting on the calendar. The Club Room at Campiello showcases a reclaimed barn wood ceiling, commissioned art, and a performance stage. Starting on January 1, 2026, a brand-new music program features local and national talent. A quiet Wednesday walk over to Third for a set is a very different thing than fighting traffic for one in February.
What all of this adds up to
The summer story of Aqualane Shores in 2026 is not the beach. It is the ten minutes between your door and everything the rest of Naples is trying to get to. On one side, an eighteen-month construction project that is drawing the shape of the next twenty years of the Naples waterfront. On the other, two new rooms, a renovated corner at BiCE, a music stage at Campiello, a farmers market with sixty vendors, and a set of summer prices that a January visitor will never see.
For homeowners already here, the neighborhood is quietly rewarding the ones who stayed.
When you're ready to talk about what your Aqualane Shores home is worth in this market, or you're weighing a move within the same walking radius, The Beretta Group knows every one of these blocks by name. Schedule Your Consultation and let's walk it together.
