Gayle Landen-Greene has sat through more presentations about the empty land across the street from her community than she can probably count. As president of the master association at Worthington Country Club, she's watched the pitch evolve for years, and by her own account, the neighbors she talks to are split on how they feel about it. That mix of anticipation and wait-and-see is a reasonable response to a project that has been announcing itself in pieces since before most of its buildings existed.
Midtown at Bonita, the 68-acre mixed-use development going up a quarter mile east of I-75 on Bonita Beach Road, has released tenant news in four distinct waves over roughly 22 months. Each wave reads like progress. Put them on a single timeline against the actual construction record, though, and a different story shows up: the leasing announcements and the physical build-out have been running on two separate clocks, and the gap between them is the part nobody has laid out plainly.
The Announcement Calendar Started Before the Dirt Moved
The first wave landed in October 2024, when the Zuckerman Group, the project's developer, named eight retail tenants: Chipotle Mexican Grill, Panera Bread, The Hangry Bison, Club Pilates, Good Vets, Jeff's Bagel Run, Noire the Nail Bar, and Bonita Beach Wine & Spirits. That was more than a year before a single shovel went into the ground.
The second wave came in February 2025, five more names: LowBrow Pizza & Beer (an existing East Naples craft pizza spot opening a second location), Pacific Dental Services, Mathnasium, Gelato & Co., and Beau's BBQ, which had been operating out of a food truck since 2019 and was finally making the jump to a permanent kitchen.
The third wave didn't arrive until February 2026, more than a year after that: TJ Maxx and Ulta Beauty, the project's first two national anchor stores, with TJ Maxx set to become the chain's southernmost Gulf Coast location.
A fourth wave followed in June 2026, five more tenants including Dana Tyler Boutique, Airport Donuts, Prime IV, and Fresh Monkee, rounding out what the developer describes as a mix of everyday convenience and lifestyle retail.
| Wave | Date | Tenants Named |
|---|---|---|
| First | October 2024 | Chipotle, Panera Bread, The Hangry Bison, Club Pilates, Good Vets, Jeff's Bagel Run, Noire the Nail Bar, Bonita Beach Wine & Spirits |
| Second | February 2025 | LowBrow Pizza & Beer, Pacific Dental Services, Mathnasium, Gelato & Co., Beau's BBQ |
| Third | February 2026 | TJ Maxx, Ulta Beauty |
| Fourth | June 2026 | Dana Tyler Boutique, Airport Donuts, Prime IV, Fresh Monkee |
That's four separate news cycles across nearly two years, each one treated as fresh progress. What the announcements don't tell you is how far behind them the actual buildings were running.
Groundbreaking Didn't Happen Until More Than a Year Later
The first tenants were named in October 2024. Midtown didn't break ground until November 6, 2025, just over a year after that first press release. Mayor Mike Gibson called it "a much-needed project on this side of town" at the ceremony, and Councilman Jim Fitzpatrick told reporters "this will become a gathering place." The optimism was real. The construction wasn't yet.
Once retail construction started that November, DeAngelis Diamond began work on 13 retail buildings, a mix of grey and white shell spaces built to accommodate whichever tenant eventually moved in. By February 2026, three months in, Andrew Zuckerman said several of those buildings were already close to being topped off, and the first tenants, TJ Maxx and Ulta among them, were expected to take possession of their spaces that spring to begin their own interior buildouts.
By June 2026, the timeline had advanced again: retail tenants were taking possession in the coming weeks for buildouts, and openings were projected to begin by the end of the year. That's the most recent word on the record. As of this writing in August 2026, no storefront at Midtown has opened.
Run the full math and the gap is stark. From the first tenant announcement in October 2024 to the earliest opening the developer has floated, the end of 2026, is roughly 26 months. Two years of tenant news before a single door opens to the public.
"That's the reason we bought this site," said Ryan Zuckerman, who is spearheading the project. "They needed something like this to use and enjoy."
Which Names Are Actually Closest to a Front Door
If you're trying to guess which businesses you'll actually walk into first, the possession dates matter more than the press releases. TJ Maxx and Ulta Beauty are the only two tenants confirmed to have taken physical possession of their spaces as of the most recent update, which puts them ahead of everyone else named across all four announcement waves. National retailers with corporate build-out teams tend to move faster once they have keys, simply because the interior fit-out is a repeatable process they've done in dozens of other locations.
The smaller, local concepts likely tell a different story. LowBrow Pizza & Beer already runs a working kitchen in East Naples and is essentially replicating a proven layout, which should shorten its build-out compared to a business assembling its first permanent location from scratch. Beau's BBQ falls into that second category. Seven years running a food truck is a different operation than fitting out a full-service restaurant kitchen for the first time, and that transition typically takes longer than a national chain's standard rollout.
None of this is confirmed by the developer directly. It's a reasonable read of how commercial construction usually plays out, not a promise about specific opening dates.
A Different Corner of Bonita Than the One Making Headlines Downtown
If you've been reading about restaurants and events on Old 41, that's a separate story from this one. The two developments sit on opposite sides of the city, with different operators, different developers, and different timelines entirely. Midtown sits a quarter mile east of I-75 on Bonita Beach Road, directly across from Worthington Country Club, and it's being built by the Zuckerman Group, a family-owned business marking its 100th anniversary after four generations in the Southwest Florida market since 1924.
The site includes more than 30 acres set aside for preserves, lakes, and open space, part of how the project manages stormwater on a parcel that drains into the Kehl Canal and Imperial River Watershed. The finished development is meant to serve more than just Bonita Springs residents. The Zuckerman Group has repeatedly framed it as a hub for Naples, Estero, and Fort Myers as well, reducing the drive for everyday errands across several nearby communities.
What to Actually Watch For
If you live near this corner, the press releases will keep coming, because leasing announcements are cheap to produce and easy to publish. The signal worth tracking is quieter: which shell buildings have visible signage going up, which storefronts have interior lighting on in the evening, and whether the developer's end-of-2026 opening window holds once autumn arrives. That's the difference between a tenant list and a functioning retail corridor, and right now, Midtown Bonita is still on the tenant-list side of that line.
If you're weighing what any of this means for property values or timing a move near this corridor, that's a conversation worth having with someone who tracks Bonita Springs day to day. James Boyer works this market from Cape Coral through Naples and can walk you through what a development like this typically does to nearby demand once it actually opens its doors. You can also browse current listings and local context on the Bonita Springs neighborhood page. Let's Connect when you're ready to talk specifics.
