What's Actually New in Coquina Sands This Summer: A Resident's Field Guide
July 23, 2026
July 23, 2026
For years, living in Coquina Sands meant a short bike ride to the beach and a longer one to almost everything else worth doing. That equation has quietly flipped. The neighborhood's southern edge now holds a Four Seasons resort with a James Beard chef running the kitchen, its northern anchor park is mid-rebuild, and the boulevard you use to reach both of them has been re-poured with wider bike lanes and safer crosswalks. If you own on Banyan, Crayton, or Mandarin, the walkable radius from your front door is materially larger this July than it was last July. Here is what changed, and what to do about it before season starts.
Lowdermilk Park has been operating without its north-side playground since Hurricane Ian took it out in September 2022. That is about to change. Lowdermilk Park is looking at a nearly $700,000 expansion, and the Naples City Council is set to vote on a $699,787 agreement with Playmore West Inc. for the purchase and installation of a new playground and covered gazebo at the park, replacing the park's previous playground on the north side that was destroyed by Hurricane Ian in 2022.
The funding structure is worth knowing if you use the park with grandchildren or host family in season. Funding for the expansion would come from a combination of two previously approved park enhancement projects and a $250,000 donation from the Nommensen family, with the gazebo, originally planned as part of a 2025 park improvement project, postponed after construction bids exceeded the available budget. If approved, the plan also would update the city's 2025-26 budget to provide an additional $250,000 from the Beach Fund to help cover project costs. That "bids exceeded budget" line explains why the gazebo has been a hole in the ground for a year. Construction pricing in coastal Collier has not cooperated with municipal timelines, and private philanthropy is now filling the gap on what is technically a public park.
For residents, the practical read: expect construction fencing on the north lawn during peak beach months, and plan morning walks toward the south pavilion instead. The finished addition should give the park a real gathering space for the first time since 2022, which matters if you have been driving to Cambier or Fleischmann for a covered picnic table.
The Naples Beach Club, A Four Seasons Resort opened in November 2025 on the old Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club site, and the dining program has been rolling out in phases ever since. The headline for anyone who walks or bikes from Coquina Sands: three of the venues are open to the public without a hotel key.
The Merchant Room, HB's, and Sunset Bar are all open to the public, and valet parking is $15 with restaurant validation. Better yet, you can walk. From most of Coquina Sands the resort is a ten-minute stroll down Gulf Shore Boulevard, no valet ticket required.
The Merchant Room is the one that changes the neighborhood's dining math. It was created by Gavin Kaysen, a two-time James Beard Award winner who trained under Daniel Boulud at Cafe Boulud NYC, and this is Kaysen's first restaurant outside Minneapolis, where he runs Spoon and Stable and Demi. Signatures include in-house dry-aged steaks and house-made pasta, with the menu pitched as a New American brasserie.
The new addition worth putting on your calendar is Sunday Supper. Beginning Sunday, May 31, 2026, Chef Gavin Kaysen's Sunday Supper is a weekly three-course dining experience inspired by the tradition of gathering around the table, blending seasonal ingredients with a nod to elevated Midwestern cuisine. The offering is USD 68 per person with an optional wine pairing selected by the sommelier, served every Sunday from 5:00 to 9:00 pm throughout the summer. For a walkable, three-course dinner from a James Beard kitchen at $68, it is the most interesting standing reservation in the neighborhood.
A quick note on what is still coming, because it affects planning. A fifth venue, The Wager sports gastropub with bowling, opens in Q3 2026. The 30,000-square-foot Sanctuary Spa and the Tom Fazio-designed golf course, called The Gardens, are also 2026 openings. Which brings up the one construction-related upside for Coquina Sands residents: The Gardens will open in the fall of 2026 as its completion is limited by the construction access road that ensures there is no construction traffic in Coquina Sands from the development. The developer routed heavy trucks away from your street on purpose.
HB's and Sunset Bar are the two spots to know if you would rather stay in flip-flops. HB's is the only true beachfront restaurant in Old Naples, and Sunset Bar reclaims its position as the best place in the city to enjoy the sunset with sips and Latin-inspired bites. If you have been eating at Baleen or the Turtle Club for a decade because they were the only walkable-ish sunset options north of the Pier, that is a real change to your rotation.
For a broader summer play, the Ritz-Carlton is running its usual seasonal deal. One of Southwest Florida's best summer dining deals is back, giving locals an opportunity to enjoy a meal at four different upscale restaurants for $45 per person, with the Ritz-Carlton Naples' Dining Passport available now until Sept. 30 at four participating restaurants: Dusk, Sofra, Lobby Bar, and Nolita. That is a 15-minute drive up Gulf Shore, and worth pairing with a shoulder-season Merchant Room reservation on the way back down.
Even if you never eat at any of the above, the street you use every day was rebuilt underneath you. Following the City's completion of its water line along Gulf Shore Boulevard North and its north outfall pump station in 8th Avenue North, the new Gulf Shore Boulevard North fully opened, with new enhancements including landscaped medians, upgraded sidewalks with pavers, safer crosswalks with a new pedestrian warning light system, and new bike lanes on both sides of the boulevard, plus shade trees on GSBN and Oleander Drive to improve the pedestrian experience.
Bike lanes on both sides matter more than they sound. The old configuration pushed northbound cyclists into the traffic lane past Casamore, which is where most residents were making the run to Vanderbilt for coffee or to the Pier for dinner. The new geometry means you can commit to a beach cruiser for most of your daily errands without threading the needle around parked landscaping trucks.
If you are the one hosting the out-of-town guests this summer, three names from the wider Naples restaurant class of 2026 are worth putting on the list. New dining spots in Naples include Heyday Cookshop in Neapolitan Way, Ce Soir in Bayfront, and Clay Pot Naples in Tanglewood Marketplace, with downtown newcomers Annie's Bistro in the new Olde Naples Hotel, Tiny Kitchen Empanadas on Park Street, and All Too Well Gourmet Sandwiches and Barrio Taqueria along Fifth Avenue South. Heyday is the one to book first. Its predecessor Bicyclette Cookshop debuted in 2023 and earned chef Kayla Pfeiffer a James Beard Foundation Emerging Chef semifinalist nod.
A neighborhood's character shifts when the walkable radius changes, not when any single restaurant opens. Coquina Sands has always had the location. What is new in 2026 is that the location finally delivers a beach park with a functioning playground, a boulevard you can bike safely, and a resort at the corner running public dinners from a Beard-winning kitchen. The tree canopy, the quiet streets, and the mid-century condos on Gulf Shore are the same as they were. The perimeter is not.
If you are thinking through what this stretch of coast looks like a year from now, or you have a house here and want a candid read on how the Four Seasons and The Residences are shaping values on your specific street, Cheena Chandra at Premier Sotheby's International Realty is happy to talk. Let's connect.
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