"It won't come to us for approval or rejection. It never has. It never will." Collier County Commissioner Chris Hall said that to Seagate and Pelican Bay neighbors at a commission meeting on March 24, 2026, as Gulfshore Business reported. He was explaining what county commissioners would and would not be deciding about Clam Pass Cove, the 3.3-acre water amenity that Naples Grande Beach Resort proposed for the eastern edge of its property.
Just over seven months later, the two halves of the resort's plans are on very different schedules. The hotel half has a firm date. On Jan. 1, 2027, the resort at the west end of Seagate Drive reopens as Signia Hilton Naples Grande Beach Resort. The Clam Pass Cove half is tabled while appeals filed by the Pelican Bay Foundation and the Bay Villas Association remain pending. Those appeals ask what the property's original zoning allows, and the answer determines whether a revised water amenity on the resort's tennis courts would need public PUD hearings.
The hotel half finishes Dec. 31
Most of Naples Grande has been closed since April 1 for a $100 million renovation, the biggest in the resort's history, according to Gulfshore Business. The work covers redesigned rooms, suites and villas, a new arrival area and lobby, new dining concepts, and upgrades to the spa, wellness facilities, pools and event spaces. The resort's own website lists it as closed for renovations through Dec. 31, 2026.
Hilton's announcement came out Sept. 10 and was updated Oct. 14. It says the 474-room resort, which includes 50 villas, will be the first Signia Hilton on Florida's Gulf Coast and the brand's third in the state, after Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek and Signia by Hilton Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood. Reservations are open for stays beginning Jan. 1, 2027. Hilton Honors members who book three nights or more between Jan. 15 and July 15, 2027 get 5,000 bonus points.
The kitchen has new leadership. Chef Asif Syed, previously of 21 Spices, became the resort's culinary director in early September and oversees both the restaurants and the banquets, Naples Press reported. Gary Sims will lead the reopened resort as managing director.
The closure also affected staff. Pyramid Naples Management temporarily laid off 235 employees, according to a filing with the state under the WARN Act.
Five names at one Seagate Drive address
Signia is the property's fifth name in roughly 40 years. Each change came with an ownership change or a renovation budget:
| Year | Name | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Registry Resort & Club | Built and operated independently for nearly two decades |
| 2005 | Naples Grande Resort | Renamed after Blackstone bought it in 2004 as part of its Boca Resorts portfolio |
| 2009 to 2012 | Waldorf Astoria Naples | Joined Hilton's Waldorf Astoria collection in 2009; took the Waldorf Astoria name in 2012 |
| 2014 | Naples Grande Beach Resort | Northwood Investors bought it in 2013, dropped the Hilton affiliation in 2014 and undertook an $18 million renovation |
| 2027 | Signia Hilton Naples Grande Beach Resort | $100 million renovation under Henderson Park and South Street Partners |
London-based Henderson Park and South Street Partners paid $248 million in 2022 for the resort, its 18-hole golf course and its 15-court tennis center. That tennis center sits at the center of the dispute described below.
The other half of the plan is on hold, on the tennis courts
Clam Pass Cove would replace tennis courts on the eastern side of the resort property with water slides, a lazy river, pools, splash-play areas and food and beverage service. Resort representatives have called it a hotel amenity. Opponents call it a water park and point to noise, traffic and parking. Gulfshore Business reported that neighbors also raised concerns about slides of roughly 21 to 25 feet, ground-level speakers and cooking odors from a planned cafe. Seagate Drive also serves a school, a church and the main entrance to Clam Pass Park.
In May, the resort withdrew its site development plan amendment. According to an update from the Park Shore Association, county staff told the attorney for Pelican Bay's Bay Villas that the resort was tabling the water park "for now" so it could proceed with the hotel remodel. The same update says the appeals would continue and that "the hotel may reconsider once those appeals are decided."
So the January reopening finishes the hotel project, and the water amenity question stays open until the appeals are decided.
How the dispute reached an appeal
- Pre-application. Naples Grande submitted pre-application plans for Clam Pass Cove to the county.
- March 20. According to Gulfshore Business, Planning and Zoning Director Mike Bosi issued official interpretations rejecting objections about setbacks, parking and compatibility with the surrounding area. He noted that the preplanning documents were not final and that the finished design might not be "injurious to the neighborhood, or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare."
- March 24. At a Board of County Commissioners meeting, Chair Dan Kowal said public comment would be taken at a future hearing if the matter came before the board, and that a petition challenging Bosi's interpretation would have to be filed first.
- April 17. The Pelican Bay Foundation, Pelican Bay's master association, filed an administrative appeal. The Bay Villas Association, whose community sits right next to the resort, filed several appeals of its own.
- May. The resort withdrew its site development plan amendment and tabled the project. The appeals stayed active.
- Fall. The No Waterpark Coalition, led in part by Seagate Property Owners Association president Patrick Wack, has posted that it expects the Board of County Commissioners to hear the zoning appeals this fall. The Board of Zoning Appeals section of the commission's Oct. 27 agenda did not include the Clam Pass Cove appeals. The next commission meeting on the county calendar is Nov. 10.
In March, Gulfshore Business reported that Wack had cited nearly 5,000 signatures opposing the project and nearly $150,000 raised.
What the appeal can decide
Commissioner Hall's March remarks spell out what the appeal covers. When the commission sits as the Board of Zoning Appeals, it will not vote on Clam Pass Cove. "We would be making a decision on what the true stance of the original intent was," he said, according to Gulfshore Business. The same report noted that any ruling would likely factor into a possible court case.
The Pelican Bay Foundation's appeal frames that question through three arguments, as summarized by the Gulf Shore Association of Condominiums:
- The county should not treat the project as a customary accessory use of the hotel that can go forward without a Planned Unit Development amendment.
- The county should not rely on a "destination resort hotel" classification, a use the Foundation says the PUD does not recognize.
- The amenity, or any of the hotel's amenities, should not be open to people who are not overnight guests.
The Foundation's core argument is that the size and nature of the proposed water park go well beyond typical hotel amenities and amount to a substantial change in land use that should go through public hearings. If the county's interpretation stands, a revised Clam Pass Cove could come back as a site plan without a public PUD hearing. If the appeal succeeds, a project of this size would go through PUD amendment hearings and their approval safeguards, as the Foundation argues it should. Either outcome applies to the land long after the tennis courts are gone, and it would carry over to whatever the property is called in the future.
The park at the end of the road runs on a separate schedule
Clam Pass Park shares Seagate Drive with the resort, and its work runs on the county's schedule rather than the resort's.
Collier County began sand reclamation and maintenance excavation at Clam Pass on Nov. 3, 2025. The work moved shoaled inlet sand onto nearby beaches and included a 2,000-foot dune and mangrove restoration. A separate grant-funded Hurricane Ian repair package, bid 26-8629, covers utility support along the timber boardwalk, mechanical, electrical and plumbing work at the concessions platform, and alternates for rail and hardware repairs and roughly 5,000 square feet of new Ipe decking. Bids were due May 22, 2026. Of the five bids submitted, Infinite Construction, LLC had the lowest total at $2,175,375, and the county procurement portal lists the project as under evaluation.
For now, Collier County Parks lists the basics: the three-quarter-mile boardwalk, a free beach tram, park hours from 6 a.m. to sunset, and a $10 parking fee for vehicles without a Collier County Resident Beach Parking Permit. Starting in December, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida leads guided nature walks on the boardwalk and along the beach and bay, Monday through Saturday through April.
On Seagate Drive, the Conservancy walks start in December, the 474-room resort reopens Jan. 1, and the park's Hurricane Ian repair contract is under evaluation. The water amenity proposed for the resort's eastern edge will remain on hold until the appeals are decided.
If you're keeping an eye on the Seagate Drive area, whether you live near the resort or own a home in Pelican Bay, I'm glad to talk through how the January reopening and the pending appeal might affect your plans. Let's Connect with Michael Moreiras.
