Walk the corner of Third Street South and Broad Avenue this week and you'll pass two buildings that share a wall and almost nothing else. On one side, the Olde Naples Hotel has its porch rockers out and Annie's Bistro humming with an evening crowd, the kind of scene the Opal Collection spent more than a decade planning for this exact block. On the other side, behind the same stretch of sidewalk, the century-old Olde Naples Building sits dark, its windows still waiting on a tenant that isn't coming.
The Camalier family owns both properties, and the two buildings sit at very different points this year. Together they frame what has and hasn't changed on this block since spring.
The restaurant that didn't happen
For years, the corner building was the neighborhood's most anticipated opening. Built in 1921, it once housed Naples' first town hall, courthouse, movie theater and library before becoming a grocery, then Fantozzi's deli and wine shop, which closed in 2006. It sat empty after that. In February 2022, Ohio restaurateur Rick Doody signed a lease with the Camalier family, who have owned the building for more than 40 years, to open JoJo's Bar, a high-end Italian-American steakhouse. Doody, a second-home owner in Kalea Bay and co-founder of the Bravo Brio Restaurant Group, spent three years working through storm surge damage from Hurricane Ian and a slow-moving fight with the city over outdoor dining and parking for a building too old to have either.
Then, on May 15, 2026, the same day the Olde Naples Hotel opened its doors next door, Doody got a phone call. The Camalier family had decided to go a different direction. The lease was terminated four days later.
"I'm really shocked and dismayed about the termination"
That's Doody, describing the call in a report from the Naples Press. As of a follow-up published in late July, the situation remained unresolved, the on-and-off project reported as off again, with no new tenant named. Barring an announcement since then, the building that has already sat empty for 20 years is heading into its 21st with no restaurant, no timeline and no clear next step.
The family owns both the hotel and the corner building, and the news about the restaurant came the day the hotel opened. Published reporting does not say why the family changed direction or what it plans for the space, so the timing is what is on the record.
What's actually new is mostly what was already here
Look past that corner and the pattern across the rest of Third Street and Fifth Avenue South is reinvention, not replacement. The operators who mattered most to how the streets already felt largely stayed and changed what they were doing, rather than making room for someone new.
Chef Vincenzo Betulia ran French Rustique Brasserie on Fifth Avenue South for years before converting the same space into Tulia Italian Steak in 2025, adding an outdoor bar and shifting the menu toward Italian steak and pasta. A few blocks west, Roma Italian Bistro & Pizzeria relocated into the former KJ Sushi space and relaunched under the same operator as Ottimo on 5th Cucina & Bar. Same street, same ownership, new name on the door.
| Before | After | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| French Rustique Brasserie | Tulia Italian Steak | Same operator, same address, added outdoor bar, Italian steak menu |
| Roma Italian Bistro & Pizzeria | Ottimo on 5th Cucina & Bar | Same operator, relocated into former KJ Sushi space |
| Vacant since 2006 | Still vacant | JoJo's Bar lease terminated May 19, 2026 |
Even the additions that read as new arrivals mostly come from people who were already fixtures here. Stefano Frittella, a longtime presence on Fifth Avenue, opened La Salière off Third Street South this year, a fine-dining Italian concept carrying the culinary lineage of a Monte Carlo restaurant that has run since 1982. Barrio Taqueria opened February 18 at 539 Fifth Ave. S., the second Naples restaurant from Ignacio Muñoz, whose Unidos has been serving Latin American small plates on Ninth Street South for two years already. All Too Well Gourmet Sandwiches, a counter-service concept built around schiacciata sandwiches from Chef Mitchell Jamra, opened February 12 at 795 Fifth Ave. S. It's one of the few true outside arrivals this season, and notably it's small: a sandwich counter, not an institutional buyer with 40 years of neighborhood real estate behind it.
The retail side tells a similar story. Flora & Fauna at 719 12th Avenue South started as a floral studio and expanded into a full storefront with a champagne bar and a curated gift collection, the kind of growth that happens when an existing business outgrows its footprint rather than when a new one arrives. Perch, a women's contemporary clothing boutique at 370 12th Avenue South, is a genuine newcomer, making its Naples debut from a Vail, Colorado brand. Hayes Haberdashery at 97 Ninth Street North brings a menswear boutique, tailored clothing and custom footwear, to a street that has historically leaned toward womenswear and home goods, filling a gap rather than competing for one already crowded.
Set against that pattern, the hotel stands out as the year's one large new arrival on Third Street South, more than a decade in the making. The building next to it is the one place where a long-anticipated opening did not happen, and the family had not responded to requests for comment in the reporting available.
What's on the calendar right now
For residents, the practical version of all this is what's actually happening on the ground between now and the holidays.
- The Third Street South Autumn Sidewalk Sale runs Thursday, October 15 through Sunday, October 18, with a French-themed "Bon Marché" spirit across the merchants along the street.
- Books on Third, the neighborhood's independent bookstore on Third Street South, has an early release event for Rebecca Yarros's new novel on September 29, alongside its usual personalized shopping consultations.
- The Third Street South Farmers Market, now in its 30th year, continues on its Saturday schedule from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m., with the market's location shifting between its summer footprint in the lot behind Tommy Bahama and its on-street spot as the winter season sets in.
- Stone crab season opens in mid-October, with Tin City's annual festival marking the start of it along the Naples waterfront.
None of this requires waiting for a new development to open. It's the same rhythm the market has run on for three decades, still anchored by a rule against national chains that has held since 1994.
What to actually watch
If you live near Third Street South, the corner worth checking on periodically isn't the hotel. It's the building next to it. A new tenant announcement there would be the first real signal of what the Camalier family decided to do instead of JoJo's Bar, and it would end a vacancy that predates most of the other changes on this block by two decades. Until then, most of what is new on Third Street South and Fifth Avenue this fall comes from operators who were already on these streets.
If you're weighing what any of this means for a property near Third Street South or Fifth Avenue South, Michael Moreiras can walk you through it. Let's Connect.
