On the Miracle Mile, an Old Condo Is Partly a Bet on the Land Beneath It

"Those were '60s units, so they were a little small and they had so much land that they weren't using." That is how Parker Borelli, president of Borelli Construction, described the old Harbour Club at 1624 Gulf Shore Boulevard North in a Gulfshore Business feature on the Miracle Mile published this October. His company's group bought the 1.36-acre site for $17.5 million and plans to replace 21 units with 14 residences.

Borelli's line explains how this stretch of Naples is priced right now. Along the 1.3 miles from Doctors Pass south to the Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort, a low-rise unit from the 1960s is partly a home and partly a share of land that a developer might buy. The land share only pays out if the whole building agrees to sell. You can't make that happen with one unit, and the rules for that decision change depending on how the building is legally organized.

Same Layout, Different Outcomes

The clearest local example sits right next to Harbour Club. Hurricane Ian's storm surge wrecked Harbour Club's first floor, and the building's owners left it abandoned instead of renovating. A few residents were still living on the second floor and moved out the day before the sale closed. Next door, Reef Club has "basically the same layout and everything," Borelli told Gulfshore Business, and its owners remodeled their first floor.

The two buildings had the same storm, similar construction and similar sites, and they made opposite choices. Reef Club is a 1959 two-story cooperative with 14 units. Its owners still hold their homes and still hold their share of the land. Harbour Club's owners turned their land share into cash. Dividing $17.5 million by 21 units gives a simple gross average of about $833,000 per unit. That is a rough reference point and not a confirmed payout to any owner, since the Naples Daily News report on the sale does not detail how the money was split.

Developers say this choice comes up on a lot of boards. Brian Van Slyke, president of Kolter Urban, said that after Surfside and the changes to Florida statutes, "there's kind of a realization of what it's going to take to bring these properties up to current standards. So, that definitely factors into the board's decision whether to make a further investment or to sell." Under Florida's milestone inspection rules, residential condo and co-op buildings at least three habitable stories tall need an inspection once they reach 30 years old, and the association pays for it. The low-rises on the boulevard face that decision at different heights and different ages.

What the Ground Has Sold For

Each sale on the Miracle Mile since Ian shows what developers will pay for these sites. The table pulls together the publicly reported deals.

The Executive Club row matters most for an owner. The building was a four-story mid-rise from 1969. It was torn down in 2023, the same year the site sold to Youngquist Brothers for $60 million. In January 2025, Naples Daily News reported that Kolter Urban paid $92.5 million for the same 3.07 acres. That is about 54% more in roughly two years, and the increase went to whoever held the land after the first sale. An owner's share of the land is only worth what the building can get for it on the day the building sells.

Fewer units on the new projects doesn't automatically mean less density. Harbour House is cutting 21 units to 14. Mansion House had eight two-story co-op units and is becoming Rosewood's 42 residences, with asking prices from $12.75 million to $45 million. What a site can be rebuilt as depends on its size, frontage and approvals. That makes two vintage buildings with similar units potentially very different land holdings.

Who Decides, and How Many Votes It Takes

Buyers often miss this part, and it depends on whether the building is a condominium or a cooperative.

For a residential condominium, optional termination falls under Section 718.117 of the Florida Statutes. The main rules:

• A plan needs approval from at least 80% of the total voting interests, and every voting interest counts in that total.
• If owners holding 5% or more reject the plan, it can't go forward, and a new plan can't be considered for 24 months.
• When one bulk owner holds at least 80% of the votes, every other owner must receive at least 100% of fair market value as set by an independent appraiser. Owners with a homestead exemption who are current on their obligations get at least their original purchase price, plus a relocation payment equal to 1% of their proceeds.
• In that same bulk-owner case, owners living in their units can lease them back for 12 months if the former units are offered for rent to the public.
• Owners and lienholders get 90 days to challenge a recorded plan on limited grounds, including whether the proceeds were split fairly.

In practice, a building of around 20 units can be stopped from selling by one or two owners.

A cooperative works differently, and Harbour Club, Mansion House and Reef Club are all co-ops. In a co-op, the association holds title to the property. Each owner holds shares in the association plus a lease or other right to occupy a unit. Chapter 719 has no section matching the condominium termination statute. A sale of all or most of a co-op's property generally goes through corporate law instead. For a nonprofit association, Section 617.1202 requires a board resolution, written notice, and approval by at least a majority of the votes that members present at the meeting or represented by proxy are entitled to cast. For a for-profit association, Section 607.1202 requires board approval and a shareholder vote at a meeting with a quorum, and shareholders who dissent may have appraisal rights. Each association's own governing documents also affect what is actually required.

So the land share works differently in each case. In a condo, a small group of owners can block a sale. In a co-op, the threshold for a sale comes from the association's corporate form and its documents. A buyer comparing a condo and a co-op on the same block is comparing two different sets of sale rules, even if the units look the same.

The Street Outside Is Also Being Planned

City Hall is planning changes to the road these buildings share. At a City Council workshop on September 14, 2026, staff presented streetscape planning for Gulf Shore Boulevard North from 1065 to 2150. They showed three concepts: a central linear park, a two-lane road with linear parks on both sides, and a two-lane design with bioswales. The new Miracle Mile Committee met with staff on July 22 and September 3 and steered the near-term work toward plantings in the medians, keeping most of the existing parking, reviewing how parking is used, and fixing cracked sidewalks for ADA compliance. Longer-term items included connected sidewalks, traffic calming, stormwater work, and coordination on burying power lines. We could not confirm a final council vote from the workshop record.

The city is also doing a utilities analysis so that infrastructure upgrades line up with future streetscape projects. Developers are pricing new projects as if the boulevard will keep improving. Kolter Urban announced $197 million in construction financing for Olana on September 10, 2026. Groundbreakings for Olana and Harbour House were planned for this fall, but neither had been publicly confirmed as of this writing. Rosewood is scheduled for completion at the end of 2026, 3300 Gulf Shore is targeting summer 2028, and 2020 Gulf Shore is not expected to break ground until next spring.

Where the Resale Market Sits

The land share is one part of a vintage unit's value. The other part is what it would sell for to a regular buyer. In August 2026, the Naples Area Board of Realtors' "Naples Beach" condo category, which combines ZIP codes 34102, 34103 and 34108, recorded 54 sales at a median closed price of $852,500. That was up 13.7% from $750,000 in August 2025. Inventory was 547 listings, down 25.3% from a year earlier. Months of supply dropped from 10.9 to 6.3, and sellers received 93.1% of list price on average. NABOR's September report is due October 23.

These figures cover a wide area and include high-rises, so they don't price a specific 1960s building. Still, a tighter resale market makes selling units one at a time a stronger option than it was a year ago, and that changes what a board might weigh when a developer makes an offer. The difference between an $852,500 area median and Olana's $30 million starting price shows how much the land under a few acres of beachfront can be worth once a developer rebuilds on it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a developer sale mean the price I paid is protected? In a condominium termination where one bulk owner holds at least 80% of the votes, Section 718.117 sets fair market value as the minimum, with an original-purchase-price floor for homestead owners who meet the statute's conditions. Co-op sales go through corporate statutes and the association's documents, so a qualified attorney is the right person to explain how those apply to a particular building.

How can I tell whether a building is a condo or a co-op? The governing documents say. In a co-op, the buyer receives association shares and a lease instead of a deed to a unit.

Has any building rejected a developer offer? We found no public reports of a named Gulf Shore Boulevard North building voting on or rejecting an offer in 2025 or 2026. Owners can usually find a building's history in its board minutes.

If you're weighing a vintage unit on the Miracle Mile against a newer building, Kaleena Figaro Group can help you get the documents that matter: the association's governing documents, its board minutes, and the reported land sales on the block. That way you know what each address actually includes before you make an offer.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.