Project generates controversy

Collier County commissioners, against vocal opposition, recently approved a large expansion project for medial device manufacturer Arthrex, one of the largest companies and employers in Naples.

The seven-story, 189,000-square-foot building has the potential to redefine the already-busy Creekside Boulevard area of north Naples — which is essentially why county officials want it and area residents oppose it.

A $74.3 million project, the building will house research and development for Arthrex, which has created more than 9,500 products for orthopedic surgeons since entrepreneur Reinhold Schmieding founded the company in 1991. Arthrex had $1.9 billion in revenues last year and Schmieding, who generally shuns media interviews, was ranked No. 128 on the 2016 Forbes 400 list of the richest people nationwide.

Notable to county officials who approved the project, the planned complex will also make room for 560 new jobs. County officials previously approved more than $1 million in state and local subsidies for Arthrex in return for creating the high-paying jobs. The total incentive package could rise to as much as $6 million after other state programs kick in.

“We are very thankful that our county has joined us in supporting our mission because the approval to allow us to build an innovation center will impact people's lives throughout the world by allowing surgeons to treat their patients better,” Arthrex Vice President and legal counsel John Schmieding says in a statement. “We respect all community opinions and will conscientiously create an environment that will synergistically work with our surrounding communities.”

North Bay Civic Association President Doug Fee, one of the leaders of the opposition to the project, says his group isn't against Arthrex. The ire, instead, is toward Collier County commissioners who Fee says didn't take his group's over-developed and overcrowded concerns seriously. Fee specifically says the height of the main tower, which was already scaled down from 205 feet to the current 122 feet, remains out of place in the neighborhood. And he adds that the traffic on nearby Immokalee
Road and U.S. 41 will only get worse with this project.

“We're extremely disappointed in the outcome,” Fee tells Coffee Talk. “We felt the building could have been depressed down.”

The association opposed the project at an Oct. 25 meeting and online in a petition named “Say no to tall commercial buildings in north Naples.” More than 825 people signed the change.org petition through Oct. 31.

Fee adds that his organization, while it lost this battle, plans to continue its fight against commissioners and over-development. “This really rubs us the wrong way,” says Fee. “They have woken up a sleeping giant.”