The Port Royal Club's first season in its new clubhouse has an official start date, and it comes before the grand opening. Over the summer, the club told the City of Naples it expected a grand opening in October 2026. The calendar that City Council approved in September moves the grand opening to Thursday, December 10. A Welcome Back evening on November 19 opens the season three weeks earlier.
That order says a lot about the building the club has spent four years waiting for. Most of what the city approved this fall involves outdoor space: added dining toward the Gulf, outdoor live music and tents at nearly every big event. The new clubhouse at 2900 Gordon Drive is three stories tall, but its first season is planned around evenings on the beach side.
The first season, date by date
All of these events come from a City of Naples special events memo dated August 17, 2026. The City Clerk's preliminary voting record shows Council approved them 7-0 on its September 16 consent agenda.
| Event | Date | Hours | Estimated attendance | Tents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome Back | Thursday, Nov. 19, 2026 | 5 to 10 p.m. | 500 | Yes |
| Grand Opening | Thursday, Dec. 10, 2026 | 5 to 10 p.m. | 500 | Yes |
| Santa Brunch and Nutcracker | Sunday, Dec. 20, 2026 | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | 250 | No |
| New Year's Eve | Thursday, Dec. 31, 2026 | 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. | 400 | Yes |
| Seafood Extravaganza | Jan. 14, Feb. 15 and Mar. 11, 2027 | 5 to 10 p.m. | 500 | Yes |
The memo lists each Port Royal Club event as private, with onsite parking, alcohol, amplified sound and no street closure request. Amplified sound is the reason each of the club's events needed Council approval at all.
Naples Press reported that membership is limited to people who live in Port Royal, so for most households in the neighborhood this table doubles as a social calendar for the winter. That makes it worth having on the refrigerator before Thanksgiving.
Four seasons in temporary quarters
The dates matter because of how long members have gone without a clubhouse. Naples Press also reported that Hurricane Ian destroyed the 65-year-old club on September 28, 2022. In December 2022, City Council approved temporary trailers on site for food, beverage, dining, restrooms and storage, and that permit was renewed more than once. A 2024 valet plan filed with the city described temporary evening dining tents and modular units at the club's tennis facility, on the east side of Gordon Drive, while the beachside clubhouse was rebuilt.
The approvals for the rebuild took most of 2024:
- August 21, 2024. City Council unanimously approved the conditional use for a larger, three-level clubhouse, a new pool and deck, dining, outdoor seating and a two-story garage, as Naples Press reported.
- September 25, 2024. Final Design Review Board approval cleared the way for construction permits. Gulfshore Business reported that the club then expected to break ground in December and finish in late 2026.
- June 2025. In a city application, the club described construction as well underway and estimated completion in summer 2026.
- June 30, 2026. The club's outdoor dining petition said reconstruction was nearing completion and management was fine-tuning operations for an October grand opening.
The finish line has moved from summer to October to a December grand opening. Even so, the project has stayed close to the "late 2026" target the club gave in 2024.
Why November comes before December
One detail in the September approvals explains why the grand opening comes after the season starts. On September 2, Council approved a live entertainment permit for the club. It allows amplified music indoors and non-amplified music outdoors, seven days a week, in several locations across 2755 and 2900 Gordon Drive. Council also reworded one of the permit's conditions to depend on "issuance of certificate of occupancy" rather than "approval."
So the city's paperwork is written for a building still finishing up. The certificate of occupancy is the step that turns a construction site into a working clubhouse. Holding a Welcome Back evening in November and a grand opening in December gives the club room to open in stages.
The December 10 date also overlaps with downtown. The memo notes that An Evening on 5th is scheduled for 5th Avenue South that night, and city staff concluded the two events will not conflict.
A clubhouse built to face the Gulf
The building itself explains why the season is planned outdoors. Suffolk Construction, which built the clubhouse to a design by Hart Howerton, describes it this way:
- About 62,000 square feet of amenities, dining areas and kitchens across three stories
- About 12,000 square feet of covered outdoor space, including a porte cochere, cabanas and dining areas
- 10,000 square feet of open-air event space and pools
- A 100,000-square-foot parking garage and service area
- A separate building of roughly 3,000 square feet for support functions, kitchen facilities and a kids club
Square footage figures vary by source. The 2024 Council coverage gave 77,000 square feet for the clubhouse, while Suffolk lists the project at 69,000.
Naples Press described the dining plan as several distinct spaces: poolside dining by the beach, a Gulf-view restaurant on the main level, dining on the upper floor, indoor and outdoor bars, and smaller family dining rooms. A banquet room for up to 150 can open into the family restaurant for member events. The same outlet called the design West Indies-inspired, with a Gulf-front infinity pool.
Before the building opened, the club asked for more outdoor seating. Council had approved outdoor dining areas on the Gulf-front property in August 2024. In its June 2026 petition, the club cited the growing popularity of outdoor dining and requests from members, and asked for another 4,370 square feet at ground level, centrally located and facing the Gulf. That space holds 18 tables, 72 chairs and 26 chaise lounges. The petition says the area is expected to operate from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., possibly fewer hours depending on seasonal demand. Council approved it 7-0 on September 2.
That area was originally planned as landscaping and beach. Members will open the new clubhouse with more outdoor tables than the 2024 approval allowed.
What the winter looks like from Gordon Drive
For neighbors along Gordon Drive, the event memo is mostly a schedule of setup days. Each tented event has a setup window that opens three days before the event, and setup and takedown days run 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.:
- Welcome Back setup begins Monday, November 16, with takedown November 20.
- Grand Opening setup begins Monday, December 7, with takedown December 11.
- New Year's Eve setup begins Monday, December 28, with takedown Saturday, January 2.
- The three Seafood Extravaganza nights each start setup three days ahead, on January 11, February 12 and March 8, with takedown the following day.
The Santa Brunch on December 20 has no tents, just a two-hour setup that morning and an hour of takedown afterward.
Parking stays on the club's property. At the same September 2 meeting, Council approved an updated parking analysis for the club. The petition's figures show that the new outdoor dining and updated as-built measurements raise estimated parking demand from 318 spaces to 325, and the club will provide 343, not counting spaces for golf carts and bicycles. The fitness club and nine tennis courts remain across the street at 2755 Gordon Drive.
New Year's Eve runs latest, until 1 a.m. Every other evening event on the calendar ends at 10 p.m.
The holiday week also has a public event on Naples Bay. The Christmas Boat Parade on Naples Bay is scheduled for Saturday, December 19, from 6:15 to 8:30 p.m., hosted at the Naples City Dock. That's the night before the club's Santa Brunch and Nutcracker.
Whether you're counting down to the Welcome Back evening on November 19 or thinking about how a reopened club fits into life in Port Royal, I'm glad to talk it through. Linda Kennedy has followed this neighborhood's recovery since Ian and can help you weigh what the new clubhouse means for your own plans. Let's Connect.
