Ask three people at the Piazza when the new Sports and Lifestyle Center opens and you will get three different answers. One says next summer. One says two summers from now. One just shrugs and points at the crane.
All three are right, because the project everyone calls "the new sports center" is actually two separate buildings on two separate schedules, and the gap between those schedules is the part worth understanding if you live here.
One Construction Site, Two Different Buildings
The Club at Mediterra's board approved this project back in February 2025, and by March 2026 the club had made it official in a public announcement, with general manager and chief operating officer Carmen Mauceri describing the goal directly.
"The Sports & Lifestyle Center is designed to reflect how our members live today. It prioritizes flexibility, wellness and connection while maintaining the design integrity that distinguishes The Club at Mediterra."
What that announcement did not spell out clearly, and what has caused most of the confusion around town, is that "the Sports & Lifestyle Center" is shorthand for a two-phase build. Phase 1 is a standalone Fitness & Wellness building going up on open land at the Piazza. Phase 2 does not exist yet. It is what happens to the current Sports Club building after Phase 1 opens and members have somewhere else to go.
That sequencing is the whole story. The site plan was drawn specifically so the existing Sports Club could keep running lockers, classes, and the pool while the new building rises next door. Nothing closes until Phase 1 is finished and members have already moved in.
What's Actually on the Ground Right Now
As of August 18, 2026, the project hit a real milestone: vertical construction complete. Roofing crews had finished the peel-and-stick underlayment ahead of tile, interior crews had moved into plumbing, electrical, fire-sprinkler, and duct work, and new pavers were going down around the building footprint. If you have driven past the Piazza recently, that is the structure you are seeing take shape, not a rendering anymore.
The design and construction team behind it reads like a who's who of Southwest Florida institutional building: architecture by David Corban Architects, general contracting by BUILD, interiors by HINT | Harris Interiors, and landscape engineering by LJA Engineering. The project carries a board-reported price tag of $38 million, according to community and trade reporting on the build.
What Phase 1 Actually Adds
Mauceri put Phase 1's size at approximately 28,000 square feet in an August conversation with the trade publication Club + Resort Business. The club's earlier program notice broke that space down into specifics:
- A 5,600 square foot fitness room
- Locker rooms expanded to 2,400 square feet, with plunge pools and infrared saunas
- A yoga, fusion, and functional studio at roughly 1,600 square feet
- A spin room around 600 square feet
- A Pilates room near 900 square feet
- A spa with five treatment rooms
- A café, plus lifestyle and meeting rooms, including a dedicated ladies' card room
- A bocce garden and terraces
- A porte cochere, grand staircase, and cupola marking the entrance
That is a materially different building than the current Sports Club, which has served the community's fitness, tennis, and bocce programs for years from its spot adjacent to the main clubhouse.
The Two Finish Lines, Side by Side
| Phase 1: Fitness & Wellness | Phase 2: Pool & Dining | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | About 27,000 to 28,000 sq ft | About 6,000 sq ft |
| What it holds | Fitness center, spa, studios, expanded lockers, café | Casual restaurant and bar, resort-style pool, additional lockers, space reserved for future racquet use |
| Target | Summer 2027 | Summer 2028, after Phase 1 opens |
| Status this month | Vertical construction complete, interiors underway | Not yet started. Current Sports Club building remains fully open |
The club's original program announcement set completion of the full two-phase project around summer 2028. Trade coverage in August 2026 confirmed that Phase 1 itself remains on track for summer 2027, with the complete build, demolition and Phase 2 included, still aimed at that original 2028 horizon. Neither timeline is wrong. They are answering different questions: when do members get the new building, and when is the whole project actually done.
Why This Fall Looks Ordinary
If you are playing tennis, dropping into a Pilates class, or heading to bocce league night this season, none of that changes. The entire logic of building Phase 1 on open land first, rather than renovating the existing Sports Club in place, was to avoid exactly the kind of disruption that hits so many club communities mid-renovation. Members keep their current building until the replacement is ready to move into.
The disruption, when it comes, will be brief by comparison: after Phase 1 opens in 2027, the existing Sports Club comes down to make way for Phase 2's restaurant, bar, and resort-style pool. That is a demolition and rebuild on a roughly 6,000 square foot footprint, not a from-scratch 28,000 square foot undertaking, which is part of why the club expects that stretch to close out by summer 2028 rather than stretch further.
Everything else on the property continues on its own separate track. The two Tom Fazio-designed golf courses, the private Beach Club on Little Hickory Island, and the nearly eight miles of trails connecting Mediterra's themed parks are not part of this project and are not affected by it. If your Mediterra routine runs through the fairways or the Gulf-front cabana service rather than the Sports Club, this construction is background noise at most.
The investment also lands against a specific backdrop worth knowing. The club recently earned Elite status from Distinguished Clubs for the 13th consecutive year running, a distinction reserved for a small fraction of private clubs nationally. A $38 million rebuild of the fitness and wellness campus is the kind of capital commitment that keeps a club in that tier rather than a one-off amenity chase.
What to Watch For
If you want to track the project yourself, the visible signals worth watching are straightforward. Roofing and tile work on Phase 1 should progress through the fall, followed by interior buildout, mechanical systems, and finishes heading into 2027. The real signal that Phase 2 is starting will be far more obvious: fencing and demolition equipment appearing around the current Sports Club itself, which won't happen until members have already moved their routines into the new building.
For members weighing how this affects day-to-day life at Mediterra, the short version is that 2026 and most of 2027 look like business as usual at the current Sports Club, with a new building rising alongside it rather than replacing it outright. The bigger shift, the one that actually changes where you play tennis or grab lunch after a workout, is still roughly two years out.
Members who want the fuller picture of how the club's amenities fit together, from the golf courses to the Beach Club to the trail network, can find that laid out on our Mediterra neighborhood page, alongside our earlier look at what daily life inside Mediterra actually involves.
Whether you are already part of this community or simply keeping an eye on how it continues to invest in itself, the Rigsby Team stays close to what is actually happening on the ground here, not just what gets announced. If you would like a closer look at what a Mediterra address includes today, request a private consultation and we will walk you through it.
