The rebuilt Port Royal Club at 2900 Gordon Drive is aiming for an October 2026 grand opening and its first full season in the new clubhouse. The clearest picture of what that season will look like comes from the Naples City Council chamber. No brochure covers it yet. On September 2, 2026, Council took up three companion petitions for the club: a revised parking analysis, an additional outdoor dining area, and a live entertainment plan. All three passed unanimously.
Members spent four years in tents and trailers by the beach. For them, the hearing record lays out the rhythm of the new building in unusual detail: which room gets a band, which gets a piano, when the outdoor music stops, and why the biggest night of the year shuts every restaurant in the building. Each of those details traces back to promises the club made to the homes on either side of it.
The Hearing That Wrote the House Rules
Tim McCarthy, the Hart Howerton architect who has testified for the club before, took Council through seven proposed live entertainment locations, five indoors and two outdoors. City planning staff noted that all seven sit in the main clubhouse west of Gordon Drive, with none on the recreation property across the street. His walk-through doubles as the best floor plan of the new club available to the public so far:
- The ballroom. At most a 7 to 9 piece band, the kind you would book for a wedding, or a DJ or duet. Use will be mostly on weekends and will follow the club's event calendar.
- The Privateer. This is the casual restaurant, open six days a week and closed Mondays. It is planned for a solo performer, duet or DJ one to two times a week.
- The coffee bar. Acoustic only, with the performer set in a bay window.
- The base of the fountain. A solo act or duo, acoustic only, at most one to two times a week. It sits where the breezeway opens onto the Gulf view.
- The after-dinner lounge. The club expects a baby grand piano here, with room for a singer.
- The upper-level balcony. An outdoor dining porch at the north-south midpoint of the property.
- The à la carte dining room. Acoustic solo or duo, indoors behind hurricane-rated glass.
Some operating limits come with the list. Indoor entertainment runs only with all doors and windows closed. Outdoor entertainment is acoustic and unamplified, and it ends by 10 p.m. No more than two of the seven locations can be in use at once. The club committed to standardized AV equipment, sound limiters and decibel readings at the property lines.
Why Every Performer Faces Away From the Property Lines
That level of restraint makes sense in light of 2024. Approving the rebuild took roughly 10 hours of hearings. The rebuild drew concerns about noise, views, traffic, lights, height and odors, and the club made changes reported at $2 million. In August 2024, Council approved the conditional use and outdoor dining with conditions. Those included enclosed south-facing dining, dawn-to-dusk pool hours, noise enforcement and the removal of a longstanding beach path. The neighbor-separation wall waiver passed 5-2 and outdoor dining passed 6-1.
The 2026 entertainment plan follows that settlement closely. The two outdoor stages were placed toward the center of the property, rather than along its edges. Outdoor performers will face away from the abutting homes. McCarthy told Council that general manager Francisco had reached out to nearby residents. The club's counsel confirmed that every condition negotiated in 2024 would carry forward. One council member called that "music to my ears based on what we had to go through last time," and no one spoke during public comment.
The plan also says who the entertainment is for. McCarthy said it will not include music events aimed at outside ticketed attendees:
"The entertainment will always be complimentary to the club's private members and its events."
For Port Royal homeowners near the club who don't belong, that line makes it clear the new building isn't set up to host public concerts on Gordon Drive.
Thanksgiving Takes Over the Whole Building
The parking discussion revealed the club's busiest day of the year. A council member asked whether a large event like New Year's Eve could overwhelm the lots. The general manager answered that historical data puts Thanksgiving at the top for attendance. To seat that crowd, the club shuts down everything else in the building, so the restaurants will not operate normally that day. That leaves the 343 on-site parking spaces with capacity to spare. He also told Council that events will hit maximum seating capacity before they hit maximum parking capacity, counting the club property together with its land across the street.
The land across the street is substantial. The clubhouse parcel covers about 5.54 acres, and the club owns another 5.52 acres at 2755 Gordon Drive. That recreation property has held the club's tennis courts and fitness activity, and members kept using it throughout the closure. It is also where the club asked in 2024 for a temporary 130-seat dining tent with kitchen trailers on two tennis courts. Council turned that request down 6-1 on September 18 of that year. In the interim, the club used tents, held gatherings at other venues and served limited lunch and drinks from trailers by the beach.
The Gulf-Side Terrace Grew Before Opening
The September vote also expanded outdoor dining at the beach end of the property. The 2024 approval covered 3,135 square feet of outdoor dining at grade. The new petition adds 4,370 square feet at ground level, centrally located toward the Gulf, for 18 tables, 72 chairs and 26 chaise lounges. The club cited the growing popularity of outdoor dining and member requests. That brings approved outdoor dining to more than double the original footprint. Council approved it with the conditions staff recommended.
The new terrace sits close to the building's most distinctive grade change. From the breezeway, the clubhouse sits at an elevation of about 15 feet, part of the club's resilience planning. Symmetrical stairs then lead down to beach sand at roughly elevation eight, with a fountain at the base. The old clubhouse was a one-story building from 1959. After Hurricane Ian, its damage reached 76 percent of its pre-storm value, and the club's general manager said repair was not feasible. Its replacement is a three-level building, 48.6 feet high, designed by Hart Howerton and built by Suffolk Construction. Reported square footage varies by source and scope, from roughly 62,000 to 77,000 square feet.
The Dress Code Calendar Turns on November 1
The club's guest information page names the dining venues: Sand Bar & Beach Deck Dining, Sunset Bar & The Café, The Privateer, and 29 Hundred & Piano Bar. An October opening falls in the last weeks of the summer dress code. At The Privateer, gentlemen may wear knee-length shorts at dinner through October 31. From November 1 through May 15, long pants are required at dinner, and open-toed shoes are never permitted at dinner. Collared shirts are required year-round. At lunch, knee-length shorts and open-toed shoes are allowed in every season. Sunset Bar & The Café is the relaxed option. Shorts-style swimsuits, T-shirts and athletic attire are permitted there, provided swimwear is dry.
Where Things Stand in Early October
The schedule has shifted before. In March 2024, the club projected a summer 2026 opening. The current target is October 2026, stated in the club's June 30 application. In closing remarks on September 2, the club's team noted it was 26 days before the fourth anniversary of the hurricane and said it looked forward to the autumn opening. As of October 4, no public announcement confirms a specific opening day.
- September 2, 2026: Parking amendment, 4,370 square feet of added outdoor dining, and live entertainment petition 26-LE5 all approved unanimously.
- October 2026: Targeted grand opening.
- November 1, 2026: Season dress code begins at The Privateer.
- Thanksgiving: Historically the club's largest event, with the restaurants closed so it can run on its own.
Elsewhere on the peninsula, our guide to choosing a Port Royal waterfront setting looks at how lot position shapes daily life, and the Port Royal neighborhood page covers the wider community.
How close a home sits to 2900 Gordon Drive, and how club membership passes with a sale, are practical questions now that the clubhouse is nearly finished. For a confidential conversation about membership-aware ownership in Port Royal, Rigsby Team invites you to Request a Private Consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
