Plans for a new community opera house and amphitheater near Naples are advancing.
There is hope of securing the land for it by January, if not sooner.
Opera Naples is pursuing the multimillion-dollar development — called Theater in the Garden — in partnership with two other nonprofits, Theater in the Garden Inc. and the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation.
The project took another step forward after the Bayshore Gateway Triangle Local Redevelopment Advisory Board recently voted to support the start of negotiations for a land sale.
Opera Naples was the only organization to answer the invitation to negotiate a development proposal for the land. The land, owned by Collier County, through the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), consists of three parcels totaling about 6.39 acres in East Naples.
The site — at 4265 Bayshore Drive — has long been targeted for redevelopment, with a focus on arts and culture.