In the Know: Ritz-Carlton projects in Collier, Lee; evolving Arthrex; and Sanibel on 'The Simpsons'

One of the early signs that Naples had hit the big time was in 1985, when the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. made it the third city for a new lavish location after two major metros, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Initially, the revered gulf-front retreat would be its only snazzy but sedate surroundings where gentlemen could meander the lobby and other parts of the grounds after sundown without a jacket and neckwear. But after an incident we'll tell you about later, that precedent-setting policy would extend to other plush properties among its now more than 100 worldwide.

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And Southwest Florida has returned to the forefront again as the elegant empire embarked on an "evolution of an icon" with renovations expected to cost somewhere close to the $80 million price tag for the original 14-floor Vanderbilt Beach beauty almost 40 years ago. Also read further in the column about extravagant Ritz-branded doings now in the works for Estero Bay.

“This is a defining moment," said Mark Ferland, area general manager for The Ritz-Carlton Resorts of Naples. "We set our sights on providing the finest services and facilities for our guests in the next chapter for this iconic property."

As part of an elite Naples refurbishing effort due for December completion, an all-new Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge will be unlike any other in the brand, spanning 4,000 square feet with dramatic floor-to-ceiling gulf views, an exclusive cocktail bar and a culinary concept debut, Ferland said.

Executive Chef Satish Yerramilli will unveil vegetable-forward Sofra featuring Eastern Mediterranean cuisines. Drawing its name from the region’s shared tables, Sofra will offer shareable plates of wholesome ingredients and authentic spices. And look for two additional dining outlets in the complex.

With patrons there having a lot more disposable income after the slashing of taxes at the end of last decade, the tower expansion means conversion of guest rooms into suites plus additional ones, bringing the total of those to more than 90, up from the current 35. Overall: 474 units to go along with a fresh trio of pool areas.

The latter also includes poolside bungalows that have their own toilets, televisions and yes, air conditioning. Apart from those, cabanas will also come with TVs, but you'll need to settle for ceiling fans and a longer stroll to the bathroom.

If you're wandering anyway, you can follow the posh paths through eventually updated layouts that can take you by the redesigned lobby and its bar.

Ritz-Carlton: Fast forward from 1985

The revamped 51,000-square foot spa that was finished in January, with its coastal hues, provides a glimpse of what's to come in this transformation journey for the rest of the seaside destination, where tonight a stay in the most basic digs starts at $1,300.

A topping off ceremony this past week commemorated the placement of a final steel beam, making way for its continued casual elegance era.  The overall chain, which has become part of Marriott International, has come a long way from its genteel stuffiness days during which the late Carroll O'Connor rambled out of one of its resort restaurants when the Archie Bunker actor refused to don a tie.

“The needs and desires of today’s traveler have evolved," Ferland said. "We look forward to continuing to exceed our guest’s expectations through sophisticated design elements, globally-inspired culinary themes, amplified guest experiences and the unparalleled service provided by our ladies and gentlemen.” 

Naples, with The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort off Airport Pulling and Vanderbilt Beach roads, is one of only about a half-dozen communities in the nation with multiple locales.

And the Ritz has plans for a different kind of enterprise on Estero Bay, not too far from the Hyatt Regency Point Resort and Spa.

Targeted for a 2025 arrival, the Ritz-Carlton Residences and its 224 condos in a pair of 22-story edifices are slated within 500 acres along Estero Bay.

Sales began last month, and developers London Bay Development Group reported $150 million in deals in the first two weeks.

"We look forward to continuing this momentum," London Bay CEO Mark Wilson said.

With prices starting in the $2 million range, dwellings go from 2,628 to 3,885 square feet, and include up to four bedrooms, balconies, storage and a dedicated private elevator entry. Among the amenities: Three pools, cabanas, fitness center, dining room, lounge, cafe, barbecue stations and catering kitchen.

The Arthrex story retold

Over the years, the Arthrex story has been told in our newspapers and in events around the community including a Southwest Regional Manufacturers Association roundtable I covered.

This past week, its efforts were highlighted through an Urban Land Institute Southwest Florida program that focused on development and construction. The event at 1370 Creekside Blvd., Naples was followed by a networking happy hour at the company's Innovation Hotel.

And, as part of a busy schedule for the campus, the region's chapter for the BioFlorida life sciences industry group is gathering Wednesday to hear about contributions to medicine and the community from the firm's leaders including Jimmy Dascani, director of Health Care Administrator Relations.

"Initially it was the climate that brought Arthrex to Southwest Florida," Dascani said. "Our company was actually started in Germany for the first 10 years, and the last 30 years have been here in Southwest Florida after a short stint in Burlington, Vermont. It was just too cold there, and then over the years, we outsourced a lot, and the decision was made to build manufacturing here."

It focused on growing local staff through relationships "with technical schools and colleges and universities and start to really work on developing that workforce early on," he said. "It started out based on the climate in which we all love here, and then it became 'Hey listen, we have incredible people here in Southwest Florida.'"

'Way beyond screws and anchors'

As one of the largest orthopedic companies in the world, the organization has transformed over the decades beyond "starting out in sports medicine, doing soft tissue repair," Dascani said. "We invent procedures and products to reattach soft tissue, tendons, ligaments and bones, joint replacements."

That's helped lead to controlling more than half of the sports medicine market, and working with "a lot of professional team doctors and college and high school and Olympic doctors," he said. "What we actually manufacture here in Southwest Florida is for the world. It spans way beyond screws and anchors. We're doing orthobiologics."

Those are products often made from substances found in the body that are used by surgeons to help injuries heal more quickly. Hence, the interest in the group, such as this week's happenings.

In 2019, "pre-pandemic, we hosted over 20,000 visitors globally here in Collier County," Dascani said. "Incredible educational presence here."

Last summer, Arthrex won a contentious patent fight it took all the way to the Supreme Court. But as the year ended, it also had a setback with government: As part of an agreement, paying $16 million to resolve allegations it violated the law by providing kickbacks over an 11-year period that caused the submission of false claims to the Medicare program.

The company issued a statement: 

"Like a number of other medical device manufacturers, Arthrex has entered into a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General to resolve an alleged historical civil claim regarding Arthrex’s collaboration with a healthcare professional. We fully cooperated with the government’s investigation and remain committed to upholding the highest standards of ethical behavior and corporate integrity."

The Simpsons on Sanibel Island

We've written before about how valuable national prime time TV mentions are for those in business in Southwest Florida and promoting the region. And when it's free, all the better, considering tourism agencies, homebuilders and other entities pay lots of money for this kind of recognition.

The Voice helped bring attention to the region with successful runs through the musical competition by local performers Ben Allen and Ryleigh Plank. The most notable might have been when country crooner Blake Shelton purposely mispronounced Estero as Sterile, leading to all types of joking and back-and-forth involving Allen and the celebrities, a propitious exchange indeed as part of an eight-minute segment.

Shelton: "Man, nobody could be born in Sterile, Florida."

Not taking into account multiple utterances, just one single comment on a show like that, NBC's most highly ranked for much of a decade, has a value of $85,000, according to Joyce Julius & Associates, which tracks this sort of math.

So it couldn't hurt that Sanibel Island showed up last month on "The Simpsons", the world's longest running sitcom.

'Road trip for Bart to Sanibel'

And it might be on there again after a somewhat random offer by the cartoon intellectual Martin Prince Jr., the son of a wealthy stock broker, who thought he had made a pal in bad boy Bart Simpson:

"You know, Bart, this summer, my family's going to visit Grandmother Dee Dee and her friend Carol on Sanibel Island. Mother and father said I can bring a chum. What say that chum were you?"

The groaned response: "Shut up!"

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The remark led to social media discussion as to what in the world were they talking about on the "Boyz N The Highlands" episode, but Emmy Award-winning Simpsons writer Tim Long didn't shed much light.

"Another major subject of debate in the room: What 'exactly' is the relationship between Martin's grandmother Dee Dee and her friend Carol on Sanibel Island?" Long said. "For what's it worth, my own grandmother Dee Dee, was the inspiration for this joke, but she was happily married to my Grampa Fred for at least 40 years."

However, he did "like" a take by fan Craig Weeks: "Road trip for Bart and Martin to Sanibel in a future episode." 

Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@gannett.com) writes In the Know as part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. Support Democracy and subscribe to a newspaper.