The South Tower Just Opened. Here's What That Doesn't Change About Buying North.

If a marina has already opened, a Michael Mina restaurant already has a wait list, and a sibling tower is already sold out, does that make the tower still climbing floors next door a safer purchase today than it was a year ago? At Saltleaf on Estero Bay in Bonita Springs, the honest answer splits in two. Some of the risk that early buyers carried has genuinely disappeared. None of the risk tied to your own deposit has.

That distinction matters right now because The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Estero Bay is living through both stories at once. The South Tower delivered, filled its restaurant, and opened its marina to the public this summer. The North Tower broke ground in May 2025 and isn't slated for delivery until 2027. Anyone signing a contract this fall is buying into a community that has already proven itself and a building that hasn't been poured yet. Those are two separate facts, and conflating them is where buyers get surprised later.

What's Actually Finished

Walk the property today and a surprising amount of it is done. The South Tower opened this year and is nearly sold out. Saltleaf Marina held its ribbon-cutting on June 22, 2026, restoring public boating access to a stretch of Coconut Road that had been closed since 2014, when the old Weeks Fish Camp shut its doors. The $8.5 million marina project came in under budget and ahead of schedule, and public access to its 72 slips is now protected by a binding covenant between the developer and the City of Bonita Springs, meaning that access doesn't shift if ownership of the surrounding property ever does. Acqua Bistecca, the dockside restaurant from Chef Michael Mina, is open and serving. The golf course and its companion short course have reopened to the public with no membership required.

That's an unusual amount of proof for a project still under construction. Most pre-construction buyers are asked to trust renderings. Buyers signing on the North Tower today can walk into a finished restaurant, book a tee time, and watch boats leave a working marina before they've picked their floor plan.

What's Still Rising

The North Tower is a different story. It broke ground in May 2025, roughly fifteen months before this writing, and London Bay Development Group has targeted 2027 for delivery. It will mirror its sibling with 112 residences, bringing the two-tower total to 224 homes across floor plans running from 2,628 to 3,885 square feet. Pricing is listed from the $3 millions, with a small collection of penthouses priced from $15,235,000. Construction on a 22-story tower of this scale typically runs through mechanical completion, exterior finishing, and a certificate of occupancy before a single closing happens, and none of that has occurred yet for this building.

Here's the detail that gets lost in the marketing: the project had already surpassed $650 million in total sales before construction even started on the North Tower. That's not a typical sequence. Most towers sell steadily as they rise. This one had already proven its demand, in dollars, before the second building broke ground. Which raises the real question for anyone touring the sales gallery this month.

The Uncertainty Was Priced Out Before You Arrived

Reservation holders who signed early on the North Tower, before groundbreaking, were the ones taking a bet on unproven amenities. They locked in pricing before the marina existed, before the restaurant had a chef, before the South Tower had a single resident. That bet paid off. The construction has since reached the top floor on the South Tower, and the community around both towers is now fully operational.

Buyers signing today aren't catching that same discount. You're buying a residence in a tower that's already fifteen months into a multi-year build, in a community whose amenities are fully proven, at pricing that reflects both facts. What you're not buying is a shorter wait. The calendar between your contract and your closing is still measured in years, not months, and Florida's deposit rules were written for exactly that gap.

What Florida Law Actually Protects, and What It Doesn't

Florida Statute 718.202 is the rule that governs every pre-construction condominium deposit in the state, this project included. It requires a developer to hold the first 10 percent of a unit's purchase price in escrow until the building is substantially complete. Amounts collected above that 10 percent can also start out in escrow, but the statute allows a developer to spend those additional funds on actual construction costs, provided the contract discloses that in writing. Buyers also get a 15-day window to cancel and receive a full refund, starting once they've both signed and received the required condominium documents.

Here's how that plays out on a hypothetical $3.8 million residence, using a staged deposit structure similar to what most Florida high-rise pre-construction contracts follow. The exact tranches vary by contract, so confirm the specific schedule with your sales associate before signing anything.

The first line of that table is the only money that's untouchable no matter what happens to the building. Everything above it is protected on paper until it isn't, because the same statute that shields your first 10 percent also gives the developer a lawful path to put your later deposits into the walls and steel of a tower that's still two years from finished.

Two Different Risk Clocks

This is the part worth sitting with before you tour the sales gallery. Community risk and contract risk run on separate clocks, and only one of them has been reset by everything that's opened this year.

The community risk clock stopped when the marina cut its ribbon and the restaurant seated its first table. You now know, rather than hope, that Saltleaf functions as advertised. That's real, and it's worth something.

The contract risk clock never stopped. It's still running on the same statutory framework it always has, tied to a 2027 delivery date on a tower that broke ground fifteen months ago. A finished restaurant next door doesn't change how Florida escrow law treats the deposit you sign today, and it doesn't shorten the distance between your contract and your closing.

Questions Worth Asking Before You Sign

A few questions separate a buyer who understands this from one who's simply excited about the view:

• Who is the named escrow agent, and can you get written confirmation of how funds are held?
• Does your contract contain the statutory language permitting deposits above 10 percent to be used for construction costs, and if so, what percentage of your total deposit falls into that category?
• What is the specific tranche schedule for this contract, tied to actual construction milestones rather than calendar dates?
• Does the contract address interest earned on escrowed funds during the build?
• What are your assignment rights if your plans change before the tower delivers?

A Few Common Questions

Does signing now mean a shorter wait than South Tower buyers had? No. South Tower buyers who signed early waited through a longer construction window than someone signing today will, since the North Tower is already fifteen months into its build. But 2027 is still roughly a year or more away, and Florida pre-construction timelines regularly shift with permitting and weather.

If North Tower is delayed, is my full deposit protected? Only the first 10 percent is guaranteed to sit untouched in escrow under Florida law. Anything collected above that threshold can be used for construction if your contract discloses it, which means a delay could complicate recovering funds that have already gone into the building.

Why did the amenities finish before the building that will house half its future residents? Marinas, restaurants, and golf courses are typically built on a separate construction timeline from residential towers, and in this case the developer sequenced the community-facing pieces to open alongside the first tower's delivery rather than waiting for both towers to finish.

Buying into a proven community and buying into a building still under construction are two different decisions wearing the same contract. If you're weighing a reservation at The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Estero Bay, or trying to figure out how this compares to resale opportunities elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, the team at Owens Jablonski | Gulf Coast Advisors can walk through the actual contract language with you before you sign. Request a Concierge Consultation and we'll help you separate what's already settled from what's still being built.