What’s going on with Southwest Florida Event Center in Bonita Springs?

Southwest Florida Event Center has been open for almost a year now, but not much has been happening at the Bonita Springs concert venue. The center hasn’t held a show since April 2022.

So what’s going on with the Bonita Beach Road concert spot?

Co-owner Jennifer Shanahan says they’re not done putting on concerts in the 20,000-square-foot building — they just announced a May show with Melissa Etheridge — but they’re also planning to get out of the entertainment business altogether.

They’ve put the building up for sale.

Southwest Florida Event Center on the market

The Bonita Beach Road event center is listed on several real-estate websites by commercial real-estate broker Dave Wallace of CRE Consultants. One site lists the building for $6.4 million. It was assessed by the Lee County Property Appraiser for $5.03 million in 2022.

Shanahan says the decision to sell the place stemmed from a difficult personal life in 2022. Shanahan’s sister died last year, she says, and there have been other unspecified challenges, as well.

“Some personal life experiences have put the event center on hold for us,” she says, “and have made us entertain the idea of selling.”

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They’re hoping to find someone to continue running the place as an entertainment center, she says, but the building is also being advertised for retail, office and other uses.

“We’re wanting it to go and sell to someone who keeps the venue alive and what it was built for — private events and concerts,” Shanahan says.

Shanahan says she and husband Richard Shanahan have had offers to turn the building into retail space and things other than an entertainment venue, but they’ve turned those down so far. “We didn’t feel like we were ready to part with the building at the time,” she says.

Scaling back at Bonita Spring concert center

Shanahan says they never planned to host as many concerts at the center as they did pre-pandemic, anyway. “It was exhausting.”

So when they reopened in March 2022, they’d adopted a less-is-more approach with fewer concerts but bigger stars.

“I was already on that path of ‘I’m not going to do as many shows, and I’m going to do them as larger names and bigger draws,” she says. “So I was already in that mode.”

They’re not finished doing concerts there, though, despite the building being on the market. The center just announced that May 13 concert with one of Shanahan’s favorite musical artists, Melissa Etheridge. Tickets go on sale Friday, March 10.

“There’s been no rush for us to unload in order to just be done,” Shanahan says. “So when Melissa’s agent called, I had to say yes.”

And after that?

Shanahan says she’ll never say never. They might do more concerts if the right offers came along.

“There’s a few other unicorns that I’m chasing out there,” Shanahan says. “And if they decide to come, then that’s amazing. So we will see.”

A history of big-name concerts at Southwest Florida Event Center

Southwest Florida Event Center first opened in June 2016 in a renovated Eckerd drug store at 11515 Bonita Beach Road S.E. at the intersection of Imperial Parkway. Richard and Jennifer Shanahan took over the business the following summer.

The venue attracted many well-known musical acts in its four years, including Melissa Etheridge (this will be her fourth show there), John Waite, George Clinton, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Kellie Pickler, Three Dog Night, Ted Nugent, Mavis Staples, Crystal Gayle, Jefferson Starship, Maxi Priest, Steve Earle, The Wailers and Don McLean.

The center closed its doors in May 2020, citing concerns over the future of the music industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then Jennifer and Richard Shanahan announced in January 2022 that they’d be reopening the place.

They held their first concert in the reopened center on March 19, 2022 with country singer/pianist Phil Vassar. That was followed with a star-studded Beatles tribute featuring Todd Rundgren and Christopher Cross on March 25; Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals on April 1; and a private fundraising concert for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on April 9 with ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, 38 Special's Don Barnes and other classic rockers.

Now Shanahan says she’s looking to get out of the concert business and do something else with her life. But she says she’ll miss working with musical artists and bringing shows to Bonita Springs.

“I love it,” she says. “I love what we were able to provide for the community and the relationships − strong relationships − that I have even after we’ve closed, friendships that we’ve made.”

More about the building listing

The center — located on a 2.71-acre lot at 11515 Bonita Beach Road S.E. — is listed on real-estate websites as a 650-seat event venue that could also be used for retail, office or medical space.

The online listings say the building is ”currently configured as the largest private event venue in Southwest Florida, featuring expansive open-concept floorplan, 650-seat theatre and dining facility, state-of-the art culinary kitchen, ballroom dance floor, elegant interior decor and box office with exterior access.”

Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. Email him at crunnells@gannett.com or connect on Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), Twitter (@charlesrunnells) and Instagram (@crunnells1). You can also call at 239-335-0368.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Southwest Florida Event Center: Bonita Springs venue is up for sale