Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens brought in $12.1 million in revenue on its latest tax filing. It pays $1 a year for the 52.6 county-owned acres it sits on at 1590 Goodlette-Frank Road North. Both figures come from Naples Press, which reported this summer that the gap between them is what the county and the zoo are now trying to close.
For more than 15 years the low rent has helped the zoo. Today it gets in the way of the zoo's biggest fundraising push yet. For the Grey Oaks and Estuary households that use the zoo on Collier Free Saturdays, or bring visiting grandchildren on a resident membership, the outcome decides how much the place changes over the next decade.
Donors Want Ground That Lasts Longer Than 2039
The lease began in November 2009 and ends Nov. 10, 2039. Thirteen years sounds like a long runway for a gate, a cafe or a new exhibit. An endowment works on a different clock. It is money meant to produce income for decades, and families who give at that scale are asking where the institution will stand long after the lease runs out.
President and CEO Jack Mulvena told Naples Press that the zoo will be "asking major donors in our community to consider making a major philanthropic commitment to and investment in the zoo's long-term future," and that "long-term future extends decades beyond 2039." Commission Chair Dan Kowal, whose district includes the zoo, put the donor's side plainly at the August meeting:
"When somebody puts their name on an endowment in their family's name to pledge something over many decades of their family's wealth through an organization, they want some sort of guarantee that … it's not going to disappear a decade later."
Under its current lease, the zoo can raise money for things it will operate. It has a harder time raising money that has to outlive the lease itself.
The size of the request explains why the timing matters now. The zoo recently finished a 10-year, $30 million capital campaign, which ended with the new entrance and visitor complex in 2024. Planning for the next round started early last year. Mulvena said the next 10-year capital campaign and a new endowment campaign are expected to exceed $100 million combined. That is more than three times the last campaign, and the endowment half is the part that depends most on the land question. The zoo has not publicly named the campaign or listed what the capital money would build.
He also pointed to a Collier Community Foundation estimate that about $35 billion will pass to the next generation countywide by 2032. He said the campaigns' success will be tied to the strength of the zoo's case for giving and to that transfer of wealth.
How the Zoo Ended Up Renting From Collier Taxpayers
The $1 figure makes more sense once you know the property's history. Naples Press traced it back more than a century:
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1919 | Botanist Henry Nehrling buys the land to protect his plant collection from Central Florida freezes; it becomes Caribbean Gardens |
| 1950s | Julius Fleischmann, longtime president of Fleischmann's Yeast, acquires the property |
| 1969 | Col. Lawrence and Nancy Jane Tetzlaff, known as Jungle Larry and Safari Jane, bring their animals to the gardens in September |
| 2002 | The Fleischmann family considers selling the 43 zoo acres and nearly 120 surrounding acres |
| 2004 | Roughly 73% of Collier voters approve a $40 million bond to buy the zoo land, surrounding preserve lands and the Gordon River Greenway |
| 2005 | Fleischmann family members sell 45 acres in two December transactions, for $17,006,700 and $50,493,400 |
| 2009 | The lease drops from $250,000 a year to $1 after the zoo becomes a 501(c)(3) |
| 2024 | The $30 million campaign ends with the new entrance and visitor complex |
The 2004 purchase went through the Trust for Public Land and Florida Communities Trust. It kept the zoo where it was and left it running as an independent nonprofit, and part of the land carries conservation, recreation and public-use requirements. When the zoo asked for the 2009 reduction, it argued that no other nonprofit paid the county that much in lease fees.
The arrangement has also paid something back to the public. The lease requires the free first-Saturday admission for county residents and half-price annual family memberships. Mulvena said nearly 1 million county residents and family members have visited on free Saturdays since 2004, which he counts as more than $20 million in free admissions. Kowal pointed out that the zoo gets no tourist tax money and nothing from the county beyond the lease.
What Commissioners Are Weighing
On Aug. 25, 2026, the Board of County Commissioners voted to have staff work with the zoo on either a lease extension or a fee-simple option, with legal and fiscal protections, and bring recommendations back to the board. The discussion, as Naples Press reported it, showed at least three positions:
- County ownership through a long-term lease. Commissioner Burt Saunders said he would prefer that model, which the county already uses with Golden Gate Golf Course and David Lawrence Centers. "We don't know what's going to happen 45, 50 years from now, but I think the county should maintain ownership going forward," he said.
- Fee simple, with taxpayers repaid. Commissioner Chris Hall questioned what a $1 lease really gives the county: "Well, for a dollar a year on a lease, we are out of control." He described a fee-simple transfer in which the county keeps stormwater and other easements, a revert clause returns the land to taxpayers if it stops being a zoo, and the zoo repays principal over 30 to 50 years.
- A hybrid. Transportation Management Services Head Trinity Scott, who oversees county real estate services, said the county could work toward a fee-simple acquisition paired with a long-term lease. Vice Chair Bill McDaniel Jr. asked about reimbursing taxpayers, and County Manager Amy Patterson said staff could bring that back as an option.
Scott told commissioners the county recently handled a similar request from Collier Fair & Exposition Inc., another nonprofit on a county lease that faced the same trouble pursuing grants without owning its property or holding a longer lease. So the zoo's question is part of a pattern in how Collier handles nonprofits that sit on public land.
Hall's repayment idea depends on the zoo's finances. On its latest tax filing, the zoo reported $12.1 million in revenue, including $5.35 million in contributions and $653,660 in rental income, against $10.1 million in expenses. That leaves room for modest annual payments. It also shows how much the zoo leans on donors, which brings the discussion back to the land.
As of early October 2026, we could find no staff recommendation and no date for a commission vote. Naples Press reported that zoo and county officials had set a meeting schedule, and that a date for board discussion and approval would follow once the options are settled.
The Perks Stay in the Agreement
Residents mainly want to know whether the free days survive a new deal. Scott told commissioners the zoo is "not looking at getting out of any of the requirements that are in the existing lease," and she named the free day for Collier residents specifically.
Under the terms on the zoo's Collier resident page, admission is free on the first Saturday of each month with no coupon, and adults need proof of residency. Family and grandparent memberships cost $179, half the regular price, and cover qualifying household children 17 and under. The grandparent tier is the one that matters most to households whose grandchildren visit during season.
Regular hours, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., came back on Oct. 1 after an August closure for pathway resurfacing and tree care and a shortened early-morning summer schedule, WGCU reported. The resident calendar for the rest of season:
- Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026: Collier Free Saturday
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 2026: Collier Free Saturday
- Saturday, Jan. 2, 2027: Collier Free Saturday
- Friday, Feb. 19, 2027: ZOObilee: Feast with the Beasts, the zoo's adults-only fundraiser with dinner, music, animal encounters and a silent auction
The zoo's own pages list different free-admission cutoff times on those Saturdays. Check with the zoo before planning a late-afternoon visit.
ZOObilee falls during the same months the zoo is working toward a lease structure its donors can rely on. The guests in that February room are the people who will decide how far beyond $30 million the next campaign gets, and how much of it the zoo can put toward the decades past 2039.
The zoo's land deal will be decided at a county commission meeting that has not been scheduled yet. If you would like to talk through how civic and land-use decisions near Grey Oaks fit into your own plans, The Lickley Group welcomes the conversation. Request a Confidential Market Consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
