Ave Maria

Ave Maria is Southwest Florida's newest town in the most literal sense — master-planned from bare land in eastern Collier County around Ave Maria University and its landmark oratory. The bet has paid off: 515 new homes sold in 2025 and 265 more in the first half of 2026 keep it among America's top-selling master-planned communities and the best-selling development in Collier County, with CC Homes, Del Webb, Lennar and Pulte building everything from attainable villas to lakefront estates at prices coastal Naples can't touch.

The town center wraps more than 75 businesses — including a Publix — around the oratory, and amenities run long for a town this young: a water park, fitness centers, an amphitheater, golf, tennis and pickleball, ball fields and miles of paths. Ave Maria Elementary, the community's first public school, opened in August 2026, joining options that span preschool through university. Del Webb Naples adds a full 55-plus neighborhood with optional golf membership inside the all-ages town.

The trade-off is distance: about 30 to 40 minutes to Naples, 45 to the beach, 50 to RSW. In exchange come space, new construction built to current codes, inland distance from storm surge, and a genuine town calendar of markets, festivals and concerts that runs year-round.