{"id":2561,"date":"2008-07-22T10:27:00","date_gmt":"2008-07-22T10:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/07\/ave-maria-one-year-later-its-impressive.html"},"modified":"2008-07-22T10:27:00","modified_gmt":"2008-07-22T10:27:00","slug":"ave-maria-one-year-later-its-impressive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/07\/ave-maria-one-year-later-its-impressive.html","title":{"rendered":"Ave Maria, one year later: “It’s impressive”"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s been a while since we heard any news about the “Catholic town” of Ave Maria<\/a> in Florida. It’s been up and running for a little over a year now — and all indications are, it’s doing well, despite some setbacks<\/a> and some less-than-enthusiastic press. <\/p>\n

This story comes from Naples News<\/a>: <\/p>\n

<\/a>Ambition has met reality in the year since Ave Maria had its official opening in eastern Collier County.<\/p>\n

One of the boldest projects in the history of Southwest Florida \u2014 to build a 5,000-acre town with a 6,000-student university on former rural tomato fields \u2014 has had the misfortune of arriving amid a severe local economic downturn.<\/p>\n

The result is a development functioning well below initial projections in home sales and new businesses, but producing strong numbers in this market, according to a local real estate expert.<\/p>\n

The Collier County Property Appraiser\u2019s Office has recorded 295 residential deeds in the town from when the first homeowner arrived in May 2007 through last week.<\/p>\n

Those figures are 13 percent of what the town\u2019s development order had predicted when passed in 2005.<\/p>\n

But they\u2019re good enough to be considered a success, said Shelton Weeks, director of Florida Gulf Coast University\u2019s Lucas Institute for Real Estate Development and Finance.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven how bad things have been locally and nationally and what\u2019s going on in the mortgage market, it\u2019s impressive or at the least respectable,\u201d Weeks said of the town\u2019s sales.<\/p>\n

Blake Gable, a vice president at town co-developer Barron Collier Cos., said town founders adjusted their plans as market conditions became clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everyone involved in the project lowered their expectations to match the reality,\u201d Gable said.<\/p>\n

Home sales, he added, weren\u2019t the primary concern in the first year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really isn\u2019t something that we\u2019re spending a lot of time talking about,\u201d he said. \u201cWe set out to establish a foundation for a town that\u2019s going to be around for hundreds of years. When you plan out for 11,000 residences, you know it\u2019s something that\u2019s not going to happen overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The self-sufficiency that Ave Maria\u2019s developers touted hasn\u2019t happened overnight, either.<\/p>\n

The first year has brought a staffed fire and emergency medical services facility, a popular coffee shop and an urgent care medical clinic.<\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t brought a supermarket, second restaurant, gas station or bank.<\/p>\n

In February, Publix announced formal plans to build a supermarket in the town. A company spokeswoman said the 28,000-square-foot store, which will have a pharmacy, is scheduled for completion in \u201cearly 2009.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gable said a Tropical Smoothie Cafe franchise will become the town\u2019s second restaurant within the next two months.<\/p>\n

Time frames on a gas station and bank opening are less clear.<\/p>\n

A gas station and convenience store has broken ground, operated by Red Rabbit, a company based outside St. Petersburg. Franchise owners couldn\u2019t be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

Immokalee-based Florida Community Bank had originally hoped to move its headquarters and open a branch in Ave Maria last June. But state regulators have yet to give the bank approval to open its doors in town, according to Florida Community Bank President Stephen Price and officials with the state\u2019s office of financial regulation.<\/p>\n

Many residents moving into the town last summer called themselves \u201cpioneers\u201d and cited attraction to the town\u2019s Catholic appeal \u2014 even as developers repeatedly emphasized it shouldn\u2019t be considered a \u201cCatholic town\u201d \u2014 as reasons for coming to Ave Maria before certain amenities were in place.<\/p>\n

That allure is the main reason why comparing the town\u2019s development to others locally and around the state is difficult, said Weeks, the real estate professor.<\/p>\n

The year\u2019s biggest news in Ave Maria was the March dedication of its landmark 100-foot Catholic church, Ave Maria Oratory by Diocese of Venice Bishop Frank Dewane. Visitors and tourists have come from across the country to see it and the town up close.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this whole cultural thing there that\u2019s really very different,\u201d Weeks said. \u201cThe sample is of one.\u201d<\/p>\n

But those residents who have taken the plunge said they were hoping for more neighbors and more businesses more quickly.<\/p>\n

Warren Mass, a 60-year-old writer for a conservative magazine, moved with his wife Martha, a retired federal government employee, to Ave Maria from the Florida Panhandle in late August.<\/p>\n

Mass and his wife are Catholic and they\u2019ve been pleased with the development. They\u2019re waiting for more retirees in town.<\/p>\n

\u201cI keep telling my wife, \u2018Your best friend hasn\u2019t even moved in yet,\u2019\u201d Mass said.<\/p>\n

After 11 months, they\u2019ve decided Ave Maria is where they want to put down their roots.<\/p>\n

\u201cI plan to stay here my whole life,\u201d Mass said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But, as the rest of the article<\/a> makes clear, others aren’t as sure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been a while since we heard any news about the “Catholic town” of Ave Maria in Florida. It’s been up and running for a little over a year now — and all indications are, it’s doing well, despite some setbacks and some less-than-enthusiastic press. This story comes from Naples News: Ambition has met reality…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ripped-from-the-headlines","category-the-people-in-the-pews"],"yoast_head":"\nAve Maria, one year later: "It's impressive" - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/07\/ave-maria-one-year-later-its-impressive.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ave Maria, one year later: "It's impressive" - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It’s been a while since we heard any news about the “Catholic town” of Ave Maria in Florida. 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