Naples Area Board of Realtors Q1

NAPLES AREA BOARD OF REALTORS® MAGAZINE

Q1 2024

Winner of two 2023 Florida Magazine Association Charlie Awards

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12/20/23 10:25 AM

Phase 3 Released...and it’s going fast!

239.691.4455 | AntillesNaples.com

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Antilles is conceived as an island resort set off by its

own richly landscaped walls of deep green foliage.

Its setting is its centerpiece. All that its name implies exotic, remote, unlike your everyday - is at the heart of this community.

MODELS OPEN DAILY

Monday - Saturday :: 10AM-5PM Sunday :: 12-5PM

Coach Homes

Starting in $400’s

Ahh...Antilles

Sun, serenity and Southern sweet tea DRIVING DIRECTIONS: Three miles south of US 41 on Collier Blvd., (SR951.)

Turn east on PortAu Prince Road, just north of Fiddler Creek’s entrance. Antilles’ gated entrance is set back 1/4 mile from 951.

m

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12/5/23 10:40 AM

A Bespoke Gulf-Front Address

Step into a different world— one of prestige, style and sophistication with unprecedented design details.

Featuring a limited collection of sixty-eight meticulously appointed Gulf-front residences and an extraordinary suite of amenities, including a Private Dining Club, Epique offers an elevated and exclusive lifestyle unrivaled in Naples.

Private Dining Club E S TAT E S F R O M O V E R $ 6 . 5 M I L L I O N | P E N T H O U S E P R I C I N G U P O N R E Q U E S T

ORA OR L or scale. N this image Bay Skylin

epiquepelicanbay.com | 239.598.9900 | 6885 Pelican Bay Boulevard

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Artist’s concept. Subject to modifications.

ORAL REPRESENTATIONS CANNOT BE RELIED UPON AS CORRECTLY STATING REPRESENTATIONS OF THE DEVELOPER. FOR CORRECT REPRESENTATIONS, MAKE REFERENCE TO THE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY SECTION 718.503, FLORIDA STATUTES, TO BE FURNISHED BY A DEVELOPER TO A BUYER OR LESSEE. Prices and availability subject to change without notice. The materials and features depicted in this rendering are based upon current development plans, which are subject to change without notice. All images, designs and features depicted herein are shown solely for illustrative purposes, and may differ in view, perspective or scale. No guarantees or representations are made that the materials and features depicted in this rendering will be provided, or if provided, will be of the same type, size or nature as depicted. This image may not depict the location, type, size and nature of certain items or their view, perspective or scale, which may have been altered in this image for purposes of marketing and promotion. All furniture, appliances, fixtures, counters, soffits, floor coverings and other matters of detail, including items of finish and decoration, are not included unless expressly specified in the governing document or purchase agreement. Gulf Bay® Group of Companies. Creators of the Pelican Bay Skyline. Gulf Bay® Marketing Group, Inc. REALTORS®. ©Copyright 2024, Gulf Bay Development LV, LLC. All rights reserved.

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12/8/23 8:31 AM

D I S C O V E R E S T E R O ’ S B E S T N E W H O M E VA L U E !

RIVERCREEK

C

SAVE UPTO

17,500*

$

The Olympia

Resort-Style Amenities

Multimillion-Dollar Entry

43,0

The Biscayne 3 Beds, 4 Baths, Den - 3,004 a/c sq. ft.

Elegant Residences & Resort Lifestyle

600s-$800s

from $ the

Now is the perfect time to bring your clients in to see Estero’s hottest new community offering an incredible value with a resort lifestyle in a sought after location. Visit today to tour our all-new one and two-story homes featuring contemporary designs spanning up to nearly 4,400 square feet and take advantage of savings up to $17,500* on a beautiful new home at RiverCreek!

(239) 308-4600 | GLHOMES.com | Open Daily 9:30am - 5:30pm 12776 Springbrook Court, Estero, FL 33928 Broker must accompany client during client’s initial visit to this community. Both the client and Broker must execute the Developer’s Registration Form on the initial visit. Broker must also execute the Developer’s Broker Participation Agreement. Broker bonus/commission subject to change without notice RiverCreek is being developed and sold by Lee County Homes Associates IV, LLLP, a Florida limited liability limited partnership. This is not an offering in states where prior registration is required. *Promotion of $17,500 is based on $10,000 in FREE options, plus $7,500 in closing costs when you use GL Financial and Nova Title services. Please see a Sales Associate for complete information. All rights reserved. ©2024 1100-779 Naples Realtor, Jan 2024

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12/7/23 10:04 AM

Broker m change w an offerin

!

pia

CLUBHOUSE NOW OPEN!

GATHER RESTAURANT & BAR

CLUB SPORTS LOUNGE

43,000 Sq. Ft. Clubhouse

55+ Luxury Living

in Naples

SPA AND NAIL SALON

The all-new 43,000 square foot clubhouse at Valencia Trails is now open! Bring your clients and visit today to see firsthand the incredibly impressive amenities that make up the best 55+ luxury resort-style living available in Naples. From the picturesque pools with an outdoor bar and dedicated restaurant, to the impressive spa and sports lounge – there’s something for everyone.

0s

RACQUET CLUB AND PRO SHOP

Luxury Resort Living in Naples from $700s-$1.3M

alue ring * on

(239) 262-4000 • GLHOMES.com 11256 Daphne Court, Naples, FL 34120 • Open Daily 9am-5pm

HOMES DESIGNED FOR 55+

Broker must accompany client during client’s initial visit to this community. Both the client and Broker must execute the Developer’s Registration Form on the initial visit. Broker must also execute the Developer’s Broker Participation Agreement. Broker bonus/commission subject to change without notice. Valencia Trails is being developed and sold by Naples Associates IV, LLLP, a Florida limited liability limited partnership. Valencia Trails is designed for residents aged 55 & older, and is intended to meet the exemption under the Federal Fair Housing Act. This is not an offering in states where prior registration is required. Prices subject to change without notice. Please see a sales associate for details. All rights reserved. ©2024 1100-779 Naples Realtor Jan-2024

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12/7/23 10:04 AM

Artist’s Rendering

Kolter is bringing The Island at West Bay Club to life.

Artist’s Rendering

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©2024, Fiddler’s Creek Realty, Inc. Licensed Real Estate Broker. ORAL REPRESENTATIONS CANNOT BE RELIED UPON AS CORRECTLY STATING REPRESENTATIONS OF THE BROKER, BUILDER OR SELLER. FOR CORRECT REPRESENTATIONS, MAKE REFERENCE TO THE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY FLORIDA LAW TO BE FURNISHED TO A BUYER OR LESSEE. All features, amenities, prices and availability are subject to change without notice. Ownership of property within Fiddler’s Creek does not entitle an Owner to any right, title, interest or otherwise to use all planned Club facilities, but rather an opportunity to join, subject to the payment of assessments, fees and applicable regulations. All club facilities as presently proposed are not constructed nor will all proposed facilities be located within the property encompassed in the Fiddler’s Creek PUD. Development and construction of these facilities is contingent upon receipt of all applicable governmental permits and approvals.

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12/12/23 4:34 PM

isn’t fun the best thing to have?

It’s how we roll — which is to say on the courts, at the beach, out on the water, and wherever we’re sharing a bite. Fiddler’s Creek is everything you want, everywhere you want to be, including at home in luxurious, fabulously appointed residences set in a lavish, picture-postcard landscape.

IONS, Creek ed are ovals.

M O D E L H O M E S & A M E N I T Y T O U R S D A I LY N E W S I N G L E - F A M I LY H O M E S F R O M $ 3 M | N E W C O A C H H O M E S F R O M $ 2 M 239.732.9300 | FIDDLERSCREEK .COM

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NOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION

CLASSIC IS ALWAYS IN VOGUE.

ORAL REPRESENTATIONS CANNOT BE RELIED UPON AS CORRECTLY STATING REPRESENTATIONS OF THE DEVELOPER. FOR CORRECT REPRESENTATIONS MAKE REFERENCE TO THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN AND TO THE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY SECTION 718.503, FLORIDA STATUTES, TO BE FURNISHED BY A DEVELOPER TO A BUYER OR LESSEE. COMMUNITY FEATURES, AMENITIES AND PRICING APPROXIMATE AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

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12/12/23 12:53 PM

BEACHY, PRIVATE & ALL YOURS. How cool… to be ferried to your own beach, where umbrellas dotting perfect Gulf sands await.

It’s an oh-so-rare resort lifestyle — yet very private.

Not only the beach, but golf, fitness, a theater and sublimely luxurious residences — each with forever views across the course to the Gulf beyond.

Infinitely classic, but with an attitude.

Five Inspiring Condominium Floor Plans • 3,000 to 4,000 SF • From the Mid $2Ms Sales Gallery: 4861 Coconut Road, Bonita Springs, FL 239-362-9950 | InfinityColony.com

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38

CONTENTS FEATURES Seventy-fifth Anniversary Issue

38

Tour through Time How Naples grew from a vacationers’ town into a premier real estate destination.

42

Impact and Evolution Since 1949, NABOR® has grown up with Collier County.

46

Looking Ahead The 2024 Board of Directors members share their goals for the year ahead.

DEPARTMENTS 18 Message from the President 22 For Openers

Honoring Florida State Senate President Kathleen C. Passidomo. A tribute to John R. Wood’s legacy. NABOR® executive officers’ stewardship.

Members have served in a wide variety of public service roles. On Message. In the NABOR® store. The benefits of NABOR® membership.

50 Get Smart

24

The impact of the NABOR® Leadership Academy. How the digital MLS and electronic key lockboxes were industy game-changers. Collier County’s one-cent sales surtax wraps up. Trademark violations.

60 Welcome New Members

62 NABORhood PHOTO PROVIDED BY CAROLINE RIDGWAY

Social photos and upcoming events.

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N A P L E S R E A LT O R ®

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72 The Close

Dining Scene: Tony Ridgway revolutionized the local dining scene.

Q1 2024

12/20/23 9:38 AM

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PAT PITOCCHI Asst. Gen. Mgr. and Dir. of Training (239) 398-8650 Training@DFryeRealty.com

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Please call us today for a confidential interview:

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MIKE HUGHES Vice President and Gen. Mgr. (239) 398-7572 MHughes@DFryeRealty.com

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NAPLES REALTOR

®

NABOR® Officers 2024 President PJ Smith

Grievance Chair Robert Nardi

President Elect Terrilyn VanGorder

Vice Chair Jim Pilon

Vice President/Secretary Christine Citrano

Legal Resources Chair Nick Bobzien

Treasurer David Puskaric

NABOR® Directors 2024

Nick Bobzien (Immediate Past President), Sara A. Brand, Christina Davidow, Shaun M. Garry, Amy S. Reindholdt, Marcie Roggow, Izabela Wright

NABOR® COMMITTEES 2024 Budget & Finance Chair David Puskaric Commercial Chair Stuart Tackett

Vice Chair Darren Schoof Community Involvement Chair Spencer Rigsby

Vice Chair Eric Nagel Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Chair Sandra Schlaupitz

Vice Chair Tim Loos Digital Content Chair Jeffrey Zeiler

Vice Chair Corey McCloskey Events for Networking Chair Shari de Ron

Vice Chair Samantha Schwartz Facilities Management Wes Kunkle Global Business Chair Carol Kairis

Vice Chair Olga Vindell Governmental Issues Chair Tina Muracco

Vice Chair Chuck Kansy

Vice Chair Adam Bleggi Media Relations Chair PJ Smith Membership Chair Nancy Golya

Vice Chair Joe Nugent NABOR® History Chair Paula Angelopoulos Urbinati

Vice Chair Shannon Livingston

N A P L E S R E A LT O R ®

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Chair Jacquie Walter Vice Chair Mary Waller

Director of Marketing Marcia Albert Paula Angelopoulos Urbinati Patricia Asencio Antonio Barroso Claire Bisignano Chesnoff Erica Cabezas Marchese Brandy Simpson Uncle Luke Teuscher Debbie Zalewski

NABOR® Staff

Chief Executive Officer Marty Manion Chief Financial Officer Carl Russell Chief Administrative Officer Corie Chase

NABOR® Magazine Chair Jacquie Walter

Administrative Assistant to the Executive Committee Deborah Linville

Vice Chair Mary Waller

Assistant to Chief Financial Officer Deb Joyner

MLS Chair Adam Vellano

Director of Engagement and Events Melissa Bognaski

Vice Chair Corey McCloskey Professional Development Chair Tina Falzarano

Vice Chair Carol Kairis Professional Standards Chair Will Watson

Vice Chair Rick Fioretti RPAC Chair Debbie Zalewski

Vice Chair Allisa Pipes

Director of Marketing Marcia Albert Director of Membership Elizabeth Saggio Director of MLS Cindy Cornman Director of Professional Development Services Jeanette O’Neill Education Administrator Taiana Londoño Membership Administrators Zamira Collado Heather Moore MLS Compliance and Support Specialist Cheyenne Chase MLS Support Specialist Alice Leonard Network Technician Michael Bryant

Syposium Co-Chairs Brenda Fioretti Debbie Zalewski

REALTOR® Store Manager Ann Mazzei

Vice Chair Lesley Colantonio

Receptionist Joan Welsher

Young Professionals Network (YPN) Chair Kimberly Vargas

Supra and Store Administrative Assistant Kathleen Gill

Vice Chair Antonio Barroso

14

Naples REALTOR® Magazine Editorial Board

Vice President of Public Policy Danielle Brazil Hudson Digital Content Specialist Wade Mastro

Q1 2024

12/20/23 11:49 AM

Discover Naples’ Most Legendary Success Story

W

hen tranquil Gulf of Mexico beaches, sparkling ocean-view pools, elegant dining, world-class Spa treatments, curated amenities and the thoughtful service of The Ritz-Carlton are all right

outside your door, life goes from comfortable to simply incomparable.

Invite your clients to join you at our Sales Gallery, so they may claim their piece of the legend today.

Sales Gallery 2355 Vanderbilt Beach Road Suite 106 Naples, Florida 34109 Phone 239-249-6260 Pricing from $3.7 million.

RCRNaples.com

THE RITZ-CARLTON RESIDENCES, NAPLES ARE NOT OWNED, SOLD OR DEVELOPED BY THE RITZ-CARLTON HOTEL COMPANY, L.L.C. OR ITS AFFILIATES (“THE RITZ-CARLTON”). STOCK RESIDENCES, USES THE RITZ-CARLTON MARKS UNDER A LICENSE FROM THE RITZ-CARLTON, WHICH HAS NOT CONFIRMED THE ACCURACY OF ANY OF THE STATEMENTS OR REPRESENTATIONS MADE HEREIN. ORAL REPRESENTATION CANNOT BE RELIED UPON AS CORRECTLY STATING THE REPRESENTATIONS OF THE DEVELOPER. FOR CORRECT REPRESENTATIONS REFERENCE SHOULD BE MADE TO THE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY SECTION 718.503, FLORIDA STATUTES, TO BE FURNISHED BY THE DEVELOPER TO A BUYER OR LESSEE. ALL RENDERINGS AND PLANS ARE PROPOSED CONCEPTS SHOWN ONLY FOR MARKETING PURPOSES AND ARE BASED ON THE DEVELOPER’S CURRENT PRELIMINARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN. DEVELOPER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY, REVISE OR WITHDRAW THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT PLAN IN DEVELOPER’S SOLE DISCRETION WITHOUT NOTICE. NOTHING HEREIN OR ANY OTHER COMMUNICATION SHALL BE DEEMED TO OBLIGATE THE DEVELOPER, OR ANY AFFILIATE OF DEVELOPER, TO CONSTRUCT THE PROJECT OR OFFER ANY OF THE PROJECT FOR SALE, AND NOTHING HEREIN SHALL BE DEEMED A GUARANTY OF ANY KIND. THIS IS NOT AN OFFER TO SALE OR SOLICITATIONS OF OFFERS TO BUY.

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12/8/23 12:41 PM

Publisher Liz Goodman Editorial Director Daphne Nikolopoulos Editor Cathy Chestnut Art Director Craig R. Cottrell Jr.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

helping you SAIL THROUGH your real estate closings with ease!

Lisa A. Beach, Gina Birch, Karen Feldman, Beth Luberecki, Seth Soffian, Nanci Theoret

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Melissa Bognaski, Cindy Cornman, Michael Caronchi, Danielle Hudson, Deborah Linville, Wade Mastro,, Darren Miles

ADVERTISING Liz Goodman at 239-595-7269 Advertising Services Coordinator Elizabeth Hackney Marketing Manager Rebecca Desir

PRODUCTION Production Director Selene M. Ceballo Production Manager Lourdes Linares Digital Pre-Press Specialist George Davis Production Coordinator Ileana Cabán Advertising Design Coordinators Jeffrey Rey, Anaely J. Perez Vargas Digital Marketing Manager Tyler Sansone

OPERATIONS

With over 50 years of combined experience, Thompson Lewis has expertise you can trust.

Chief Operating Officer Todd Schmidt Accounts Receivable Specialist Ana Coronel Distribution Manager Judy Heflin Logistics Manager Omar Morales Circulation Manager Marjorie Leiva Circulation Assistant Britney Stinson Circulation Promotions Manager David Supple IT Manager Omar Greene Group Publisher Terry Duff y Creative Director Olga M. Gustine

SUBSCRIPTIONS 800-308-7346 In Memoriam Ronald J. Woods (1935-2013) HOUR MEDIA, LLC CEO Stefan Wanczyk President John Balardo

PUBLISHERS OF Palm Beach Illustrated • Naples Illustrated • Palm Beach Charity Register • Naples Charity Register • Florida Design • Florida Design Naples • Florida Design Miami • Florida Design Sarasota • Florida Design Sourcebook •

Thompson Lewis Law Firm 745 12th Avenue South Suite 105 Naples, FL 34102 239-316-3006 www.tllfirm.com

16

N A P L E S R E A LT O R ®

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Palm Beach Relocation Guide • Southwest Florida Relocation Guide • Fifth Avenue South • Palm Beach 100 • Naples 100 • Pinnacle: Jupiter Medical Center Foundation • Art & Culture: Cultural Council for Palm Beach County • Waypoints: Naples Yacht Club • Naples on the Gulf: Greater Naples Chamber • Jupiter • Stuart • Aventura • Vero Beach Magazine • Community Report: Collier Community Foundation • Advances: Tampa General Hospital • Naples REALTOR®: NABOR®

Published by Palm Beach Media Group North P.O. Box 3344, Palm Beach, FL 33480 • 561-659-0210 • Fax: 561-659-1736 • palmbeachmedia.com Copyright 2024 Palm Beach Media Group North LLC. All rights reserved.

Q1 2024

12/20/23 11:49 AM

NOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The shore less traveled Welcome home to the protected shores of Estero Bay, Florida’s first aquatic preserve.

Just north of well known. Where curated living meets unspoiled nature. Walk to your private lagoon for cocktails or the marina for a fishing excursion. To extraordinary golf or a nature preserve. But whatever the day brings, Ritz-Carlton hospitality will make it even better. From the $3 millions. Secure your home now at the Sales Gallery.

TheResidencesEsteroBay.com | 239.788.0155 O P E N D A I LY

|

5000 COCONUT ROAD

|

B O N I TA S P R I N G S , F L O R I D A 3 4 1 3 4

The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Estero Bay are not owned, sold or developed by The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. or its affiliates (“The Ritz-Carlton”).

LB Estero Bay Investments, LLC uses The Ritz-Carlton marks under a license from The Ritz-Carlton, which has not confirmed the accuracy of any of the statements or representations made herein.

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12/4/23 3:35 PM

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

CHANGING THE GAME:

A VISION FOR 2024

G

reetings from the president’s office! In 2024, I have the privilege of leading the Naples Area Board of REALTORS®, and I’m deeply grateful for the trust you’ve placed in me. As we step into this transformative year, my vision is clear: it’s time to change the game.

I believe in leading by example, which means being accessible and inclusive to all members. Together, we will drive meaningful change to ensure our association is ready for the future. Our dedicated volunteer directors, committee leaders, and members-along with our exceptional staff-form the bedrock of value we provide to you.

Our strategic plan encompasses four crucial pillars: Elevating Success Through Professional Development: We’re committed to enhancing your knowledge and skills to excel in our industry.

Tools for Success: We will continue to provide the tools you need, from continuing to enhance our local marketplace MLS to cutting-edge technology.

Advocacy: We will promote REALTOR® Champions who have a track record for supporting homeownership policies and programs, protecting private property rights and water quality initiatives.

Community Engagement: We’re forging deeper connections through events and building relationships within our community.

With a diverse leadership background, I aim to bring innovative and cost-effective solutions to our association.

I’m a proud graduate of the NABOR Leadership Academy, Florida Realtors Leadership Academy, Leadership Collier, and a member of the National Association of REALTORS® Leadership Academy Class of 2024.

Members, we also ask for your active involvement: • Join our committees, task forces, and Presidential Advisory Groups to shape our future.

• Share your brilliant ideas—whether they relate to professional development, advocacy, or any aspect that can make us better. Email me at pjsmithnaples@gmail.com.

• Participate in member surveys to provide valuable feedback.

• When the call for advocacy action comes, respond—your voice matters.

• And don’t forget to vote! Our public policy team will provide you with candidate information to help you choose the best REALTOR® Champion.

Together, let’s embrace change, elevate our association, and make 2024 a year of growth, innovation, and success.

PJ Smith

NABOR® President

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N A P L E S R E A LT O R ®

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Q1 2024

12/20/23 10:27 AM

At Neal Communities, we believe where people live has an impact on their life. It’s not just about homes, it’s about creating wonderful communities.

It’s about selecting quality places where people can live, grow and thrive. This is our brand promise: Where You Live Matters. AND SO DO OUR REALTORS! Our ongoing dedication to you is unparalleled with 3% commissions if you accompany your buyer on their first visit, broker events, personalized tours, and JUST FOR YOU, a $5,000 REALTOR BONUS*! And right now, we have just what you need to keep your clients happy.

Carriage homes, 1 & 2-story single-family homes, an inventory home for a quick closing.

SEYCHELLES CARRIAGE HOMES

FROM THE LOW $500s 2-STORY | 2-3 BEDS | 2 BATHS | 1-2 CAR GARAGE UP TO 1,725 SQ FT

KENDAL MODEL

VISIT OUR NEW AMENITY CENTER TODAY!

2665 SEYCHELLES CIRCLE, NAPLES, FL 34112

SKYSAIL

QUICK MOVE-IN HOMES AVAILABLE

SINGLE FAMILY HOMES

FROM THE LOW $500s 1 & 2-STORY | 2-4 BEDS | 2-3 BATHS | 2-3 CAR GARAGE UP TO 3,486 SQ FT

DREAM MODEL

4056 SKYSAIL DRIVE, NAPLES, FL 34120

*$5,000 REALTOR BONUS VARIES AT PARTICIPATING COMMUNITIES. ASK YOUR SALES ASSOCIATE FOR DETAILS. SEE NEALCOMMUNITIES.COM/REALTORS FOR ALL REALTOR DETAILS.

239.347.0722 | NEALCOMMUNITIES.COM © 2023, NEAL COMMUNITIES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CBC 1256375 | PHOTOGRAPHS AND IMAGES USED ARE FOR DEMONSTRATIVE, ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY.

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12/7/23 3:16 PM

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FOR OPENERS

PASSIDOMO PASSION

Florida State Senate President Kathleen C. Passidomo, longtime resident and NABOR® member, honored for her commitment to property rights and homeownership

BY ROBIN DEMATTIA

F

lorida Senate President Kathleen C. Passidomo has innumerable fans, and former state senator and local banker Garrett Richter is one of them.

“I met Kathleen many years ago,” he recalls of the time they were both in Leadership Collier in the early 1990s. “She has always been extremely active and effective in various organizations and always had the best interest of our community at the forefront of her priorities.”

Richter was delighted to emcee of “A Night Honoring Senator Passidomo” hosted by the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®) on November 10. NABOR® Vice President of Public Policy Danielle Hudson says Passidomo was feted because “she has been a long-standing

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member of NABOR®, so we wanted to thank her for her years of service in the legislature as well as for all the things she has done for our industry and community.

She’s done a lot to promote land-use issues.”

Hudson says that, most recently, the Live Local Act passed in early 2023 and championed by Passidomo in her role as Senate President “will do amazing things for affordable housing throughout the state of Florida.”

Garrett Richter Passidomo’s career in politics and philanthropic work was not evident when she and her husband John met at Stetson University College of Law. “I was very taken by her,” John, a partner with Cheffy Passidomo, says of first meeting his wife. “She wanted to be a prominent lawyer, but during her 30 years before she ran for public office, she was engaged in scores of community service and charitable initiatives.”

There were signs of her ambitions: She was one of the first women in the state to become board certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a specialist in Florida real estate law in 1987. “She was one of a handful of women in this original class, which was an extraordinary professional accomplishment,” he says. She served as president of the Collier County Bar Association and received the Florida Bar Association’s President’s Pro Bono Service Award for rendering free and legal services to those in need.

NABOR® awarded her the Ad Miller Private Property Rights Advocacy Award in 2009 for her work on a mortgage foreclosures task force

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Kathleen C. Passidomo has invested 14 years into serving the State of Florida and Southwest Florida.

Above: She meets with Naples Airport Authority Director of Development and Facilities Kerry Keith; Kathleen and her husband John M. Passidomo with Tucker. Below from left: A family portrait with their three daughters, from left, Francesca, Catarina (sitting), and Gabriella; Kathleen visits a Mosaic mining site. Opposite page: REALTORS® from Naples, Marco Island, and Bonita Springs during the Great American REALTOR® Days in Tallahassee.

that rewrote state legislation to protect both lenders and borrowers. Working with other legislators to enact these laws is one of Passidomo’s strengths.

“When Kathleen was in the House and I was in the Senate, we worked together to pass responsible legislation,” Richter says. “She had a commitment to make the community and our state better.”

It’s not always easy to be in politics, let alone find consensus, but Hudson says Passidomo has qualities that have made her successful. “I have a lot of respect for her,” she says. “She is a very kind and gracious person who is very professional and knowledgeable. But she’s a tough cookie.

When she believes in something, she takes it to completion. She strongly believed that the legislature had a job to do when it came to affordable housing and worked on it for years. The Live Local Act was the pinnacle of that hard work and determination.”

John and the couple’s three daughters are “extremely proud of what Kathleen’s been able to accomplish” and that they also “feel a sense of debt to the community that has been so receptive to all of us and particularly to Kathleen in creating opportunities for her participation in public service.”

Her charitable work has included supporting the Southwest Florida Land Preservation Trust; United Way of Collier County; Collier County Junior Deputies League; Collier County 100 Club; Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida Corporate Board; The Shelter for Abused Women & Children; Collier County Child Advocacy Council; and Collier Senior Center (formerly called Collier County Senior Resources).

About Kathleen C. Passidomo * Partner at Kelly, Passidomo & Alba, LLP * Elected to the Florida Senate in November 2016 * President of the Florida State Senate for the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions * Elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2010, 2012, and 2014 * Member of the Florida Bar since 1979 * Graduated cum laude from Trinity University before heading to Stetson University College of Law SELECT AWARDS 2010 Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award 2009 NABOR® Ad Miller Service Award 2005 Collier County Women’s Bar Association “Attorney of the Year”

1990 Florida Law Related Education Association of the Florida Bar “Attorney of the Year” SELECT VOLUNTEER ROLES * Past board president of the Collier County Bar Association * Past board president of Collier County Women’s Bar Association * Founding member of the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Collier County Bar Association * Founding member of the State of Florida Twentieth Judicial Circuit Juvenile Justice Board * Founding chairman of the Collier County Juvenile Justice Council * Former chairman of the Florida Commission on the Status of Women

N A P L E S A R E A B O A R D O F R E A LT O R S ®

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FOR OPENERS

A JEEP AND A BELIEF

When John R. Wood left behind his law practice to sell real estate in a rustic and rugged Naples, he created a local legacy

BY SETH SOFFIAN

S

elling a slice of sun, sand, and serenity in Southwest Florida must be easy, right? Not necessarily, especially in the formative years for one of Naples’ foremost names in real estate: John Robert Wood or John R. Wood, as the late REALTOR’S® eponymous firm is widely known.

“It wasn’t quite paradise in the early days,” recalled his son, Phil Wood, president and CEO of the private, family-owned and -operated agency.

“The lots were filled with sandspurs and weeds. Mooring Line Drive for quite a while was just a sand road. It was a pretty crude place back in the day,” he says. “It wasn’t the pristine Naples that we see today.

He had to show property in muddy places.

It was hard work.”

John R. Wood arrived in Naples in 1957 and a year later opened John R. Wood Properties—one of the oldest real estate brokerages in Southwest Florida. He elevated his visibility by shuttling clients across rugged terrain in four-wheel drive Jeeps.

The vehicles were adorned with his company name and famed catchphrase, “Walk on it before you buy it,” a nod to an era when Florida swampland too often was marketed and bought sight-unseen around the country.

It is but one piece of a career esteemed for Woods’ integrity and ability to con-

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nect with others.

“He was a great salesperson,” Phil says of his father, who died Aug. 4, 2021, six weeks shy of turning 92. “He loved people and just loved to talk to them, and to find out about them. If he talked to them for 30 minutes, 28 was getting them to talk about themselves. The other two minutes were probably some of his latest jokes.”

The Roots of Wood’s Legacy Born in 1929 in southern Arkansas, John practiced law with his father-in-law in Arkadelphia for several years after serving two years in the Navy during World War II. But he and his wife, Wanda, who’d met in college, were drawn to Florida by a desire for warmer weather. They also were lured by what John’s entrepreneurial-minded father, then living in Fort Myers, had seen as an inevitable national migration to Florida’s serene West Coast.

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Top: John, chairman; Phil, president; and COO Dottie Babcock were considering mergers and acquistions in 1995; Wanda and Phil celebrate with John as he is honored with the Hodges University Humanitarian Award. Center: As NAR president, John meets with President Ronald Reagan in 1981 to discuss housing issues. Left: John set up shop on Fifth Avenue South in 1958.

Bottom from left to right: John in his role as president of Florida Association of Realtors®; the original Chamber of Commerce building; and John and Wanda at an industry event.

After working a requisite year for another broker, John R. Wood set up shop under his own name in 1958 in an office on Fifth Avenue South. He had to lease half the space to two others, including the late, long-time insurance agent John Gray.

“It was more than I could afford,” John, with a genial smile stretched across his square face, said not long before his 2021 passing in an interview with his son for the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®). “It was a nice office.”

From the outset, John sought to distinguish his company as one of trust—a trait that would accompany him to numerous volunteer posts throughout his career. Those included the position of president for NABOR® in 1963 and 1964, Florida Association of Realtors® in 1971, and National Association of REALTORS® in 1981.

“He built a culture in our company of honesty and ethics, and he lived by those things and did those things,” says Phil, 68, recalling being about 4 years old when his father made his only child return a quarter that he’d found in a Miami Herald sales box. “I was so excited to show him. He made me go back and put it in the machine and leave it there,” he recalls. “He just felt like that was the newspaper’s money, not ours.”

Also vital to the firm’s success was Phil’s mother Wanda, a schoolteacher who regularly worked at the office in the early decades. She maintained her own real estate broker’s license right up until her death, just a couple years before her husband’s passing, in case it was ever needed. “My mother was extremely influential in the company’s success and enabling my father to serve in all those volunteer positions,” Phil says. “She did an awful lot of things in the background.”

In recent years, Phil’s daughters, Corey McCloskey and Nikki Wood, have carried on the family business, which boasts 23 offices in Collier and Lee counties and more than 750 agents and staff. Both women have prominent roles in the firm. McCloskey served as president of NABOR® in 2021.

In 2022, the firm became John R. Wood Properties/Christie’s International Real Estate.

“He was very proud” of the family’s ongoing legacy of principled sales and service, Phil says, noting his father’s enthusiasm for lobbying on behalf of REALTORS® at the state and national levels. “I think his legal background really helped him. He really tried to further the REALTOR®s’ cause in Washington. He just enjoyed it. He enjoyed serving people.”

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FOR OPENERS

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS BEHIND NABOR®’S SUCCESS DISCUSS GAME-CHANGING MILESTONES From three-ring binders to modern benchmarks

BY NANCI THEORET

A

s the first full-time executive officer of the Naples Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®) first in the mid-1960s, Norm Harris’ job covered the usual duties of a modern-day CEO—managing daily business operations, strategizing membership growth, and functioning as the president’s right-hand man. Assisted by his secretary, the only other paid employee, Harris also monitored the revolutionary multiple listing service Norm Harris John W. Vaughn Jr. (MLS).

Long before 24/7 MLS access, he Sure, there was always the potential for was the collector and gatekeeper of the telltale mimeograph-purple fingers or an ink area’s real estate-related data and information, stain, but Harris looked forward to the task. distributing hundreds of pages of new listings After printing the copies, he’d hop in his car three times a week to agents who filed them in and deliver the hot-off-the-press publication three-ring binders. to Naples’ 32 realty offices. “I knew all memThrice weekly, Harris also tangled with bers by name,” he recalls. a hand-cranked mimeograph machine to Harris was already trained for the job when produce a bulletin highlighting properties he was promoted to executive officer in 1965. going under contract, closed sales, and board He’d been working for a year as the assistant announcements. “Back in those days, there to Haven Hammer, NABOR®’s part-time was no hint of computers,” he says.

The city council attempted to place a ban on real estate for-sale signs in Naples, but the board was successful in preventing that.”

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executive officer since 1957. Hammer replaced Rhys Beatty, the board’s first administrator, also a part-timer, who served only a year.

Naples’ growing real estate market— in the waning years of a mid-century land rush—plus a 270-member board necessitated the full-time position, and Harris was immersed in every aspect.

He attended all committee and board meetings, kept minutes, and apprised NABOR® leaders of issues potentially impacting the industry. “Like the CEO of any corporation, I advised the board of what was going on at the state and local level,” says Harris. “The city council attempted to place a ban on real estate for-sale signs in Naples, but the board was successful in preventing that.”

When Harris left NABOR® in 1968 with a newly earned real estate license, membership had grown to nearly 400 and local real estate offices numbered 50. Since his departure over a half-century ago, the board has employed only five other executive officers.

J.E. “Ernie” Carroll followed Harris’s career path, replacing him as executive officer in 1969, then leaving NABOR® after four years to sell real estate. As Carroll’s successor, Carter Bryan, an English lit teacher at Naples High School, served the board from 1973 to the early 1980s. His tenure marked by the dawn of the technological age.

By the 1970s, the three-ring binders and

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This vintage postcard of Fifth Avenue South promoted “the beautiful palm lined business section” of “Naples on the Gulf Florida.”

individual pages had been replaced by a once-a-week MLS book. NABOR® had dabbled with a computerized MLS system in 1969 but suspended it after only a year. Bryan “wanted to get rid of the MLS books and get them on a computer system,” says John W. Vaughn Jr., President 1977, who traveled to Washington, D.C., to advocate for the cause.

When Harris returned to the board in 1980 as president, the MLS book had continued to evolve. It included thumbnail photos and descriptions—and it was the real estate bible for NABOR®’s 1,028 members for the next seven days. “We were just beginning to play with computers and had just gone to the printed book for MLS,” Harris recalls, because there was no online database.

Adds Vaughn: “The whole membership hung onto those MLS books like their life depended on it.”

George Pratt became NABOR’s® sixth executive officer in 1982 and was followed in 1986 by Mike Richardson, who was an era unto himself. He arrived when The Ritz-Carlton, Naples, and The Registry (Naples Grande) beach resorts were confirming Naples’ cachet as a luxury travel—and second-home— destination. His career spanned 30 years, encompassing the most evolutionary moments in the association’s

history, including the launch of the NaplesArea.com consumer website in 1996 and online MLS listings in 1998 through a contract with REALTOR.com, the introduction of Naples.com in 1998, and the long sought-after elimination of the MLS tomes in 2001.

“Mike set the bar extremely high and made NABOR® into a remarkable board,” says Naples real estate attorney James A. Pilon, President 2003, who’s served on the Legal Resources Committee for 25 years and earned a real estate license in 1995 to access full membership benefits. “I often tell everyone that NABOR® is the best board in Florida and in the Southeastern United States. It’s efficiently run, serves its members well, and maintains high standards. The staff at NABOR® is unparalleled.”

In 2003, Pilon oversaw a membership of 3,000. Today, under CEO Marty Manion, who replaced Richardson in December 2015, there are more than 8,500 members and a staff of 19. “The market has grown dramatically—almost three times—since I was president, but look what’s happened to Naples in general,” notes Pilon, a resident since the 1970s. Richardson “set the performance bar. Marty picked up the baton, and expanded practically everything the board does. He’s also very, very accessible to members.”

Mike Richardson

Marty Manion

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A LEGACY OF VISION

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FOR OPENERS

LASTING LEGACIES

NABOR® members make meaningful impacts as public servants

BY NANCI THEORET

S

ince W. Roy Smith, President 1955, became the first member of the Naples Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®) to answer the call to public service, 11 others have followed in his honorable footsteps. This total includes three current elected officials: Florida Representative Lauren Melo, President 2020; Collier County Commissioner Bill L. McDaniel Jr.; and Florida State Senator Kathleen C. Passidomo, who was elected to serve as senate president for the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions.

NABOR® members have represented their constituents locally and in Tallahassee every decade since Smith’s 14-year reign as mayor of Naples from 1946 to 1960.

By the numbers, the tally includes five county commissioners, five school board members, four state representatives, two mayors, a city council member, and a state senator.

Collectively, they’ve dedicated more than 120 years to public service. Lorenzo Walker is the longest-serving government official, with a 24-year political career spanning six as a Collier County commissioner followed by 18 years in the Florida House.

“NABOR® certainly has a history of active REALTORS® making a significant impact on the community,” says 1980 President Norm Harris.

When Harris was NABOR®’s executive officer in the mid-1960s, members were beginning to find their political footing by following Smith’s and Walker’s lead and carve out their own place in history. Casey Miller,

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President 1976, was the first woman elected to the Naples City Council, serving the city from 1962 to 1968. Wes Downing was both a county commissioner—Collier County’s first Republican elected to public office—and Naples mayor in the 1960s. (He lost a 1970 bid for state representative by only 14 votes.)

NABOR®’s growing membership and leadership opportunities on the NABOR® board and committees, as well as state and national organizations, certainly provided stepping stones to a political future. A strict Code of Ethics and intensive education requirements for REALTOR® members also groomed natural-born leaders for government service.

So did NABOR®’s expanding advocacy on issues and legislation affecting real estate, such as taxes, impact fees, and proposals impacting building and development.

“NABOR® has always had a voice in protecting the property rights of private property owners,” Harris explains. “It has always been our primary focus from a political standpoint.”

Passidomo, a Naples real estate attorney and former NABOR® Affiliate Member, has championed several real property-related bills during her 14 years in state government, as a representative from 2010 to 2016, and as a senator since 2016. One was the foreclosure reform bill inspired by her pro bono work in Collier County during the Great Recession.

Affordable housing has been a concern since she arrived in Naples in 1979. “The community was talking about the lack of housing for our workers,” recalls Passidomo. “It

was a problem then and remains a persistent problem today in many areas of our state. In my experience, all too often the issue of affordable housing is stereotyped as a challenge for those living at the lowest income levels, with solutions that look like the dangerous, crime-ridden, big-city public housing projects we see in television shows set in New York or Los Angeles, circa 1980. In reality, housing is a challenge impacting our broader workforce and also our seniors. The aftermath of the pandemic, inflation, and certainly Hurricane Ian exacerbated existing workforce housing challenges in Naples.”

The recently adopted Live Local Act expanded opportunities for homeownership and addressed rapidly rising rent prices.

“Specifically, as it relates to REALTORS®, it is important to know that Live Local expands both eligibility and funding for our Hometown Heroes program,” says Passidomo. “In addition to increasing the number of affordable rentals, through Live Local all of our residents who work for a Florida company have the opportunity to purchase a home of their own.”

The legislation also created a “missing middle” property tax exemption for owners of substantially renovated or recently constructed rental units who convert market-rate units to affordable rentals for low- to moderateincome Floridians. It’s an initiative Passidomo believes will “address the current problem of rising rents in a meaningful way that young families, working professionals, and our seniors can begin to see right away.”

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History of Service Barbara Berry Collier County School Board, 1984-1988, 1990-1996, 2010-2014 Collier County Board of Commissioners, 1996-2000 Pat Carroll Big Cypress Basin Board (appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush), 1996-2004 Two-term appointment to Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council – 2005–2012 Value Adjustment Board – 2002-2014 Collier County School Board, 2002-2014 Wes Downing Naples Mayor, 1968-1970 Collier County Board of Commissioners, 1966-1968 J. Dudley Goodlette Florida House of Representatives, 1998-2007 Matt Hudson Florida House of Representatives, 2007-2016 William “Bill” L. McDaniel Jr. Collier County Board of Commissioners, 2016-present Lauren Melo Florida House of Representatives, 2021-present Casey Miller Naples City Council, 1962-1968 Jen Mitchell Collier County School Board, 2018-2022 Kathleen C. Passidomo Florida House of Representatives, 2010-2016 Florida Senate, 2016-present Clyde Quinby Collier County School Superintendent – 1976–1980 Collier County School Board, 1990-1998 W. Roy Smith Naples Mayor, 1946-1960

Clockwise from top left: Casey Miller, W. Roy Smith, Lorenzo Walker, William “Bill” McDaniel Jr., Clyde Quniby, Lester Whitaker Sr., Lauren Melo.

Lorenzo Walker Collier County Board of Commissioners, 1950-1956 Florida House of Representatives, 1956-1974 Lester Whitaker Sr. Collier County Board of Commissioners, 1971-1972

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TOUR THROUGH TIME

HOW NAPLES GREW FROM A VACATIONERS’ TOWN INTO A PREMIER REAL ESTATE PARADISE

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BY ROBIN F. DEMATTIA

odge McKee was nine months old when he visited Naples in 1948 to see his grandmother, who had first visited Naples in 1930 when she was 2 years old. “My great-grandparents found plentiful, beautiful shells and caught fish until their arms were about to fall off,” says McKee of the family’s draw to Naples.

His grandmother bought 53 Broad Avenue South, and McKee visited often before graduating from Brown University in 1970 and returning to Naples for a career in real estate. He’s now a REALTOR® with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty.

“Everybody gathered at the Beach Club Hotel after the Watkins family took it over,” McKee recalls of those early days. “If you wanted to meet people, you’d wander to the swimming pool and have lunch and you’d run into the granddaughters and grandsons of very nice people who had homes in Naples.”

Every house had a “shell case” where people kept their best specimens. There was no television, the telephone switchboard had only 64 lines, and the Beach Club Hotel kept a “city ledger” where people could charge clothing, fishing tackle, dinners, and other purchases around town. “It was great,” McKee enthuses. “It was like belonging to a town that was a club.”

Hurricane Donna in 1960 triggered a building boom that led to a real estate boom. “A lot of insurance money came into town and jump-start-

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ed the construction industry,” says McKee, “and then subdivisions came online.”

Communities Take Shape The first subdivision was Coquina Sands, which was the northernmost section of the original Town of Naples plat filed in 1887. According to CoquinaSandsNaples.com, “The first road from Fort Myers angled across The Moorings, Coquina Sands, and the Beach Club golf course, bringing travelers over a rough and sandy trace to the small collection of buildings that nestled around the pier.”

Title for the northern part of the plat passed in 1946 to the Naples Company, which owned the original Naples Hotel, according to the website. The Naples Beach Hotel, with a new golf course, began to take shape in June that year. The apartment complex was the first one allowed on the Naples Beach.

Coquina Sands was approved in 1954. It featured curving, wide

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A couple strolls along the pathway to the original 16-room Naples Hotel, which was built by the Naples Town Improvement Company and opened in 1889. It was a few blocks from the Naples Pier, where visitors arriving on steamboat disembarked.

boulevards named for shells and flowers. After The Moorings was developed in the 1960s, Coquina Boulevard’s name was changed to Gulf Shore Boulevard, Jasmine Road became Crayton Road, and Hibiscus Road was changed to Murex Drive.

Next came The Moorings, which Milton Link began developing in 1957 on 300 acres further north. Today, it encompasses 1,300 acres with approximately 75 single-family homes and 82 condo buildings.

Bill Coffey, managing broker for Amerivest Realty, began selling homes in Naples 37 years ago. He says REALTORS® helped sell those lots and that the condos with boat docks in the backyard was a big selling point.

Coffey says Ray Lutgert started building Park Shore before The Moorings was built out.

The parents of Sara Williams, a REALTOR® with John R. Wood Properties/Christie’s International Real Estate, started living in Naples during the 1970s. Williams recalls visiting her parents when Park Shore and other areas were being built in the 1970s and ‘80s. “I remember going out Pine Ridge Road and seeing tomato farms south of Airport Road,” she says. Tony Ridgway’s Villa Pescatore restaurant near where Seasons 52 is today “is an example of a restaurant location moving north as Pelican Bay was being developed,” Williams recalls. “I remember my daddy saying, ‘It’s so far.’ It was dark, like you were out driving in the country.”

A REALTOR® in Naples since 2009, Williams says the lots got smaller as development moved north. “Dirt became more expensive. They needed 40

N A P L E S R E A LT O R ®

more units to make a profit,” she explains. Another way to achieve a return on investment was condominiums.

Each neighborhood was distinct from the others. “You had a progression of architectural currency and style,” says Bill Earls, broker/director at John R. Wood Properties/Christie’s International Real Estate. “One of the services that NABOR® and we REALTORS® offered was to help people understand the different attributes and lifestyles of places for lot size, price point, and access to the beach and services.”

A Distinctive Downtown While these communities were rising north of Old Naples, building was also taking place south of town.

From 1938 to 1950, John Glen Sample bought two square miles of mangrove swamp for $13,700 and began an extensive dredge-and-fill project. He called the area Port Royal after the Jamaican town notorious for piracy. Cutlass Cove, the first phase, was complete in 1950 with lots selling for $7,500 to $12,000. Lantern Lake followed in 1957, where four speculation homes sold for $22,000 to $25,000. When the Port Royal Beach Club opened in 1959, annual dues were $150.

Karen Van Arsdale, a Premier Sotheby’s International Realty REALTOR® who has sold real estate locally for more than 40 years, says Old Naples, Aqualane Shores (built by Forrest Walker and his sons Rob and Lorenzo in the 1950s and '60s), and Port Royal helped transform Naples

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Commercial Pioneers

into a real estate destination that draws buyers from across the United States, Canada, and Europe. “People are discovering that Naples can give them the lifestyle that the East Coast can’t,” Van Arsdale says. “It’s such a special place to have a residential downtown.”

McKee says some people credit The Ritz-Carlton, Naples with putting Naples on the global map. However, he thinks that the mid-1980s relaxation of interstate banking laws was responsible for drawing trust companies, banks, lawyers, and other professionals to Collier County to serve high-net-worth clients. This in turn led to more young professionals, who needed places to live, to move to the affluent community. “The NABOR® story is very important in the overall scope of Naples,” says McKee, “because the provision of housing was the single-most important business here from the beginning. It’s where the money was made then and still is.”

“As the population grows, the demand for goods and services grows with it,” says David Stevens, principal of IPC, the first commercialonly real estate firm in Naples.

In 1983, Stevens joined the firm founded in 1976 by Jack Conroy, who moved to Naples in 1963 to work for his uncle, owner of Marhoefer Construction, on projects such as Naples Community Hospital and the Cove Inn. Conroy became the first Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) in Naples and taught CCIM courses nationwide for 25 years.

Stevens, Conroy, Dennis Lynch, Becky Andrews, Bill Poteet, and Joe Hovland were among the most active commercial REALTORS® in the 1980s, working on office space, retail stores, restaurants, and large shopping centers, he says. IPC worked on projects such as Lakewood Plaza, Patriot Square, and The Commons. Boran Craig Barber Construction (now BCBE Construction) was involved in sites such as Park Square and Tanglewood Marketplace.

The Naples Beach Hotel, as the area’s first significant resort, influenced the development of Naples in a myriad of ways, according to Michael Watkins, third-generation owner and operator of the former landmark. “The resort was the first introduction to most upon arriving as vacationers to discover sugar-sand beaches in a quiet, small-town setting. While many resided for months each season at the resort, other visitors naturally bought homes so they could extend their stays, then tucked their vacationing families into the resort.”

The family added new buildings from the 1950s through the 1970s, and a clubhouse and spa complex in 1999. “The golf course,” Watkins notes, “always added value to surrounding homes, providing an unparalleled open space in the heart of Naples.”

THIRD STREET SOUTH REALTOR® Wilson Dyches represented Dorette and Julius “Junkie” Fleischmann in most of the real estate transactions they made in the 1950s and ‘60s along Third Street

South, according to Joan F. Tobin, principal of Neapolitan Enterprises and daughter of the Fleischmanns. Neapolitan Enterprises still owns these properties.

Tobin remembers the days when the Beach Store had a counter for milkshakes, the Quonset hut next door housed the movie theater, the Old Naples Building was home to offices and a library, and Third Street South was made of crushed shells. The Mercantile Building became the Antique Addict then today’s Campiello Ristorante, decorating firm Greenwich House is now part of Tommy Bahama, Relax was previously the site of a gas station, and Sea Salt was previously Mark Fore and Strike, she recalls.

FIFTH AVENUE SOUTH Bill Poteet, CCIM, President 2012, and a Collier County resident since 1972, says that firms such as John R. Wood Properties, Coldwell Banker, Howard Hanna, IPC (Investment Properties Corporation), Andrews & Associates, Poteet Properties, and Ad Miller were all involved in commercial real estate along Fifth Avenue South and “helped improve the quality of the buildings as well as that of the tenants.”

After financial institutions and shops relocated farther north near Pelican Bay, which was built in the early 1990s, local businessowners, community leaders, and renowned urban planner Andrés Duaney took action.

“When they left, you could have thrown a rock on Fifth Avenue South and you wouldn’t have hit anybody,” Poteet says.

He credits developer Jack Antaramian with creating Fifth Avenue’s first three-story building and numerous other buildings along the avenue. “He represented the greatest change or was most influential to the streetscape,” Poteet says, adding that Phil McCabe and Angela Warwick were among several landlords and owners who also helped transform the street.

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75

YEARS

of Impact and Evolution SINCE 1949, NABOR® HAS THRIVED ALONGSIDE COLLIER COUNTY

I

BY KAREN FELDMAN

t’s no coincidence that over its 75 years in existence, the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®) has grown in lockstep with the thriving community its members have served.

Clearly, local REALTORS® have impacted the Paradise Coast through their sale and promotion of the region, but they have accomplished much more than that. The multi-faceted and effective organization they have built in NABOR® strengthens agents, the real estate industry, and the whole community.

Since obtaining its charter in 1949, NABOR® has grown to more than 8,500 members with two dozen committees and task forces. (The City of Naples was also

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incorporated in 1949.) From the Grievance Committee to the Global Business Committee, NABOR® offers comprehensive training to members to ensure they’re knowledgeable about the latest developments in every aspect of the business, from new state legislation and local ordinances to international listings to ethics.

Members of the REALTORS® Political Action Committee (RPAC) promote pro-real estate candidates who support property rights and insurance reforms, and lobby elected officials on proposed bills of concern to REALTORS®. There are committees devoted to diversity, equity, and inclusion, leadership development, legal resources, media relations, and young professionals.

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The 1993 groundbreaking ceremony for the modern-day NABOR® headquarters.

Each year, NABOR® acknowledges active, dedicated members with a number of awards during the Annual Night of Honors. The Hall of Fame inducts members who have exhibited extraordinary dedication and service of 20-plus years at NABOR®. The NABOR® Honor Society recognizes members for their overall participation at the local, state, and national levels annually.

From Telegrams to High-Tech

Learning how the organization evolved through the decades is also a lesson about how local communities and the real estate market progressed. The NABOR® History Committee has helped document the story at the “History” link under “About Us” on NABOR.com. Former NABOR® presidents have recorded short videos recalling the accomplishments of their tenures and what it was like to do business at the time. There are also photos of all the presidents, with a short biography of each.

Phil Wood

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Mike Hughes

Jo Carter

In most cases, new presidents came in with projects that were important to them. For example, 1977 President John W. Vaughn Jr. stressed education, urging REALTORS® to earn their Graduate REALTOR® Institute (GRI) designation. “It makes it simple to go ahead and specialize,” Vaughn evinces in his video interview.

Although computers were making their way into real estate offices at the time when Phil Wood served as president in 1986, they were slow and limited in both access and speed. “We still used telegrams to accept and counter offers with long-distance buyers,” he recalls.

By 1994, the NABOR® team was instituting education programs for agents, but, says 1994 NABOR® President Jeri Cobb, the highlight that year was the opening of the REALTOR® Store, enabling REALTORS® to purchase supplies—signs, books, and other business-related merchandise—locally rather than having to mail-order them.

1995 President Patsy Vaughn heralded the arrival of a device that has saved REALTORS® countless hours of driving around town: the Supra electronic key lockbox that did away with driving from real estate office to real estate office to pick up keys for a house showing, then driving back to return the keys. “You could drive 40 miles just to pick up keys,” Vaughn recalls, adding that implementing the new system “was a major accomplishment.”

By 2002, the organization had grown to 4,200 members and it was time to think about an online presence, according to then-president Al DiNicola.

During this time, the REALTORS® decided to start their own multiple listing service (MLS), rather than pay an outside vendor to maintain it.

They hired their own tech team and the MLS from

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Bonita, Naples, and Fort Myers merged to form a united MLS. In 2006, the group celebrated its 5,000th member. “We built another Habitat (for Humanity) house that year, possibly two,” recalled Jo Carter, President 2006, before passing away in December 2023. Volunteering to build Habitat homes was among the many service projects sparked by the largest committee— and likely most popular—the Community Involvement Committee.

Building Community

Mike Hughes, President 2015, says NABOR® leadership realized that members were involved in a broad range of charitable organizations. They decided to create a committee that would select specific charities to work with each year, resulting in a bigger impact collectively than they could accomplish individually. “We’ve rotated our events through the years,” says Hughes. “Sometimes we reach out to children. There are also times we reach out to senior citizens. We collect food for various food banks. We’ve rung the bell for The Salvation Army.”

Once the committee got rolling, so did the projects that members wanted to tackle as a group. “It’s a popular committee to be on; it’s a fun committee to be on,” Hughes notes. “A lot of the events are fun. It is great to see the joy in the people we are touching.”

Since 2007, NABOR® has contributed $484,900 to local charities. They impact a wide range of causes, from Avow Hospice to the Sunshine Kids Foundation to Humane Society Naples. Programs for women, children, and those who lack homes or sufficient food are among the top causes to which NABOR® has contributed money, sweat equity, or both.

The list of groups they have touched is long.

It includes Valerie’s House, Meals of Hope, The Shelter for Abused Women & Children, Laces of Love, Boys and Girls Club of Collier County, ALS, Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Red Cross, St. Matthew’s House, and Habitat Collier. “In the early days, we worked with Habitat for Humanity a lot,” Hughes says. “We’d raise the money every year and build the house. It was always such an honor to be there when the home was presented to the family.”

The NABOR® Helps program was spurred by the needs of families during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hughes says.

Members raised funds to cover takeout meals and the delivery of crates of food to Collier County organizations and loads of hand sanitizer to Immokalee workers. In 2020, the group formed a hurricane relief program to help storm-distressed families. As they saw people struggling to clear downed trees and other debris from their properties, members took to the streets to help, dubbing the effort NABOR® Labor.

“Many people from NABOR® got handson with chainsaws and other tools to help people with whatever they might need,” recounts 2023 Community Involvement Committee Chair Heather Haynes. Hughes was among the helpers armed with a chainsaw.

The Community Involvement Committee doesn’t just deal with disaster recovery. It also creates fun, such as the annual Trunk and Treat event held for Halloween. Participants gather at the NABOR® building and dispense candy to costumed children. It was created to provide a safe and convenient—no need to traipse through neighborhoods to collect a good haul—event. Family Fun Day and Bingo Night are popular annual events, as well as the annual golf tournament that raises money for good causes.

"I would not have wanted to go through my career without NABOR®. I would not have had the success I have had in business without NABOR®,” said Jo Carter, President 2006, who we lost in December 2023.

Other NABOR® projects help improve the area, such as the group’s cleanup patrols who clear debris from beaches, waterways, and roads. “The bottom line,” Hughes says, “is that we like the community to know we are a big part of the community. We are part of the fabric of the community. We pitch in with others who live here to help make it special—and certainly NABOR® is part of the equation.”

Haynes gets satisfaction from the group’s good works, too. “In an affluent town like Naples, there is still so much need,” Haynes says. “It’s great to have this opportunity to give back to our community. It means so much to us.”

These projects also build camaraderie among group members. Whether it’s a community project, a course that increases members’ business acumen, a NABOR®-sponsored conference, or an entertaining night, members say the organization helps them in many ways.

Carter said in November that she considered NABOR® as a family. "We care about each other; we help each other and that’s what it’s all about," she said. "I would not have wanted to go through my career without NABOR.® I would not have had the success I have had in this business without NABOR®.”

Learn how NABOR® grew up with the city of Naples at nabor.com/ about-us/nabor-history.

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LOOKING AHEAD

The 2024 NABOR® Board of Directors members share their goals for the year ahead

M

y vision is to drive changes that will help NABOR® continue to be well prepared for the future because 2024 will be a game-changer. Our industry may experience changes at a national level and in local marketplaces. To be prepared to adapt to those changes, my goals are to foster effective communication with members about the value of membership, encourage broker engagement with NABOR®, and provide transparency of association business to members and the public. We have important elections coming up that will affect

private property rights, homeownership, and the environment. To prepare for those elections, my goals as are to screen candidates for public office to find REALTOR® champions and help get them elected!

To help meet NABOR®’s mission to provide services that will help members’ real estate businesses grow, I promise fiscal responsibility, enhanced inclusion, and attracting strong future leaders of NABOR®. And I will work with leadership and members to spark new concepts and inspire changes that will help the Naples Area Board of REALTORS®—which I am honored and proud to lead in 2024—continue to help your real estate business thrive.” — PJ Smith, President 2024

PJ Smith

"My priority is to support the strategic plan in its mission to provide a solid framework for members’ success. I am in awe of the wide range of the good work NABOR® does for its members and the community. To that end, I will be intentional about promoting and advancing community involvement and charitable giving. I intend to serve with passion for the present and a vision for the future sustainability of our association.” —Terrilyn VanGorder, President-Elect

Terrilyn VanGorder

“Abraham Lincoln said, "Whatever you are, be a good one." NABOR® offers our REALTOR® members the best education and training, ensuring we are all up to date on current practices and laws governing our profession and providing our customers with the utmost care and service. As vice president/secretary, I look forward to the many opportunities our organization will offer to ensure our members are the best in the business and that the consumer knows they are dealing with professionals.” — Christine Citrano, Vice President/Secretary

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Christine Citrano

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David Puskaric

Nick Bobzien

Sara A. Brand

Christina Davidow

My goal is to continue to do my part to advance a shared vision that puts a spotlight on education, professionalism, and inclusion while implementing lasting, innovative changes for the benefit of our members and their businesses.” —David Puskaric, Treasurer

My focus in 2023 will be on providing the best possible tools and education to our members to be successful. I am also focused on looking forward to the future of NABOR. I look forward to providing my unique perspective as a real estate attorney and a REALTOR®. I am honored as a native of Naples to be a part of this wonderful community.” —Shaun M. Garry, JD

“NABOR® has served to help you grow your real estate business for 75 years. My goal this year is to work on expanding NABOR®’s array of resources to help ensure your continued success in today's market—educational opportunities, MLS transaction tools, contracts, professional standards, governmental initiatives, and exceptional service.”

—Nick Bobzien, President 2023

“My focus is to promote the benefits of being involved at NABOR® so brokers, sales associates, and business partners all take advantage of the services and programs NABOR® brings to the members, allowing all to expand on improved professionalism.” —Amy S. Reinholdt

As a director, my mission is to foster a thriving and ethical real estate community. I aim to enhance professional development opportunities, promote diversity and inclusion, and advocate for policies that ensure fair and sustainable housing practices, ultimately raising the industry’s standards and benefiting both REALTORS® and our community.”

—Sara A. Brand

My goal for 2024 is to make NABOR® the best resource available to help you grow your real estate business. My focus will be on education, advocacy, and creative problem-solving. As a real estate attorney and licensed REALTOR®, I see these tools in action every day, and I pledge to use them to achieve NABOR®’s success!” —Christina Davidow, Esq.

Shaun M. Garry

Amy S. Reinholdt

2024 is going to be a year of change in our industry. My priorities include: making sure that our members are kept up to date on the changes whether they are in the MLS, the REALTOR® organization as a whole, or local governmental issues that affect the property rights of owners and tenants, and to bring forth proposals for attainable housing for the county’s workforce. Educating our members will be the key to getting them actively involved in those processes.” —Marcie Roggow “My focus will be on empowering our membership to effectively serve their customers and communities by providing every member with the most current training and information on the ever-changing environmental, legal, and technological issues as they relate to the professional growth of today’s REALTOR®. 2024 can bring a lot of changes in our industry so it is important for us to implement strategies to identify and mitigate potential risks and challenges that may impact our members.

Raising awareness among members on the opportunity of international real estate is another important goal of mine.” —Izabela Wright

Marcie Roggow

Izabela Wright

N A P L E S A R E A B O A R D O F R E A LT O R S ®

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GET SMART

Two Decades of Leadership Development The NABOR® Leadership Academy prepares active members for oversight roles within the organization

BY BETH LUBERECKI

T

he Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®) always needs leaders to take on important roles as members of its board of directors and as chairs or vice chairs of the organization’s many committees. Back in the early 2000s, Arlene Carozza, President 2008, saw the opportunity to help better prepare local REALTORS® to step into those leadership positions.

“She decided that we had a need at NABOR® to nurture them and to make sure that they had all the tools that were needed by people who were vice chairs, chairs, and on the board of directors,” says Pat Pitocchi, President 2014. “We needed to beef up the feeder system.”

In 2004, the NABOR® Leadership Academy welcomed its first class of participants. Over the two decades since, academy graduates have learned the ins and outs of how NABOR® operates and the leadership skills and insight to help them serve both the organization and the community at large. Most NABOR® presidents since 2009 have graduated from the academy.

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Brett Brown was a member of the first class of the Leadership Academy. And as the 2009 NABOR® president, he kicked off the trend of the organization’s presidents completing the program. He appreciates how the Leadership Academy teaches participants about the variety of committees that contribute to NABOR®’s operations.

“I think it gave me a much better background and really opened my eyes up to a lot of committees that I didn’t know, or have a lot of information, about,” he says.

“There’s no better resource for that than going through the Leadership Academy, especially for new people not familiar with how all the systems work.”

A Complete Picture Going through the academy helps put all the puzzle pieces together to understand how NABOR® comes together as a robust organization. “If you’re going to serve in a leadership position at NABOR®, it will help you understand how all the committees work and are funded, where the funds come from, and what the capabilities of

Arlene Carozza

Brett Brown

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Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.”

— Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies

each committee are,” he continues. “That’s a very important key to being able to work within the system to accomplish the goals that you or the leadership at the time may want to have Pat Pitocchi implemented.”

Pitocchi agrees, adding,“You begin to see how all of NABOR® works together. That expands the view for people. You get to see the whole spectrum, and I think that’s very enriching and expanding for everyone who experiences that.”

Pitocchi believes that going through the program helps members feel confident—ready and willing to step into leadership roles at NABOR®. “Sometimes what holds people back are different fears maybe of running a meeting or having the overview to decide these are the goals,” says Pitocchi, who graduated from the Leadership Academy in 2007. “It does fill a need that people have.

Knowing what the strategic plan is and knowing how each committee fits into that strategic plan is important.”

As the NABOR® Leadership Academy continued to grow and develop from its 2004 founding, Pitocchi forged its first relationship with Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) to provide additional curriculum on leadership characteristics and traits. “Leadership is really different from the business of buying and selling,” she says. “It really starts with uncovering your own belief system.”

The combination of understanding what leadership is—and then learning how to put that into practice—is what creates success for the program’s participants. “It increases your experience and knowledge and gives you skills,” says Pitocchi. “To use any tool, you must have the knowledge first. Then wisdom indicates when and how you use it.”

As part of the program, each Leadership Academy class works together on a group project, putting their collaborative leadership skills to use for the greater community.

Past projects have included the creation of the REALTOR® Safety Task Force, a new

therapy room at Project HELP, and a project supporting FGCU’s Reef2Reef Oyster Reef Restoration Program.

“As a REALTOR®, many customers are looking for you to understand and know the community in which you live and to give back to that community,” says Pitocchi. “My belief is that you give back to the community that has been good to you.”

Long-lasting relationships are also formed among Leadership Academy participants, something that’s beneficial from both a personal and professional standpoint. “The people that you serve with in the Leadership Academy become lifelong friends,” says Brown. “And in real estate, there’s nothing better than knowing the agent on the other end of the deal. It goes so much smoother when you know what to expect and how to handle the transaction a little bit better.

Knowing the agent on the other end certainly helps when you get into some tough negotiations or issues come up. It makes it a lot easier to walk through it if you can have a conversation because you know the person on the other end of it.”

N A P L E S A R E A B O A R D O F R E A LT O R S ®

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GET SMART

FROM BOOKS TO DIGITAL DATABASES

NABOR® recognized that the multiple listing service was a game-changer

BY GINA BIRCH

A

lot of things have change in the world since the internet was made available to the public in the early 1990s. The World Wide Web has revolutionized almost every industry imaginable, including real estate. One of the most notable changes was Spencer Hayes to the multiple listing service (MLS).

REALTORS® know that the MLS is a database of properties and houses that are available in communities nationwide. But it hasn’t always been that way. The MLS listings were first printed and placed into a binder because computer (digital) databases were not yet available. “It used to be a 300page book and carrying it around would hurt your back at the end of the day,” recalls Spencer Haynes, President 2007.

Haynes has been in real estate in Southwest Florida for 32 years. He joined the family-run company after meeting John R. Wood on the tennis court.

Looking back, he says it’s hard to believe how far MLS listings have come. In the early 1980s, they originally consisted of brief write-ups in small, blackand-white print—”the kind you could put Silly Putty on and pull off the print,” he says. Some contained a single “horrible” photo, Haynes recalls.

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It was a necessary tool that required a lot of printing that was quickly out of date after its compilation and printing. It included thumbnail photos and descriptions—but it was the real estate resource for a week.

The transition from hard copy to digital was challenging and Haynes says some REALTORS® initially felt threatened by it. They were no longer the gatekeepers. “There used to be a feeling that if you held all the data, the public had to come to you,” he reflects. “But people still go to REALTORS® because they need help deciphering what is really going on. That is where the magic still comes in.”

For instance, explaining a 25 percent price difference between two adjacent or similar properties requires understanding the nuances. In addition, there can still be inaccuracies in MLS listings.

REALTORS® help navigate these issues and more.

Because the information on digital listings is so detailed, including virtual tours of the property, customers are more informed. “Knowledge is power and when people know what they want, that is a good thing,” Haynes says.

At the end of the day, Haynes reminds REALTORS® that it is not the digital MLS that is going to close a deal—it’s the relationship.

Q1 2024

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12/20/23 10:50 AM

NOW ACCEPTING CONTRACTS

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239.758.9500 365 Fifth Avenue South, #104A MetropolitanNaples.com ORAL REPRESENTATIONS CANNOT BE RELIED UPON AS CORRECTLY STATING REPRESENTATIONS OF THE DEVELOPER. FOR CORRECT REPRESENTATIONS, MAKE REFERENCE TO THIS WEBSITE AND TO THE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY SECTION 718.503, FLORIDA STATUTES, TO BE FURNISHED BY A DEVELOPER TO A BUYER OR LESSEE. All artist’s renderings are proposed concepts shown only for marketing purposes and are based upon current development plans, which are subject to change by the developer, Aura at Metropolitan Naples LLC, which reserves the right to make changes at its sole discretion, without prior notice or approval of the purchaser. This project has been filed in the state of Florida and no other state. This is not an offer to sell or solicitation of offers to buy the condominium units in states where such offers or solicitation cannot be made. This advertisement does not constitute an offer where prior registration or other qualification is required. Prices, availability, plans, features, dimensions, specifications and amenities are subject at any time without notice. All Rights Reserved. Equal Housing Opportunity.

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12/4/23 3:34 PM

GET SMART

From Keys to E-Boxes Electronic key boxes cut down drive time, stress, and avoidable pitfalls

BY GINA BIRCH

W

hat did we do before GPS, smartphones, and ATM machines? It’s a common question among the over-40 crowd.

REALTORS® say the same about electronic key boxes. They simplified and revolutionized the process of showing homes in Southwest Florida and nationwide.

“When I was president of the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® Jeri Cobb (NABOR®), we were debating whether or not to use Supra Systems boxes,” recalls Jeri Cobb, President 1994. That year, she flew to the Supra Systems headquarters in Portland, Oregon, where a group of REALTORS® from around the country toured Supra’s operations and learned how these electronic boxes worked.

The rest is history. “It was just amazing,” she says. “It saved us so much time and effort.”

Before the implementation of electronic boxes, REALTORS® made appointments to pick up keys from property owners or managers. This person could be on the opposite end of town from the property and the REALTOR® could be on the other side of town. In addition, there were deadlines to return the keys so the next person could pick them up. Factor in traffic and multiple showings in a day, and the key process

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consumed valuable time and compounded stress.

“It wasn’t fun,” Cobb says, “and we carried keys for all of our own listings, too.” Now REALTORS® have a personal code to open electronic boxes. When the code number is punched—voilà!—the key simply drops down.

The boxes are safe and secure, Cobb says, because they’re not easily accessible without a code.

E-boxes have not only made showing homes more convenient, but also safer. Cobb cites the story of a colleague who stopped to pick up a key while her customers were in her car in the era before e-boxes. To save time, the real estate agent jumped out, left the car running, and ran inside to sign out the keys. When she returned, her customers and her car were gone, along with her purse.

“It scared us all,” Cobb remembers. “We worked hard at training after that so it wouldn’t happen to anyone else.” In fact, Cobb has been instrumental in training and education as director of career development at John R. Wood. This year, however, she is beginning to step back with her eye on retirement. At 80, she says, “It’s time to let the next generation of REALTORS® get involved.”

Q1 2024

12/20/23 10:53 AM

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12/7/23 3:15 PM

GET SMART

Stretching Pennies Collier County’s temporary one-cent sales surtax far exceeded its initial goals

BY CATHY CHESTNUT

S

cott J. Lepore has served on the Collier County Sales Tax Infrastructure Committee since it was formed to approve the projects that were proposed for the passage of a one-cent sales surtax, which Collier voters approved in 2018.

The goal was to raise an estimated $490 million over seven years to fund a slate Scott J. Lepore of much-needed projects for the county and the cities of Naples, Marco Island, and Evereglades City. By last summer, the tax had generated more funds in only five years. When the tax was terminated in December, the total was expected to be more than $550,000 higher than the original goal, pending the final tally. Lepore—who has been the chair of the committee for more than four years—says the oversight team will stay intact “to monitor those funds also.”

Thus far, the tax money has been approved for 37 projects after the committee determined “how much [county department heads] wanted and if they met the criteria of the sales tax question,” explains Lepore. He says the

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committee—comprised of private citizens assisted by the county manager and attorney offices—was an efficient method for ensuring the monies were properly targeted. Those proposing projects “had to go through our board. I had to sign for disbursements. It’s a unique situation,” Lepore muses. “I don’t know if any other county has volunteer committee oversight as a mechanism of funding.”

Though there is more money in the county coffers, it may or may not go too far, he says.

“The projects we got bids on four years ago— guess what happened with those projects?

They didn’t go down in price. They’ve only gone up.”

Ironically, the veteran REALTOR® with John R. Wood Properties/Christie’s International Realty originally didn’t cotton to the temporary surtax but, in the end, he realized it would augment the quality of life in Collier County. He was a cheerleader for building a local Veterans Administration

nursing home so local residents don’t need to relocate to Tampa.

“I’m not a big fan of paying more taxes.

I live here full time, so any time I pull out my credit card or cash, I’m paying the tax,” he laments. However, he believes bolstering services and infrastructure are important for public safety and he learned that county leaders “do a very good job for the taxpayer.”

Some projects unfolded quicker than others.

At least 30 percent have started. Among others, the surtax funded or will help fund the construction of: • Three brand-new emergency medical services stations • A career and technical training center in partnership with the school district • A V.A. nursing home • Road, bridge, and sidewalk improvements • A central mental health and addiction treatment facility • A new forensic evidence building for law enforcement • Big Corkscrew Island Regional Park • Domestic Animal Services shelter improvements/replacement • A workforce housing land trust

Q1 2024

12/20/23 10:53 AM

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©Minto Communities, LLC 2024. All rights reserved. Content may not be reproduced, copied, altered, distributed, stored or transferred in any form or by any means without express written permission. Artist’s renderings, dimensions, specifications, prices and features are approximate and subject to change without notice. Minto, the Minto logo, The Isles of Collier Preserve, and The Isles of Collier Preserve logo are trademarks of Minto Communities, LLC and/or its affiliates. CGC 1519880. 2024

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ASK CORIE

UNDERSTAND—AND AVOID—TRADEMARK VIOLATIONS

BY CORIE CHASE, NABOR® CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

Dear Corie:

I am the qualifying broker for MNO Realty. One of MNO’s policies requires that every MNO active licensee is mandated to join the local Association of REALTORS®, thus allowing them to access the MLS, use the REALTOR® trademark after their name, and to take advantage of all other membership services. Recently, it was brought to my attention that one of our licensees was contacted by you in reference to misusing National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) marks in connection with his email address. Would you please elaborate on this topic so that I can keep our licensees informed and in compliance with the trademark rules?

Dear Member:

Only real estate licensees who are members of NAR are licensed to use the REALTOR® marks, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in NAR’s Constitution and Bylaws and in accordance with the policies and guidelines adopted by NAR (collectively, “trademark rules”).

NAR’s trademark rules prohibit the use of descriptive wording with the REALTOR® marks-including email addresses, email signatures, domain names, and usernames. Using descriptive wording with the REALTOR® marks has the improper effect of distinguishing between members and non-members. Prohibited descriptive wording includes geographic descriptors, adjectives, and words such as “my,” “your,” and “the.”

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Following are a few examples of descriptive wording that may not be used with the REALTOR® marks: Your Professional REALTOR® Jane the REALTOR® The #1 REALTOR® Your Naples REALTOR® Below are a few examples of proper uses with the REALTOR® marks: Sally Rodriguez, REALTOR® REALTOR® Sarah Jones Sunshine Realty - REALTORS® Pleasant Realty, REALTORS® Because there are too many trademark rules to list here, please visit nar.realtor and type “Membership Marks Manual” in the search bar on the home page. This will bring you to NAR’s Membership Marks Manual.

Remember, REALTOR® is a federally registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of NAR and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.

Finally, and I hear this way too often, “Hi Corie, I’m a [licensed] REALTOR®.” There is no such thing as a “licensed REALTOR®” so please stop identifying yourself as one! Rather, refer to yourself as a REALTOR® or a Florida real estate licensee or both, independently of each other.

Have a question? Contact Corie Chase, NABOR® Chief Administrative Officer, at (239) 597-1666 or corie@nabor.com.

Q1 2024

12/20/23 10:54 AM

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*COMMISSION PAID TO REALTORS ON SIGNED CONTRACTS WITH NO CONTINGENCIES AND RESCISSION PERIOD HAS EXPIRED. ORAL REPRESENTATIONS CANNOT BE RELIED UPON AS CORRECTLY STATING REPRESENTATIONS OF THE DEVELOPER. FOR CORRECT REPRESENTATIONS, MAKE REFERENCE TO THE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY SECTION 718.503, FLORIDA STATUTES, TO BE FURNISHED BY A DEVELOPER TO A BUYER OR LESSEE. TERMS AND CONDITIONS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. ©2023

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Welcome New NABOR® Members!

(Q3 — July through September 2023)

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Abreu, Ana Maria

Boghigian, Mercedez Christine

Cottrell, Kevin Ronald

Fogg-Brown, Ann Marie

Abreu, Anabel

Boltz, Mark T.

Cottrell, Susan

Foley, Bryan

Absolu, Ritchy

Bonnette, Ruth N.

Couzens, Peta

Forbis, Marissa

Abugattas Rivera, Angella N.

Bradley, James Thomas

Cruz, Leidy Y.

Fortunat, Madelain Jean Millery

Addabbo, Philip Edward

Bradley, Tyler

Cruz, Teresa F.

Foti, John J.

Alameda, Dannie

Brady, Jeffrey L.

Cully, Ryan Geer

Fournier, Valerie

Alas, Miriam D.

Brankin, Lisa Marie

Culpepper, Nicole

Frederick, Lee Ann

Aldazoro, Ysabel M.

Bridge, Conner

Cunningham, Beth-Ann

Frolov, Vsevolod R.

Aleksen, Andrew

Brown, Colin Blair

Curbelo Vietia, Lisset

Fry, Heidi Crawford

Allinder, Missie Evelyn

Brown, Stephen Charles

Dauti, Manjola Lola

Fuentes Galleres, Alexandra

Alvarez Pino, Deborah

Brummel, Anthony

Davila, Erick Paul

Gaglia, Kimberly A.

Ammirati, Ariel N.

Bryer, Jennifer Lynn

Day, Timothy Blake

Galante, Lisa Renee

Anson, Patrick Michael

Bubenhofer, Eric

De Luco, Talitha Menendez

Gallo, Nicholas

Arnez, Daniela Lizeth

Buchanan, Glenn Jay

De Maio, Luis

Galvan, Celene Evans

Arosemena, Ricardo J.

Bustamante, Paloma Carbajal

Del Rio Roman, Yaremi Aracelis

Gastaldello, Alessandra

Ashton, Stacy R.

Calvert, Wende Rebecca

De’Malavez, Cody

Gatlin, Graham

Askar, Alexandra

Cano Cano, Mariana

Dial, Melissa

Gato, Soime Mercedes

Baballeku, Genoveffa

Carbone, Louis J.

DiMarco, Edward L

Gibler, Walt

Banski, Basia

Cardoza, Kristina M.

Dohner, Kristin

Godines, Orlandy

Barnett, Tabitha Robin

Carlevale, Agostino Anthony

Dorvilien Jr., Cenous

Gogan, Jack Anthony

Barry Kinkead, Teresa M.

Carmignani, Tracy

Duda, Joseph Andrew

Gomez, Roly

Barry, Sophia G.

Casaletto, Gianna Marie

Dukek, Leslie

Gonzalez Castro, Marlen Maria

Bartholomew, Brian Joseph

Castaneda, Karen

Dungan, Colin Reid

Goode, Richard

Bartnett, Michelle T.

Castro Hincapie, Margie

Ehrgott, Megan Price

Gosney, Rollin

Baumgartner, Margaret Claire

Caswell, Sherri

El-Atrache, Ahmad Hussen

Gott, Elizabeth J.

Beaujardin, Yarisleydis

Cervantes, Yolangel

El-Hefnawy, Amal

Grant, Eva Marie

Bejar, Wilma Consuelo

Charles, Benso Duckens

Elizondo, Nichole

Haas III, William Nelson

Bekurti, Enelda Hannah

Chase, Lillian Marie

Eljizi, Afif

Habeeb, Jenna

Benner, Nikki Lynn

Chesser, Laura

Elmendorf, Marie Y.

Hall, Kristin Brooke

Benson, James P.

Childress, Sarah

Endy, Samantha

Hancock, Charles Christian

Berardi, Teresa Lynn

Christian, Hughes Junior

Estefano, Danyara

Hansel, Sandra

Bergthold, Jill Suzanne

Church, David Fredric

Eurich, Jessica Lynne

Hansen, Jessica

Bermudez, Alejandra Carolina

Clark, Carolyn

Feanny, Gabriel Edward

Hanson, Bonnie

Bielak, Jacqueline Hayes

Cochran, Dylan James

Fernandez, Cid Manuel

Harrington, Matt Raymond

Bigger, Denise

Colina-Fowler, Mary A.

Fernandez-Rua, Lautaro

Harrison, Christine Nicole

Blank, Joshua William

Conroy, Stephen Patrick

Figallo, Jean Paul

Heaps, Kristen Marie

Boatright, John Wilson

Cooper, Brian

Finley, Christopher Paul

Herrera, Daylet

Boddie, Stephen

Coronado Fajardo, Fabiola Ines

Fletes, Ismael

Hicks, Shirley Ann

N A P L E S R E A LT O R ®

Q1 2024

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Hille, Carly K.

Medina, Amber Nicole

Rivera, Janet

Torres, Amy

Hoin, David

Menendez, Rodney

Rivero, Brenda

Trika, Julie Lynn

Hollman, Cory

Mertz, Jamie

Robertson, Caroline S.

Trovato, Robin

Holmes, Sabrina

Miguez, Ienglis Portelles

Rodriguez Camacho, David H.

Valerio, Michael Scott

Hood, Ben A.

Milentijevic, Boban

Rodriguez, Eduardo

Vanderloo, Melissa Anne

Horbata, Anna

Miller, Bryan Steven

Rodriguez, Lissette

Vanoy, Oliver

Ibanez, Fernando J.

Mohammad Abadi, Milad Dehghani

Roubicek, Victoria Gennadyevna

Villanueva, Belinda

Izabal Ponce, Maria Lorena

Mosholder, Dana

Rowell, Heather

Walker, William Kent

Johnson, David Wayne

Murphy, Caroline Elizabeth

Rubin, Richard Jay

Wavrova, Kristyna

Johnson, Timothy V.

Murphy, Gerald Patrick

Ruszkowski, Alice

Weber, Paige Durant

Jones PA, Melissa Alice

Murtaugh, Maureen

Rybak, Slawomir

Weesner, Robert Alex

Joslin, Stephen Vincent

Naples III, Nicholas Joseph

Saewitz, Mercedes

Wells, Francesca Somerville

Katzeff, Jesse Jeremiah

Naranjo, Mariela

Saldana, Maria

White, Steven Edward

Kelley, Jack John

Nawrocki, Brent

Sanakidis, Dorotea

Wilkens, Zoe Helena

Khoury, Megan Kaye

Neumann, Christopher

Sanchez, Maria Isabel

Willey, Brook

Kline, John

Newman, Michael

Santana, Maria

Wobbeking, Sandra Babette

Kobin, Rachael

Nguyen, Kim

Santiago, Juan Rafael

Wolson, Mike

Koeller, Kelsy Lynn

Nicolas, Clifford

Santiago, Roshelle

Woodruff, Chelsea

Koszalka, Monika Anna

Nowak, Monika

Sao Quesada, Yankiel

Woodward, John Thomas

Kurtz, Lily Catherine

Noya, Shirley Elaine

Schaller, Andrew Peter

Worley, Thomas Alexander

Landis, Jennifer K.

Nunez, Henry

Schaller, Christopher Anthony

Yern, Yailyn

Lane, Matthew J.

O’Boyle, William

Serna, Hector

Yonkin, Amanda

Lane, Matthew J.

O’Dell, Ryan Scott

Shafer, Jeffrey

Young, Ivette Janneth

Le Roux, Jade Lucille

Oliveira, Peterson A.

Shaheen, Ehab

Young, Katherine Marie

Lecole, Fabienne

Olson, Megan

Shimp, Sandra

Zarate, Mike

Ledesma, Angel Osmar

Pasache, Luis

Sidoti, Lisa Katherine

Zuniga, Maria Guadalupe

Levine, Paul

Pavich Sr, Joseph R.

Siegle, Michael

Zweig, Emily

Lind, Eva Maria

Peredo, Kenneth Ronald

Simmons, Michele Ann

Lindheim, Denise Rae

Perez Sr, Marco Antonio

Skop, Adi

Lukaszczyk, Joanna S.

Perez, Sabrina Marie

Snarskaya, Daria

Luro, Andrea Valeria

Perez, Yanet

Spalding, Shannon Marie

Machin, Alexandra

Pierval, Dadjena Wilmirta

Sprague, Brian Scott

Maffeo, Ashley

Pilkington, James M.

Stamm, Samantha

Mango, Cory

Pinto, Ramon Y.

Stokes, Cheryl

Marchak, Ida Mae

Piscopio, Anthony Michael

Strybel, Lauren

Marinaccio, Joseph

Popa, Victor

Sullivan, Lisa A Susen

Marinelli, Ayden Lee

Prieto, Mayrelis

Sweeney, Allison

Mark, Keishaun

Pusinskas, Lukas

Talay, Nicole Barbara

Martin, Blake

Quesada Molina, Yodalis

Tarnowski, Dawson

Martin, Gregory John

Ramdedovic, Alina

Taylor, Vanessa Elena

Martinez, Yobany

Ray, Sonya Lea

Tello, Natascha

Marzulli, Louise

Reissmann, Andreas Joerg

Teofilo, Teman

Maves, Cynthia J.

Retamar, Jason

Teuscher, Luke

Mcausland, Tatiana

Richard, Steven Gregory

Thomas, Jennifer

McCall, Elizabeth

Rimkus, Rasa

Tomodan, Alexandra

McMahon, Daniel Paul

Rios, Emilio

Torres Da Silva, Ernesto

Email ethics@nabor.com with questions.

N A P L E S A R E A B O A R D O F R E A LT O R S ®

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NABORhood Social Scene 1

2

New Community Bus Tour

3

Sept. 7 * Collier County

WADE MASTRO

1. Nico Paredes, Nicole Porro, Ryan Gaumer, Allisa Pipes, Henry Albarracin, Faviola Vargas Cano 2. Viridiana Martinez, Dmitriy Khamitov 3. Matthew Craig, Timothy Loos

1

Member Business Meeting Sept. 21 * NABOR®

1. Laurel Anne McGarel, Ruthie Morency 2. Patricia McClimans, Tim Aten

WADE MASTRO

2

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Q1 2024

12/20/23 10:55 AM

Casino Night

Sept. 21 * Vineyards Country Club

1

1. Calianna Robinson, Maya Ismailova, Kristen Gibbs, Christina Davidow, Amina Mokhtari 2. Blake Day, Jordan Stynda, Taryn Van Deventer, Rachel Devin

WADE MASTRO

2

1

Economic Summit

Sept. 8 * Arthrex One Conference Center 1. Brad O’Connor, PhD, Chief Economist, Florida Realtors®; Rich Swank, Assistant General Counsel, Florida REALTORS®; Nick Bobzien, President 2023; Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist, National Association of REALTORS®; Cindy S. Carroll, Carroll & Carroll Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants 2. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist, National Association of REALTORS®; Mike Hughes, President 2015; Carol Tweedie 3. Johnathan Shirey, Andrew A. Alvarez

3

WADE MASTRO

2

N A P L E S A R E A B O A R D O F R E A LT O R S ®

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NABORhood

1

Committee Showcase Oct. 5 * NABOR®

2

WADE MASTRO

1. Henry Albarracin; Allisa Pipes; Melissa Bognaski, Director of Engagement and Events; Ryan Gaumer; Christopher O'Brien 2. Tina Falzarano, Director of Professional Development Services; Jeanette O’Neill; Tim Guerrette; Rick Baranski, President 2018

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Not sure how a farm can be a good investment for you? Or how to go about such a purchase? Give us a call and we will walk you through our process step by step. Rooster Ag’ also provides Farm Management services so you can rest assured your investment is being watched over and getting the best of the best as far as attention to detail and income potential.

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Real Estate Broker Licensed in FL, IL, WI, IA, IN (630) 546-8267 Kelly@roosterag.com 64

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We like to tell our customers“ We drove past your farm today... and it’s still there!”

Don’t let your money collect dust.... Invest in dirt!

Q1 2024

12/20/23 10:55 AM

1

Oktoberfest Sunset Cruise Oct. 13 * Pure Florida Double Sunshine

1. Victor Alvarado, Elaine Morgan, Sydney Loeffler, Tyler Buckun 2. Lauren Rossi, Ricky Haas 3. Nicole Voiles, Zach Staron

3

WADE MASTRO

2

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NABORhood 1

Golf Tournament Oct. 19 * Treviso Bay Club

1. Ben Boorom, Zach Edenfield, Andrew Ventura, Colin Brechbill 2. Stacey Maczulis, Laurel McGarel, Renee Beechler, LuAnn Vizzone 3. Patrick Fulton, Michael Rowe, Mark Cardillo, Anthony Skinner

3

WADE MASTRO

2

1

Trunk or Treat Oct. 27 * NABOR®

DEBORAH LINVILLE

1. First Place: Spencer Rigsby, Gretchen Shelton 2. Second Place: Antonio Barroso, Henry Albarracin 3.

Third Place: PJ Smith, President-Elect 2023 with her assistant

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2

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Q1 2024

12/20/23 10:55 AM

1

2

3

Bingo Night Oct. 9 * NABOR®

1. Shannon Livingston, Heather Haynes, Paula Van Zuidam 2. Holly Mills, Joan Welsher, Liz Cashman 3. Zach Mock, Family First Life; Darin Whitlock, Hughes Exterminators

1

2

DEBORAH LINVILLE

A Night Honoring Kathleen C. Passidomo Nov. 10 * Audubon Country Club

1. PJ Smith, 2023 President-Elect; Florida State Representative Lauren Melo; Yvette Benarroch 2. Nick Bobzien, President 2023; Florida Senate President Kathleen C. Passidomo N A P L E S A R E A B O A R D O F R E A LT O R S ®

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NABORhood

CINDY CORNMAN

Commercial Symposium Nov. 16 * NABOR®

1. Nelson Taylor, Vice President of Marketing, LSI; John Talmage, Director, Lee County Economic Development Office; Mike Bosi, Director, Collier County Zoning; Dan Fulton, The Zonda Group; Bev Larson, CCIM, ERA Real Solutions Realty/Lahaina Realty; Cristin Madden, Commercial Banker Vice President, Crews Bank & Trust; Dave Gammon, Director, Charlotte County Economic Development Office

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DEBORAH LINVILLE

1

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Holiday Food Drive Oct.-Nov. * NABOR®

1. Tim Loos; Heather Haynes; Nancy Bjork, Chair, Community Involvement Committee 2022; Andrew Occhipinti; Donna Raynor 2. Maria Bustamante, Director of Donor Relations, Guadalupe Center; PJ Smith, President-Elect 2023

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Q1 2024

12/20/23 10:55 AM

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Installation Banquet

1. Nick Bobzien, President 2023; Sara A. Brand, Director; Christina Davidow, Director; Amy S. Reinholdt, Director; Shaun Garry, Director; Izabela Wright, Director; Marcie Roggow, Director; David Puskaric, Treasurer; Christine Citrano, Vice President/Secretary; Terrilyn VanGorder, President-Elect; and PJ Smith, President. 2. Florida Representative Lauren Melo, President 2020, and PJ Smith, President 2024 3. Jayne Malinowski; Stuart Tackett; PJ Smith, President 2024; Izabela Wright, Director; Ron Coburn; Jacquie Walter

DARREN MILES

Dec. 1 * LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort

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NABORhood

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Donuts with Santa

1. Santa and Mike Hughes, President 2015 2. Santa, PJ Smith, President 2024; Gretchen Shelton

WADE MASTRO

Dec. 2 * BridgePrep Academy of Collier

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Save the Dates

JANUARY 17-21 Florida Realtors® Mid-Winter Business Meetings Orlando JANUARY 25 NABOR®’s 75th Anniversary Celebration NABOR®

MAY 4-9 NAR Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo Washington, D.C. AUGUST 20-25 Florida Realtors® Convention & Trade Expo Orlando NOVEMBER 6-11 NAR NXT Governance Meetings, Conference & Expo Boston

WADE MASTRO

JANUARY 9-11 Florida Realtors® Great American REALTOR® Days Tallahassee

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Movie on the Lawn

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Dec. 7 * NABOR® Admission to this holiday screening was a toy donation for the Toy Drive benefiting the Guadalupe Center.

1. Matthew Craig, The Grinch, Nicole Porro, Melissa Bognaski, Director of Engagement and Events 2. The Grinch, Emily Cameron, Jessica Cameron

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Q1 2024

12/20/23 10:55 AM

Successfully Advocating For

Florida’s Real Estate Market 2023 Legislative Victories

Historic Housing Legislation/Funding for Renters and Homebuyers Banning Harmful Rent Control Policies in Florida *Protecting Tenant and Landlord Rights *Expanding Home-Hardening Program *Increasing Insurer Accountability

🔍🔍

*Making Condo Conditions and Costs More Transparent *Safeguarding Brokers from Predatory Lawsuits

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🛡🛡

*Protecting Appraisers from Frivolous Lawsuits *$1.1 Billion for Water Quality and Restoration Projects *Saving Businesses Approximately $260 Million with 1% Cut to the Business Rent Tax

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* Pending Approval By The Governor

*Helping Businesses Fight Harmful Regulations

#FloridaRealtorsWins @FloridaRealtors

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Florida Realtors

6/1/23 11:39 AM

THE CLOSE DINING SCENE

GOURMET STANDARD BEARER Tony Ridgway revolutionized the Naples restaurant scene more than 50 years ago

BY CATHY CHESTNUT

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that the restaurant had earned Florida Trend’s “Golden Spoon Award” for eight consecutive years—bestowed upon the top 10 restaurants in Florida.

Ridgway’s origin story explains that he “baked his first apple pie on his family’s orchard in Pennsylvania at the age of 8” while his first job was pasting labels on the ends of apple boxes. It’s evident that his enduringly popular venues are the result of a life inherently connected to the food chain.

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing. He recalls a funny incident back in the day: “Early in my career at The Wurst Place in Old Naples, the kitchen was old and had a very underpowered hood system. The grilling process for a whole marinated leg of lamb was so smoky that we were on our hands and knees trying to work.”

In 1979, he teamed up with Sukie Honeycutt, who came to Naples in 1979 and was hired as a manager for The Chef ’s Garden and Truffles. In 1981, she became a partner and director of cuisine management operations. She and Ridgway own the four restaurants and she is the wine director.

Ridgway is an avid gardener—a testament to his rural, agricultural roots. He continues sharing his culinary knowledge through teaching his cooks and through his 2019 cookbook Kitchen Privileges, a 500-page mix of recipes, mini-memoir, kitchen equipment recommendations, and his tips and tricks (available for $55 at ridgwaybarandgrill.com/cookbook).

Top: The front exterior of The Chef’s Garden on the first floor and the casual Truffles upstairs on Third Street South; Sukie Honeycutt and Tony Ridgway tour a winery in 1988.

Left: The bustling outdoor terrace at The Chef’s Garden.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY CAROLINE RIDGWAY

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owntown Naples today is a gastronomical destination for foodies, but that hasn’t always been the case. Tony Ridgway is recognized as the OG of local gourmet dining who paved the way.

Ridgway is the force behind four concepts today: Ridgway Bar & Grill, Tony’s Off Third, Bayside Seafood Grill & Bar, and Sukie’s Wine Shop. His legacy began with The Wurst Place on 12th Avenue South in 1971, followed by The Chef ’s Garden and Truffles, Plum’s Café, and Villa Pescatore.

Adored Naples food writer Doris Reynolds proclaimed in a 1980 article: “And he’s not just a restaurant owner. He is an entrepreneur, who, while still in his twenties and without any restaurant experience, started one of the most creative and innovative eating places in the South.”

A 1989 review of The Chef ’s Garden by The News-Press restaurant critic Jean Le Boeuf lorded praise: “The interior is actually on the casual side, but the alcohol lamps on the tables, subdued lighting, tuxes on the waiters, and required jackets on the diners provide elegant touches. Why go to The Chef ’s Garden? If that’s not obvious, you’re not living.” Of course, the review covered the “tender, juicy, and not a bit greasy” duck in black currant sauce with sweet potato flan and sweet-andsour red cabbage ($16.95) and noted Q1 2024

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12/4/23 3:33 PM

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WARD-WINNING | INTERIOR DESIGN | FINE FURNISHINGS

WINNER! Best Showroom in the USA! 23/24

SARASOTA, FL

3055 FRUITVILLE COMMONS BLVD. 941.900.HOME (4663)

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8650 GLADIOLUS DR. #200

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1351 NW BOCA RATON BLVD 561.440.HOME (4663) IB26001785

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12/8/23 9:17 AM