Del Webb Naples

Del Webb Naples is a 55-plus, age-restricted community developed by Del Webb, a division of PulteGroup, but despite its name it is not located in Naples proper: it sits within Ave Maria, a roughly 5,000-acre planned town in unincorporated Collier County near Immokalee, co-developed beginning in 2004-2005 by longtime Southwest Florida land company Barron Collier Companies and the Ave Maria Foundation at the initiative of Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, who reportedly invested roughly $250 million to help build Ave Maria University alongside the town. Ave Maria has an explicit Catholic identity, centered on the university and a prominent parish and oratory in the town center, though multiple sources state residency and worship there are open to all faiths and denominations. Del Webb Naples functions as a gated, age-restricted enclave within this larger, more diverse, family-oriented, all-ages town: residents pay into the town-wide Ave Maria Stewardship Community District and Master Association in addition to their own neighborhood HOA, and have access to Ave Maria’s town-wide amenities (its Town Square shops and restaurants, water park, and Publix-anchored retail) in addition to their own private Del Webb clubhouses, pools, and golf course, which this research reasonably infers but could not explicitly confirm are exclusive to Del Webb residents and their guests. The community is planned for roughly 2,000 total homes, with more than 1,000 closed as of a 2023 "Community of the Year" award from the Collier Building Industry Association, and continues active sales and new-model introductions through at least mid-2026, including new attached villa models introduced in June 2024 and a full Oasis Club amenity-center redesign completed in January 2025. Panther Run Golf Club, the community’s 18-hole course, operates as a public-access facility under third-party management rather than a mandatory or fully bundled amenity, with an optional paid membership tier for residents. Genuine drawbacks are worth disclosing plainly: Ave Maria’s remote, rural setting relative to coastal Naples means residents face a real drive for a wider range of restaurants, retail, medical specialists, and cultural options, and at least one lifestyle-guide source describes the town’s cultural homogeneity and limited local employment variety as a consideration for some buyers. The layered CDD-plus-Master-Association-plus-neighborhood-HOA fee structure is also easy for buyers to underestimate when comparing total carrying costs to a single-HOA-fee community elsewhere. This research found no evidence of a major construction-defect lawsuit or comparable legal dispute specific to Del Webb Naples, unlike a documented dispute at a different, unrelated Del Webb community in Nevada; broader Del Webb brand-wide consumer complaints about workmanship and warranty service exist online but reflect the national brand rather than a documented Del Webb Naples-specific pattern. An Ave Maria-affiliated source credits the town’s inland, elevated, newer, code-compliant construction with sparing it significant damage from Hurricane Ian in 2022 and the 2024 storm season, though this claim comes from an interested party rather than an independently audited flood-zone determination and should be weighed accordingly.

Age Restriction

Del Webb Naples is a confirmed 55-plus, age-restricted active-adult community following the standard federal Housing for Older Persons Act "80/20" model: at least 80 percent of occupied homes must have a resident 55 or older, with up to 20 percent of homes permitted to be occupied by residents who do not meet that threshold. Generic Del Webb industry guidance describes a typical minimum age around 45 for a qualifying under-55 co-resident, but this research could not confirm that specific figure against Del Webb Naples’ own governing documents.

Housing Types

• Single-family homes
• Attached villas (paired/duplex-style, single-story)

Pricing

Despite its name, Del Webb Naples is not located in Naples, but in Ave Maria, a planned Catholic-identity town in unincorporated Collier County near Immokalee, roughly 30 to 36 miles, or 40 to 55 minutes, inland from downtown Naples and the Gulf beaches; "Naples" functions here as a marketing label rather than a geographic fact, and even Del Webb’s own listing URLs are inconsistently geo-tagged between "Naples" and "Fort Myers." The community’s own homeowners association corporate entity was registered with Florida on January 30, 2014, though this research could not confirm an exact date homes first went on sale; one 2016-era source suggests active construction and sales were already underway by that year. Total planned homes are reported at roughly 2,000, with more than 1,000 closed by 2023 per Ave Maria’s own news announcement of that year and continued active sales through 2026, though a precise current closed count could not be confirmed. Housing spans both single-family homes (roughly 1,157 to 2,611 square feet) and attached villas, including newer "Seagrove" (1,448 square feet) and "Cascadia" (1,602 square feet) villa models introduced at a June 2024 model-home-center opening; reported price ranges span roughly the low-to-mid $200,000s for early-phase new construction up to the $800,000s, with resale listings spanning roughly $294,900 to $1,450,000 in aggregated snapshots.

Fees & Assessments

HOA Dues: Del Webb Naples residents pay into a layered, three-tier fee structure worth understanding as separate line items rather than a single number: the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District, a special-purpose local government created by Florida special act in 2004 that finances and maintains town-wide infrastructure (roads, water and wastewater, stormwater, entry features) via a non-ad-valorem assessment on the Collier County property tax bill; a town-wide Ave Maria Master Association; and Del Webb Naples’ own neighborhood association dues, covering the community’s private clubhouses, amenities, and (per one source) gated-community security. Reported figures, none independently confirmed against a primary document, describe HOA dues typically running $300 to $400 per month and a CDD assessment of roughly $1,500 to $3,500 per year depending on lot size and phase. Collier County’s effective property tax rate is reported at roughly 0.67 to 0.82 percent of market value. No general HOA capital-contribution or resale-transfer-fee figure was found for Del Webb Naples itself, though a $100 transfer fee specific to full golf-club members who rent their homes was cited by one source.

Club/Golf Fees: Panther Run Golf Club, an 18-hole championship course, sits within Del Webb Naples but operates as a public-access facility managed by third-party operator Hampton Golf rather than being bundled into HOA dues; no membership is required to play. A separate, optional paid membership tier exists for residents wanting preferential tee times and cart or green fee rates, though reported costs conflict sharply across sources, from roughly $11,500 in initiation plus $1,416 in annual dues in one source to $25,000-$50,000 in initiation plus up to $5,000 in annual dues in another, and this research could not resolve which figure is current.

Amenities

• Two clubhouses totaling more than 30,000 square feet: The Grand Hall (roughly 15,000 square feet, with three adjoining social halls seating up to 350 guests and a catering kitchen) and The Oasis Club (roughly 12,000 square feet, with a fitness center, movement studio, steam room, sauna, library, café, and arts and crafts studio)
• The Oasis Club underwent a full interior and exterior redesign reported in January 2025
• Resort-style pool with beach entry, a 3-lane lap pool, and a jetted hot tub/spa
• 12 lighted pickleball courts and 2 tennis courts
• 4 bocce ball courts, an outdoor amphitheater, and a community garden
• Panther Run Golf Club, an 18-hole public-access golf course, plus "The Rusty Putter Bar & Grille"
• Full-time Lifestyle Director staffing the community’s social calendar
• Gated community (specific staffing/gate type not confirmed in this research)

Getting Around

Healthcare: An NCH Immediate Care Center operates directly within Ave Maria’s Midtown Plaza for walk-in, non-emergency care, open seven days a week. For hospital-level or emergency care, the nearest full-service hospitals are in the Naples area, roughly 25 to 30 miles away, including campuses of Physicians Regional Medical Center and NCH Healthcare System.

Airport: Naples Municipal Airport (general aviation and charter only, no commercial service) is roughly 34 to 35 miles away, and Southwest Florida International Airport, the nearest airport with commercial passenger service, is roughly 45 miles away. Ave Maria’s own Town Center includes a Publix-anchored retail plaza plus additional dining and services within the town itself, softening day-to-day shopping needs despite the community’s distance from Naples proper.