Collier County | Business Currents from the Chamber of Commerce

I just got the October edition of the Business Currents which is the print magazine for the http://www.napleschamber.org/ and in it gives some very interesting projections for what Collier County will look like in 2026. So for those of you that are sitting on the fence about purchasing property you might want to take note of the following:

• Population in 1980 was 85,971, In 2000 it was 252,000 and it is projected that in 2026 we will be home to a peak season population of almost 900,000 people!
• Collier County has experienced a growth of 26.4% between 2000 and 2005.
  County planners project the population to go from the October 2006 estimate of 341,726 to 666,054 in 2026
• The new Collier Regional Medical Center will be opening soon in East Naples
  Companies like Walmart, Lowes and Target are investing in new stores here
  Majority of the growth with be east of US41(Collier Blvd)
• Immokalee will move from more agricultural to a diversifed community and most likely double its current size
• The town of Ave Maria is 5,027 acres is designed as mixed use and will be the home of Ave Maria University
• At build out in 2016 there will be 6,000 students and 20,000 residents
• The Immokalee Foreign Trade Zone by the Immokalee Regional Airport will be reducing or eliminate US Customs' duties on products brought into that zone. The county is projecting that there will be one or two business parks in the area.

So what does this mean? Well it means that the prices we are experiencing right now are not going to stay low for very long. In fact those that thought that the opportunity passed you by in 2003 have another opportunity to get in while the getting is good. Perhaps there may be another dip in prices, but if you are looking for a long term investment you need to look at what is happening in Collier County.