Blue Zones Certification Boosts Real Estate Values

NAPLES, FL., – January 29, 2025 – Ave Maria, one of the nation’s top-rated master-planned communities located in Collier County, Florida, started turning blue in 2017. Residents claim the wellness label boosts home values and improves lifestyles for everyone who lives there.

When National Geographic Explorer Dan Buetter first coined the term “blue zone” he never imagined that nearly 100 communities across North America would adopt the wellness concepts his studies revealed. More than two decades ago, Buetter investigated places around the world where people regularly lived to 100 and beyond. He concluded that activity, plant-based diets and lasting social ties contributed to this longevity.

In an interview with the New York Times, Buetter emphasized that unlike other wellness initiatives, blue zones focus on creating an environment that helps people make healthy choices easier versus trying to persuade them to change behaviors.

“On the surface, it might look like what’s been done before,” he said. “But every single component of what we do is underpinned with evidence.”

Ave Maria is an example of a Blue Zone project hinged on the community’s built-in amenities and developed by residents themselves versus the marketing department. As part of the larger Blue Zones Project Southwest Florida, launched in the Naples area, the Ave Maria Master Association (AMMA) joined the effort by engaging a group of residents willing to carry the healthy banner.

Lifestyle Director Carol DiFlorio and residents Victor Acquista and Beatrice Sanford helped to make enhancements to the community’s existing bike and walking paths, parks and other healthy features. They added bike racks, created a community garden and organized walking groups, cardio-based activities, cooking demonstrations, adult soccer teams, homeschool parent groups, even bocce and disc golf. Participants received free Blue Zone t-shirts. Farmers markets, health fairs, parades and other celebrations also were organized to promote a sense of community and feeling of belonging. Participating vendors were selected based on their ability to provide healthy food options.

A retired primary care physician, medical executive and author of two books on holistic health and integral medicine, Acquista was a natural choice to help shape the Blue Zones project.

“I’ve always been a strong advocate of encouraging healthy behaviors,” he said. “Good health is more than exercise. It’s about gathering with friends and families for a common purpose. Community involvement is very important to the health of a community.”

DiFlorio believes Ave Maria’s Blue Zones focus has attracted new residents, including one homebuyer who relocated from Canada after reading about the town’s certification.

“Blue Zones as a branding aspect makes Ave Maria more attractive to people who may be considering moving here,” agreed Acquista. “I’m also of the belief being named a Blue Zone community may raise property values.”

“As new houses and neighborhoods are being built,” he added, “Ave Maria continues to build a people-focused community. You can’t underestimate the value of being outside and moving your body when you live in an environment that facilitates natural movement by natural choice.”

Acquista and Sanford led the task for Ave Maria that helped the entire region earn the Blue Zone certification. Southwest Florida was the first community in Florida and the Southeast United States and only the seventh in the country to earn the recognition.

Naples Comprehensive Health (NCH) — formerly Naples Community Hospital — sponsored the implementation, which began in 2017 and culminated near the end of 2024. Sharecare served as the operational partner.  The 2022 certification achievement included the communities of Naples, East Naples, Ave Maria, Immokalee, Golden Gate, Estero, Marco Island and Bonita Springs.

According to Blue Zones Executive Vice President of Marketing Communications Naomi Imatome-Yun, “the communities achieved certified status after demonstrating measurable improvements in well-being and implementing policy and environmental changes, including more walkable and bike-friendly infrastructure, increased access to healthy food options, tobacco-free policies, and a range of community programs.”

“The Blue Zones Project Life Radius model,” she added, “is an environmental approach to making healthy choices easier in the places people spend the most time. These permanent and semi-permanent changes to a community’s surroundings have a sustainable impact on multiple generations.”

ABOUT AVE MARIA, FLORIDA

Ave Maria has been named a Top 20 Master Planned Community in the United States, 2015-2024 Community of the Year, the Top Selling Single-Family Home Community in Southwest Florida, a Blue Zones Certified Community, and its active adult community, Del Webb Naples, has been named a Top 20 Places to Retire. Located in southwest Florida, Ave Maria is a self-sustaining town including shopping and dining, employment opportunities, parks and recreation, and is zoned for all A-rated Collier County public schools.  At its build out, the town will include up to 11,000 residences, and 1.8 million square feet of retail, office, and business park uses in its 5,000 acres.  Ave Maria is located at the intersection of Oil Well and Camp Keais Roads in Eastern Collier County.  The main entrance, on Oil Well just west of Camp Keais, leads to the Town Center. Take I-75, exit 111, follow the signs east to Ave Maria, approximately 25 minutes. For more information, please visit  https://www.avemaria.com/ or call 239-352-3903.

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