Interstate Access

After U.S. Interstate 75 was extended from Tampa to Naples and international service began at Southwest Florida Airport, Ritz-Carlton opened the first of its two hotels, a resort on Vanderbilt Beach near downtown, in 1985.

"That put Naples on the map," Gutman said.

Midwest residents had always been the core vacation group, driving south on I-75, and now they were joined by air travelers and international visitors, Gutman said.

The office portion of the Mercato commercial development, a Lutgert joint venture with Barron Collier Cos. that opened in late 2008, is 83% leased with tenants including securities brokers Merrill Lynch & Co. and Wells Fargo Advisors, Gutman said.

Hotels Fill Up

The oldest hotel in town, the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club, is also feeling the upswing, said Mike Watkins, whose family has owned the property since 1946. Located on Gulf Shore Boulevard, which passes by the boutiques, sidewalk cafes and mansions of Old Naples, the hotel completed a $40 million renovation this year that includes refurbished rooms and golf greens and two new pools.

Occupancy in March for the 317-room property may reach 90%, the highest for the month in a decade, after the recession pushed the rate to the "low 50s," he said.

"We're positive about the economy," Watkins said.

Case, co-creator of a widely watched home-price index with Yale University's Robert Shiller, said a steady U.S. recovery bodes well for Naples and the national housing market. Private surveys they conduct every year show "consumer home sentiment is strengthening" after reaching a low in 2008.