Kite Realty acquired Pine Ridge Shopping Center, anchored byPublix, Target and Beall's; Riverchase Shopping Center, anchored byPublix and Blockbuster; and Courthouse Shadows Shopping center,anchored by Albertson's and OfficeMax, for $58 million from aprivate German partnership. Indianapolis-based Kite now owns sixneighborhood centers in the Naples area and is building two more.And that's just the beginning.

"We've been active in the Naples market for the last five years,both on the acquisition and development fronts," says John M. Kite,president and CEO. "We saw that the southwest part of Florida wasgrowing rapidly. In fact, Collier and Lee Counties are two of thefastest growing in the country."

Naples' population (now about 253,000 including surroundingareas) increased 65% during the 1990s, according to Downing-FryeRealty. The city was ranked in 2005 by CNN/Money Magazine as one ofthe best cities to live. While population growth has slowed in thecity itself in recent years, Collier County has seen a steadyincrease of 10,000 new residents annually, according to the USCensus Bureau.