What SW Florida communities led the United States in building the most homes in 2023?

The state has more than a third of the nation's 18 hottest housing developments, and most of those are in Southwest Florida, according to data released last week.

In reaching those heights, Babcock Ranch, Ave Maria, Sarasota's Lakewood Ranch and Venice's Wellen Park all showed increases in new sales, the findings by half-century-old RCLCO Real Estate Consulting showed in its annual rankings of master-planned communities, also known as MPC.

Here's what to know on that and other topics in today's column including wazzuuuuup with Warby Parker.

How is Hurricane Ian helping drive home sales?

As In the Know has reported, Babcock's national reputation was enhanced by how the community at the Lee-Charlotte county line came out of 2022's ferocious Hurricane Ian largely unscathed, garnering recognition from groups such as the Edison Awards and the Aspen Institute. Last month, Time magazine named its developer, Syd Kitson, as "Dreamer of the Year" for 2023.

“It’s those lessons that we’ve been learning that I hope other people will copy and even do better,” Kitson, a former NFL player said of innovations we've covered in previous In the Know columns. “That’s really the greatest form of flattery: When somebody takes your playbook and they not only copy it, but they improve on it.”

What Florida hospital plans SWFL site and to expand further?

An improvement Babcock is looking at as the burg of 8,000 rapidly grows is expansion of medical care to supplement what's provided by Lee Memorial Physician Group and WellWay health center. A new agreement calls for Tampa General Hospital to make a Southwest Florida landing there in 2025 with a 6,500-square foot urgent care that may lead to a larger presence.

In a statement, TGH said it "plans to engage directly with the residents of Babcock Ranch through outreach and focus groups to gauge their health care needs. With this information, Tampa General will work with stakeholders to develop innovative solutions that can evolve and grow to meet the needs of the community over time."

Where did SW Florida communities rank nationally in sales?

Known as the Solar City, Babcock powered its way to seventh on the RCLCO national list, with 945 sales.

Lakewood hit second with 2,257, Wellen ninth with 887 and Collier County's Ave Maria 18th with 652.

What does the ranking and more buyers mean for Ave Maria?

“Ave Maria’s residential and commercial growth has been incredible,” said Cee Cee Marinelli, director of development, who's looking to a boost in 2024 with more retail offerings. “As home sales remain strong, the town is gaining attention from more local and national brands.”

As we've reported, Midtown Plaza, under construction in Ave Maria’s Park of Commerce in the heart of town, is targeting a September 2024 completion with tenants that include NCH Immediate Care Center, Sunshine Ace Hardware, Dunkin’, Ledo Pizza and Cold Stone Creamery. Martinelli said the Ave Maria Town Center, Publix Retail Shops and the Park of Commerce are fully leased with more than 60 businesses serving about 4,000 residents.

What Tampa Bay community is precursor headed to SWFL?

As usual, anchoring RCLCO's compilation: Central Florida's The Villages with 3,029 sales. Other Peninsula entrants near the top: The 896 sales by No. 8 St. Augustine's Silverleaf and 703 by No. 17 Pasco County's Mirada, which touts the country's largest human-made lagoon and In the Know first wrote about last summer as a precursor to a similar creation evolving in Southwest Florida.

"The total volume of sales realized by the top communities over the past several years has reached levels not experienced since (before) the great financial crisis" more than a dozen years ago, RCLCO Managing Director Gregg Logan said. "MPC sales, as distinct from the overall new home sales market, have the advantage that there is more demand than supply ― more consumers want a home in a master-planned community than there are homes in MPCs to meet that demand."

How's Fla. compare to Texas? What Lone Star town carried it?

New home sales among the 50 top-selling MPCs in the United States by nearly 14% in 2023 compared to 2022’s top 50, according to RCLCO..

The Sunshine State represented about 40% of sales among that group, followed by Texas at nearly 36%, most of it in the Houston metropolitan area.

Monsters: What are some of the large real estate deals of 2023? A look at 10 big ones in SWFL

What chain making Southwest Florida debuts at two locations?

The first time I heard the name Warby Parker, I thought maybe he or she came out of a Superman or Dick Tracy comic strip. Or perhaps a friend of frazzled lawyer Ally McBeal in that peculiar but award-winning turn-of-the-century TV series created by David E. Kelley with a healthy Barry White dancing obsession. Just had that ring to it.

But established in 2010, Warby began by selling eyewear online and actually does have a connection to the writing and entertainment world in a stream of consciousness sort of way. The moniker stuck after company founders combined the names of a couple of characters in a journal by late Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac: Warby Pepper and Zagg Parker. And they dig this Kerouac cat, daddy-o. On their first day of work, employees receive a copy of his 1958 "Dharma Bums" novel.

Now in a flip of the most recent brick and mortar script, Warby just emerged from the digital morass to a pair of Southwest Florida storefronts for the first time, most recently officially debuting last week in Naples.

In the Know: From mangos, Northwestern University to desert and golf. What's your question?

Wait. A digital company investing heavily in brick and mortar?

In the Know first told you over the summer that plans were in the works locally. And Warby's aggressive strategy to go against the grain supports what polymathic appraiser Matt Simmons keeps telling me about the merchandise landscape.

The managing partner of Southwest Florida's 40-year-old Maxwell, Hendry & Simmons insists, "Traditional retail is alive and well.

"For a long time the death of retail has been projected ― from the advent of online shopping to the more recent pandemic impacts," Simmons said. "There have been periods where it took a beating as an asset class. But to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports on the death of retail have been greatly exaggerated. Online sales are only 15% of retail sales activity. At times it might feel like everything has shifted to online purchasing, but it hasn't.

"Ten years ago online sales were only 6% of total retail sales activity so it's definitely increasing, but there's often a misconception that a much higher percentage of sales are happening online."

What percentage of Warby Parker eyeglass sales are in stores?

For the uninitiated like me dependent on a mirror but wanting to quickly look away from that reflection, it seems impressive that anyone could envision selling glasses via my computer screen or iPhone.

But like someone from the Beat Generation might say or The Clash sing in "Rock the Casbah," "The in-crowd says it's cooooool."

A huge part of Warby’s early success was its Home Try-on program, which let customers sample up to five frames at home before buying anything, with free shipping and returns. While that's still available, these days Warby has shifted to about two-thirds of sales in stores, co-CEO Neil Blumenthal told Forbes.

Where can you see Warby Parker in Estero and Naples?

Until about a month ago, it took a drive north of Sarasota or a road trip to the East Coast for locals to check out one of their venues that have quickly tallied overall to more than 200 sites. It added about 40 in the past year alone.

Now, you can see them at the Naples Mercato off Vanderbilt Beach Road and U.S. 41 or Estero's Coconut Point on Tamiami Trail. And Warby eyes launching 700 more so expect additional arrivals.

Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@gannett.com) writes In the Know as part of the USA TODAY Network, which supplemented this report. Support Democracy and subscribe to a newspaper.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: What Southwest Florida housing developments are hottest in America?