Recover the ball

Syd Kitson says he never tires of talking about Babcock Ranch, even though he'd probably rather discuss Talis Park, the new residential community that recently opened in Collier County.

Kitson and Morgan Stanley acquired the sprawling 91,000-acre ranch that straddles the border of Charlotte and Lee counties in July 2006 for an undisclosed sum, selling most of it to the state for preservation for $350 million and keeping 17,000 acres for what will be a residential community of 20,000 homes and 6 million square feet of commercial space.

Seven years later, Babcock remains in the same state as when Kitson acquired it: There's a working ranch, a sod farm and thousands of acres of pristine Florida pine scrub.