Developer wins in long-term play

September marks six years since The Ronto Group, partnering with a New York investment firm, bought TwinEagles, a 1,115-acre master-planned community in Naples where home sales stalled in the downturn.

A family-run, Naples-based development firm, Ronto paid $11 million for TwinEagles, in conjunction with Angelo, Gordon & Co. The Ronto Group then spent millions more on renovations. That included redoing one of two golf courses, building a resort-style spa, swimming pool and fitness center and enhancing walking paths.

The investment, after some lean years in the beginning, now looks like a shrewd buy-low move. “Fortune favors the bold,” TwinEagles sales manager Van Osborne tells Coffee Talk. “When we got into this project nobody was looking at golf courses.”