- May 11, 2026
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For years, Cincinnati-based development and property management company CIG Communities has been watching people continue to move to Florida from the Midwest and other states. So it knew the Sunshine State was a good place to bring the firm’s expertise in multifamily housing, especially when it comes to developing workforce housing.
In 2025, CIG opened Aspire Naples, one of the first developments in Collier County to move forward using the Live Local Act, a statewide initiative to increase the availability of affordable housing in Florida through funding, tax credits and exemptions and other incentives. The apartment community offers a mix of workforce and market-rate housing and is more than 52% leased.
And more workforce housing in the region is in the works — despite some challenges in the price structure and rules regarding Live Local’s financial requirements.
Another project CIG is working on is Aspire on 10th, in downtown Sarasota. Company officials say that project should be completed in June or July. Some 40 units at the 157-unit development are being held out at lower rents for residents with lower incomes through an agreement with the City of Sarasota that predates the Live Local Act.
“We have a waitlist on those AMI-restricted units right now,” CIG Communities President David Bastos says. “There’s definitely demand for those.”
Next up after Aspire on 10th is Saltgrass Reserve, a 208-unit community in Naples that will include both market-rate and income-restricted units. CIG, initially founded in 1985 as Capital Investment Group, is in the initial stages of site work on the development, with leasing expected to begin in September 2027.
Set on about 20 acres along Vanderbilt Beach Road, Saltgrass Reserve will feature a “big house” architectural style, with two-story buildings designed to look more like single-family homes in order to fit in well with its surroundings. Approximately 30% of the units will offer direct access to private garages, and 34% of the units will be reserved for households earning between 80% and 120% of the area median income.
A number of Saltgrass Reserve’s backers are local investors (all of whom remain anonymous), who answered CIG’s funding call in just a five-week period.
“Naples obviously is a thriving growth market, and there’s a lot of in-migration,” says Gregg Fusaro, principal at CIG Communities. “There are a lot of very young retirees in Naples and Collier County, and they’re still active, whether it’s in their original business or something else. They’re there because they like all the things that are great about Naples and Collier County. So for them to invest in an area that they know is thriving is a pretty logical step for them.”
Some investors are Midwestern snowbirds who were already familiar with CIG’s work. Being able to show potential backers the Aspire Naples property also proved a major benefit. “Investors like to touch and feel what they have money in,” says Fusaro. “So when something local becomes available, I think it really does pique their interest pretty quickly.”
CIG is looking for additional sites between Naples and Tampa/St. Pete but doesn’t have anything else in the works at this point. Bastos, 47, owns a home in Naples and Fusaro, 75, owns one in Bonita Springs, so they know Southwest Florida’s appeal firsthand.
“If you spend any time in those areas, whether it’s Sarasota or Naples or St. Pete or Tampa, you know all those markets are growing and continuing to grow,” says Fusaro. “There are a lot of things that are good things going on, all in a state that has a very business-friendly environment that’s driving a lot of it. It just makes sense.”
Bastos and Fusaro say that the process to build takes much longer in Florida than it does in Ohio or other neighboring states. But the more familiar CIG gets with local municipalities and their requirements, the slightly easier it gets.
“In Collier County, for sure, we have a larger database of the different hoops that you’ve got to jump through,” says Fusaro. “We’ve certainly got a lot of experience now under our belt in terms of dealing with the different divisions within the county…I think we’re a lot more comfortable this time in dealing with it [for Saltgrass Reserve], because we know the ins and outs a lot better.”
