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Bonita Bay - a major community built around an Equity club. You join only if you wish the use the private club’s amenities. If you clicked on this web site, it is likely that tennis is high on your list. Residential Entry Level is in the area of $130,000 with no upward ‘investment cap’. There are a couple hard courts for use by residences in general. If one wishes to join the equity club as a tennis member, the initiation fee is currently in the range of $17,000 (@ 100% refundable upon resignation), and an annual dues structure of about $3000. No food or beverage minimum. Bonita Bay has 20 clay courts and most are lighted. This is a serious (all levels) but friendly and casual tennis program. Tennis membership provides for full fitness / pool / club house privileges without food or beverage minimum. Off Season golf at any of their 5 major golf courses is also part of the deal but you pay off season green’s fees. Additionally, Bonita Bay owners have access to a private Gulf beachfront location with private parking. You can drive or (the kids can) take the tram. Bonita Bay has 12 – 18 miles of exercise pathways, not including golf cart . Bonita Bay is a beautiful community by any standards!

Grey Oaks - a major community built around an Equity Club. You join only if you wish the use the private club’s amenities. It is a safe be that if you lived in Grey Oaks, you would join the club at some membership level. If you clicked on this web site, it is likely that tennis is high on your list. Residential Entry Level is in the area of $800,000 with no upward ‘investment cap’. If one wishes to join the equity club as a tennis member, the initiation fee is currently in the range of $17,000 (@ 100% refundable upon resignation), and an annual dues structure of about $3000. No food or beverage minimum. Grey Oaks has 10 clay courts and most are lighted. This is a serious (all levels) but friendly and casual tennis program. Tennis membership provides for full fitness / pool / club house privileges without food or beverage minimum. Off Season golf on any of their 3 major golf courses is also part of the deal but you pay off season green’s fees. Grey Oaks is a beautiful community by any standards!

Tennis is King
(If You're not a Golfer!!) Copyright 1998-2003 Larry Halpin. All Rights Reserved.

By Larry Halpin, Downing-Frye Realtor ... working Full Time, and therefore very much a struggling 4.0 +, Super Senior 60's player. If I were to lose 10 pounds and quit working so hard, it might be struggling 4.5 !!

General Information

In the Naples / Bonita area, Golf is king, but only if one is a golfer. If one is a tennis player ... into far more exercise, desirous of more free time to be more productive, ... Tennis is King !! Tennis is available in all planned communities as well as at 3 major public tennis centers. In some communities, it is a private club requiring initiation fees and in others, it is part of the community package. Even planned communities built around golf will provide major tennis facilities complete with tennis professionals, pro shop and lights for night play.

If one wishes to find out what is happening in Naples Tennis World or where to call for weekly tennis certification testing, you can check Thursdays Sports Section in the Naples Daily News. You can access this information by going to www.naplesnews.com and click on Sports, etc. Information is also available at www.colliertennis.com.

Almost all tennis courts in the area are fast-drying green composition courts. Even with the summer rains, play can generally be continued soon after a downpour. Regardless of the time of season, the courts are filled from 8 AM to Noon with play picking up again later in the afternoon.

Want competition? You will find yourself playing all over the area, particularly with fun and competitive league play at all levels. All tournament schedules are published in the Thursday Tennis section in the paper.

In March, you will have the opportunity to watch Jimmy Connors, Johnny Mc, Bjorn and party play in one of the final Nuveen events of the year. Actually, I have to include Andres Gomez in the list of players as he beat McEnroe in the finals last year held at Vanderbilt Country Club. The next Nuveen Champions event is set for March 5 – 10, 2002 at the completely renovated Naples Bath & Tennis Club.

Public Tennis Centers

There are three (3) significant public tennis facilities, aside from the planned communities. These facilities are open to all residents and visitors. Stop by these tennis centers – it's a great way to meet other (tennis) fanatics ... be they competitive or social players.

Cambier Park, 8th Avenue South, 8th Street South

· Naples' major downtown tennis center

· 12 composition courts

· Full support staff

· Lighted courts

This is a very active tennis center. Cambier Park has been recognized as one of the finest public tennis facilities anywhere. It was named a United States Tennis Association Outstanding Facility for 1999; A Tennis Industry Magazine Court of the Year; and Track Builders Association Facility of the Year.

In May, Cambier hosts one of the largest tennis tournaments covering ALL levels (rating and age groups) from beginner to Open levels. The event is then capped off with a fabulous dinner and silent auction at the Naples Beach Hotel.

Naples YMCA / YWCA, on Pine Ridge Road, east of Airport – Pulling Road.

8 Composition Courts

· Fully staffed

· Lighted Courts

In October, the 'Y' hosts the area's largest tournament (700 entries). This is a great social event with a BBQ at the completion of the tourney.

Vanderbilt County Park, on Vanderbilt Beach Road on the north side of Pelican Bay.

· 8 Composition Courts

· No Staff, but there always seems to be pros around willing to give lessons.

· Lighted courts

These courts are very conveniently located for those active players living in North Naples.

Residential Tennis Communities

There are two (2) major residential "tennis communities". One requires a nonrefundable initiation fee and one does not. Both have fully staffed pro shops. They will go out of their way to help find opponents or partners ... to include you in the upcoming tennis mixer. You will be quick to realize that both are Great places to play some mixed doubles in the evening and end up having a brewski or fine glass of wine in the bar to accompany a light dinner. Winners always pay !! And, you don't have to shower before dinner !!

Naples Bath & Tennis Club (NBTC) on Airport Road, south of Pine Ridge

NBTC was established long about 1980. The community is about 200 acres in size of which 20 acres is the "tennis club" part of NBTC. NO relationship or membership privileges exist between the residential portion versus the "tennis club&" portion. The tennis club is privately owned. Be you an owner of a residential unit or live outside of the community, one completes an application and pays a nonrefundable initiation fee. The initiation fee is the same regardless. There is no discount to these fees if you live in the residential part of NBTC. There are monthly dues which vary based on the level of membership.

Under the original developer, NBTC became one of the top 50 tennis resorts in the country. It was fabulous. The club was then acquired by a 2nd owner. The facilities greatly deteriorated, in the opinion of many, over a period of 8 +/- years. NBTC has recently been acquired by a new real estate developer who has made a major commitment to restoring "the name" to what is originally remembered as Naples Bath & Tennis Club. Having seen the changes being made, I'm sure NBTC will return to being one of the major facilities in the country.

'The Club' (NBTC) consists of 37 green composition courts, a club house in the process of being fully renovated and expanded, a major fitness center and ... major ... pool area. Friday evenings in Season is a weekly Happy Hour which is by any standard ... traditional ... like having tea at 4 PM, only in this case, you have other libation options!! Everyone is there!!

The Community (NBTC) consists of condos starting in the low $120's and going up to about $175,000. Single Family residences start in the mid $400's. NBTC was builtout years ago so that there is only a resale market. NBTC is very centrally located with supermarkets, banks, major shopping ... the Beach and the 'Phil' (Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts just minutes (literally).

But one important key here is that you need not live in the community to join the tennis club.

Sterling Oaks, on Tamiami Trail, in the North Naples section.

Sterling Oaks is also a community built around a fine tennis club facility. However, while NBTC requires a nonrefundable initiation fee, each Sterling Oaks 'front door' is automatically a social member (clubhouse / dining room and ... major ... pool) member. No initiation fee is required for residents living in Sterling Oaks. A portion of monthly residential maintenance includes use of the clubhouse / dining room and pool. Not every one plays tennis. If you live in Sterling Oaks and wish to play tennis, there will be a very reasonable monthly charge for unlimited tennis added to your residential maintenance bill.

Like NBTC, one may join Sterling Oaks as a non-resident member. As a nonresident member, one will be required to pay an initiation fee. Fees / Dues are a bit higher if you are a non resident member.

Sterling Oaks is a much newer community than NBTC. No community grows without some difficulty. Sterling Oaks is past their difficulty and has a new developer in the community. This will stimulate new growth in this fine comfortable community. Sterling Oaks has new construction and resales. The resale market has condos starting at around $140,000 and villas up to $175,000. Single Family starts in the $250,000 range.

The tennis club consists of 12 green composition hydro-grid courts which are in constant use. Tennis is very active. The clubhouse service as a very active social center before and after playing tennis. The atmosphere is very casual and friendly.

TENNIS IN PLANNED COMMUNITIES

There are many beautiful planned communities, many built around a country club environment. In most of these communities, ownership within the community is a requirement. Membership is by application and requiring initiation fees, most or all of which would be refundable upon resignation or moving from the community. There will be several levels of membership ... full or golf, tennis social and just social. Costs vary accordingly. Examples would be Bonita Bay, Wyndemere, The Vineyards, The Brooks / Shadow Wood, just to name a few which have very active tennis programs. Quail Creek Country Club also has a superior tennis program that does not require residence in the community.

The bundled golf communities also have tennis programs. In these locations, membership is 'bundled' together with title the property and automatically passes from Seller to Buyer at closing without additional initiation fees. Owners then pay annual dues as part of their residential maintenance fees. In a bundled community, these fees are extremely reasonable.

Several other communities, such as Pelican Bay, Pelican Marsh and Pelican Landing, have major tennis programs. Cost for use of these facilities is included as part of the annual 'foundation' budgets. Each is fully staffed and very active.

The Naples area is full of friendly people who quickly become friends, especially if you play tennis. You'll soon agree with many that say, ... If you're a tennis player in Naples, TENNIS IS KING !!

Contact Larry Halpin about Tennis properties in the Naples area.
info@larryhalpin.com
239-513-1414 – Home Office
888-356-0349 – Home Office 800#

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SEARCH ENGINE
You will find this search engine to be a multiple faceted search engine and easy to use. When you see the properties on-line, 'if' there are photos, you will see them. They are marked in the search results with a camera icon: .

1.) Listings will always be displayed in ascending order ... (low to high).
2.) This search page will provide all current active TENNIS listings in the Naples / Bonita area listed on the Naples MLS system.
3.) Don't want to use a search engine or don't know the area well enough to select a community but want information? Click here to go to a 'Requesting Information' form and I'll help you personally!

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COMMON TERMS
"Reciprocity" - a new term to the Realtor community. Reciprocity is a most important factor employed in the use of this search engine. When your Realtor checks their MLS data base, they have access to all property information. In the past, a Realtor could only show on the Internet properties which were actually their own listings. When Reciprocity came in to being, with the consent of individual owners of property, we could make available all (*) properties to the Internet and identify the name of the listing broker. (*) If for some reason, the owner of a property does not wish to have the listing agent share the data by way of the Reciprocity guidelines, the data on that property will not be shown on-line but only in the MLS data base. The manner in which data is provided is dictated by the Naples Area Board of Realtors. It is not being manipulated in any way by this web search engine. When you use this search engine, you will be viewing all properties meeting your search criteria as long as the data is available. It is important to note that it is not possible to show all data on a particular property but you will have excellent summary material. Additionally, the data shown is the data provided by the actual listing agent to the MLS system. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the material. If there is a photo (or photos), it is because the listing agent provided that material. If no photographic information is shown, either the data is too new and the listing agent hasn't had time to provide the photo(s) to the system or, for whatever reason, the listing agent chose not to include visual information. The same applies to Virtual Tours. If you are disappointed that more data is not provided, please understand that the amount of information provided is a huge advance in our abilities to provide you with data specific to a particular property. Besides, that gives you excellent reason to ask me for assistance !!!

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"My Property Selections" - When you find a property of interest to you, you can place that property or multiple properties in a "property basket" and forward it directly to me. I can then send you complete MLS data on all of the homes you have chosen.

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"NABOR" - Naples Area Board of Realtors

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General information regarding the data as it is presented
through this search engine
I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the material. If there is a photo (or photos), it is because the listing agent provided that material. If no photographic information is shown, either the data is too new and the listing agent hasn't had time to provide the photo(s) to the system or, for whatever reason, the listing agent chose not to include visual information. The same applies to Virtual Tours. When viewing map locations, keep in mind that the map locations are only accurate if the listing agent has taken the time to make it accurate. If you are disappointed that more data is not provided, please understand that the amount of information provided is a huge advance in our abilities to provide you with data specific to a particular property. Besides, that gives you excellent reason to ask me for assistance !!!

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Copyright 1998-2003 Larry Halpin. All Rights Reserved.

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