Golden Gate

By Bill Rogers, staff writer

It was initially promoted as a retirement community and prospective buyers were flown in on planes that landed on an airstrip on what is now Green Boulevard.

But in its relatively short period of existence - the first home was occupied in March of 1965 - Golden Gate has become predominately a place for families and children. The attraction was - and still is - affordability for both young couples and retirees.

It was in late 1960 that Leonard Rosen, president of Miami-based Gulf Guaranty Land and Title Co., unveiled plans in Naples to develop an area named Golden Gate Estates that included Golden Gate City and North Golden Gate. Rosen paid $4 million for the parcel of land of approximately 26,000 acres, which was purchased from the Collier Development Corp. and a few individual owners.

Development began in 1961 and the company changed its name to Gulf American Corp. after going public.

However, GAC ran into problems a few years later. It was accused by the Florida Land Sales Board of unethical sales practices and pleaded guilty in November of 1967 to five charges including reselling land already sold to individual buyers and relocating nine sections of land without having told the purchasers.

Two years later, GAC was sold, interestingly enough, to General Acceptance Corp. (GAC) of Allentown, Pa. The company was renamed GAC Properties, Inc., a short time later.

Financial difficulties beset GAC Properties and in early 1976 it filed for protection under the Bankruptcy Act. After a series or reorganizations, GAC reappeared under the name of Avatar Holdings Inc.

Although the original development company was unscrupulous and its successor failed, Golden Gate has grown steadily from the small development where practically everyone knew each other to a bustling area that is trying to maintain that sense of communty. It now has more than 30,000 residents (including the Estates), hundreds of small businesses, five public schools, three private schools, libraries, shopping centers, restaurants and parks.

The community celebrated its 30th anniversary in 1995 with an event that included a birthday cake and appearances by early residents who reminisced about living there when there was only a dozen houses on a couple of streets and a country club.

With the four-square-mile area known as Golden Gate City almost built out, many people are heading farther east and north to the sprawling area of Golden Gate Estates, which covers 8 percent of the county and totals more than 150 square miles. The Estates has been attracting families who can enjoy "country" living on large pinetree lots of 2 1/4 and 5 acres and don't mind the long drive into Naples.

Described as a bedroom community of Naples, there are those who would like to see Golden Gate develop its own identity and become a city. However, support is not overwhelming for incorporation. Lack of a viable tax base is another factor that will likely make cityhood just a dream for the foreseeable future.

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