Ave Maria welcomed many new restaurants and retailers to its Collier County community in 2024.

Many of the newcomers launched in Ave Maria’s Midtown Plaza, a newly built 21,000-square-foot commercial strip on Ave Maria Boulevard between the town’s main entrance off Oil Well Road and its landmark Town Center. New businesses include Sunshine Ace Hardware, Ledo Pizza, Dunkin,’ Cold Stone Creamery and Ave Nails. In addition to these new businesses in the Ave Maria Park of Commerce, Vicky Bakery and Blue Agave Mexican Restaurant opened last spring next to the iconic Ave Maria Catholic Church.

Sunshine Ace Hardware – Ave Maria

The new shopping and dining opportunities make the small town more self-sustaining, providing convenient amenities for its residents and the students and staff of Ave Maria University. At buildout, expect 1.8 million square feet of retail, office and business park uses in the 5,000-acre Ave Maria, which has its main entrance on the northern side of Oil Well Road about 20 miles east of Interstate 75.

“As more people buy homes in Ave Maria, the demand for local goods and services increases. Midtown Plaza will help cater to the expanding population. As the town grows, we will continue to work with local and national brands to bring great businesses and providers to Ave Maria residents,” said Cee Cee Marinelli, director of development for Ave Maria.

Midtown outparcels in Ave Maria

The master-planned community of Ave Maria has had more than 5,000 new homes sales since its founding in 2007. The master plan includes up to 11,000 residences at buildout.

“The strong sales numbers are a testament to the lifestyle, family-friendly amenities, conveniences and variety of new home types the town offers,” Marinelli said.

Ledo Pizza launched this fall in Midtown Plaza. The Maryland-based chain is known for popularizing Maryland-style pizza, which has a rectangular shape and a sweeter sauce than traditional pizzas.

Ledo Pizza Ave Maria

Ave Maria resident Scott Taggart said his new pizzeria here is doing five times the amount of business his store does in his native Maryland, where he and his family have operated a Ledo Pizza location for 26 years. The concept originated as Ledo Restaurant in 1955 in a suburb of Washington, D.C. Now headquartered in Annapolis, Ledo Pizza has more than 120 locally owned locations in seven states.

In addition to pizza, Ledo’s top-selling menu items include jumbo wings and cheesesteaks. The menu also features subs, soups, salads, pasta entrees, stromboli, calzones, gyros and desserts.

The 3,000-square-foot Ave Maria pizzeria has a spacious dining room, patio, event space and a full-service bar with flat screen TVs. Ledo, the official pizza of Ave Maria University, is open from lunch to late night daily for dine-in and carryout.

“We have created a fun spot for the community to gather and cheer on their favorite teams while enjoying fresh, delicious pizza and pasta dishes with family and friends,” Taggart said.

Nearby in Ave Maria Park of Commerce, Misty McWilliams revamped the former Dog Gone Cleaners this fall to create her new store, Backwoods Feed. What started as a local business offering grooming services for domestic pets expanded to include the sale of high-quality food products that prioritize nutrition for the health and longevity of pets and farm animals.

Misty McWilliams, Backwoods Feed

“Our goal here is to educate customers of our food products and what’s most suitable for their animal,” McWilliams said. “We want our store to be a convenience for patrons and if you ask for it, we’ll order it to have in store.”

With the Backwoods Feed makeover, McWilliams wanted customers to enjoy her vision of incorporating rustic farm life with a modern farmhouse.

“The majority of Backwoods Feed’s design is made of refurbished items,” she said. “For example, our chandeliers are made from the cloth bags that initially stored animal feed.”

Meanwhile, NCH Immediate Care Center and Umami Ave restaurant are still coming soon to Midtown Plaza. The NCH medical center will be staffed by board-certified physicians, physician assistants and nurses who will be available daily to treat a wide range of ailments, from minor cuts and colds to infections, as well as physicals and other health exams.

Umami will serve Southeast Asian cuisine. The menu for the local restaurant will include steak, tuna and salmon tataki salads and bowls; stir-fried rice and noodles; pho noodle soup, chicken wings, shrimp tempura, California sushi rolls, egg rolls and rangoon or cream cheese wontons.

“Bigger retailers are going to go in that location,” said Michelle Mambuca, marketing and public relations manager at Barron Collier Companies, the developer of Ave Maria. “With the growth comes more commercial interest. Just eastern Collier, in itself, is growing.”