(Bill Coore on site of new Brambles golf course)
Several sizable resort and “glamping” projects, along with the new Brambles golf course being designed by Coore & Crenshaw, are in various stages of development, as the county, which features Clear Lake and North Coast vineyards as long-time attractions, hopes to bounce back from three straight years of setbacks caused by wildfires, flooding and the pandemic.
Reeling after several wildfires over the past several years, Lake County, Calif. is attracting several sizable resort and “glamping” projects that it hopes will spark a potential boom, especially for the pandemic-struck restaurant and hospitality industries, The North Bay Business Journal reported.
Leisure and hospitality-sector jobs in the county were down 22% in October 2020 from a year before, to 930 from 1,200, according to the state’s Employment Development Department, the Business Journal reported. But tourism-related employment in the country is figured to be significantly higher, covering 1,800 jobs when connected businesses are included, such as food stores and gas stations, according to the 2019 statewide economic impact report by Visit California.
The Konocti Harbor Resort, near the town of Kelseyville, Calif. on the south short of Cleark Lake, has shown signs of recent revival, the Business Journal reported, around events such as the NewJen Bass Tournament.
“Clear Lake is one of the best largemouth-bass fishing holes in the world,” Russell Hamel, a project manager with the resort, told the Business Journal. The $1 billion-a-year bass tournament-industry attracts enthusiasts from around the world, Hamel noted, and the Konocti property seeks to host at least a few more tournaments in 2021.
The first phase of the resort’s renovation was originally envisioned for completion in June 2020, the Business Journalreported, but setbacks from the 2018 massive Mendocino–Lake fire, 2019 flooding and pandemic rollback of travel and leisure lodging caused the reopening to be pushed into the spring of 2021, according to Hamel.
The resort plans to bring back 260 hotel rooms and the renovation plan also includes a 2,000-sq. ft., full-service spa, restaurant and two bars, plus the reopening of the 1,200-person indoor and 6,000-attendee outdoor concert and meeting venues that attracted large crowds for concerts over the decades.
“It took a number of years to build, and it will take some years to be done completely,” Hamel said. The project timeline now calls for another three to five years of work.
Before it closed in 2009 facing dwindling attendance and financial challenges under the previous ownership, the resort employed as many as 700 at its peak, the Business Journal reported. But the refurbished resort won’t likely match that number, Hamel said.
An undisclosed Bay Area family purchased the property in early 2018 for about $5 million, the Business Journal reported. The property had suffered from years of deferred maintenance to the buildings and the resort’s dedicated water, wastewater and fire-suppression systems. A “substantial” sum is now being spent on upgrades, Hamel said.
With the pandemic, the ownership has decided to spend the fall and winter updating just over 100 rooms and common areas such as the restaurant and bar, the Business Journal reported. “We’re not trying to build the Four Seasons here, but we want to build a comfortable resort with a clean environment,” Hamel said.
The biggest hospitality project on the horizon for Lake County is a 16,000-acre ultra-luxury resort in Guenoc Valley near Middletown, the Business Journal reported, The project by Lotusland Investment Holdings was approved by the county’s Board of Supervisors on July 21. Lotusland, a San Francisco- and Hong Kong-based group, purchased the property four years ago. Maha Resort and Developments is handling entitlements.
Approvals allow for 400 hotel units in five “boutique” complexes plus 450 resort units, 1,400 estate villas and 500 workforce housing bedrooms, according to the environmental impact report. The goal is to build it over a decade.
The first phase of the Guenoc Valley project would cover 1,415 acres and include 127 hotel units, 141 resort cottages, 50 temporary workforce hotel units, 20 campsites, 100 workforce co-housing units and 401 residential villas, the Business Journal reported. The first phase would also include creation of a 55-acre outdoor entertainment area, spa, sports fields, polo grounds, a new golf course and practice facility, and commercial space.
Of the total property acreage, about 12,000 acres wouldn’t be developed, including 2,700 acres of open space and nearly 2,000 acres of agricultural preserve, including preservation of 1,600 acres of oak woodland.
But the development has run into legal opposition from an environmental justice group that has accused the county of inadequate review of concerns about impacts to wildlife, traffic, greenhouse gas emissions, water resources and aesthetics, the Business Journal reported. The complaint, filed in August by the Center for Biological Diversity, claims the county didn’t properly consider project alternatives or address the group’s earlier comments on the draft document. Species of concern to the organization include golden eagles, foothill yellow legged frogs and western pond turtles.
Peter Broderick, the Tucson, Ariz.-based group’s lead attorney in the case, told the Business Journal that it is still compiling the administrative record for the matter and that a hearing is likely several months away.
At the 4,300-acre Six Sigma Ranch southeast of the lake, the Business Journal reported, the Ahlmann family has been looking for more ways to attract visitors, and the working farm, winery and trails on the property have also attracted a global “glamping” group that plans to add Lake County to its luxury camping sites.
The capacity for campers and the blend of wine, farming and outdoor recreation attracted Huttopia, a French company that has 57 locations in France, China and North America, including one in Quebec, Canada, and two in the U.S. Northeast. to ink a land-lease agreement with the Ahlmanns for one of its glamping camps, the Business Journal reported. The company says it has about 11,000 annual bookings for its sites.
The plan for the camp at Six Sigma is to put 150 units, ranging in size from five-person tents on a platform to five- and six-person cabins with their own bathrooms, on 160 acres of the property, the Business Journal reported. The cabins are produced in pieces in France, then shipped to the camp for assembly by local contractors.
Also planned are a central facility with camper check-in, restaurant, bar and swimming pool, and a spa was recently added to the project mix
A demonstration unit for five campers was constructed early this year next to the Six Sigma Winery tasting room, the Business Journal reported. The Ahlmanns have been talking with county officials about project requirements and expect to present the concept to the Planning Commission in January 2021. The goal is to be able to start excavation in the spring of 2021 ahead of a May 2022 opening.
For vintner and rancher Kaj Ahlmann, getting more people to the property will help with the wine and meat ventures there, the Business Journal reported. “Our strategy is we want to sell bottles of wine from the tasting room,” he said.
The family purchased the property in 2000 and opened Six Sigma Winery five years later, the Business Journal reported. Today, it produces around 10,000 cases a year from nearly 50 acres of vines. Suggested retail price for the wines is $20–$48 a bottle. The property is permitted to plant nearly 200 acres of vineyards.
Currently, the ranch also has 100 Angus cattle and 50 sheep to “mow” between the vines, the Business Journal reported. Slaughterhouse overcapacity forced the Ahlmanns to downsize from the 20 to 30 swine normally on the property. The meat is sold from the tasting room or served at winemaker dinners.
Like a number of North Coast vintners of its size, Six Sigma has sold wine primarily for on-premises consumption at restaurants and other venues, as well as directly to consumers in over 40 states via a sizable mailing list. With restaurants and tasting rooms pressed for patrons under varying government restrictions during the pandemic, Six Sigma has turned again to the property as a key draw, the Business Journal reported.
This year, Six Sigma has also opened its property to hikers and mountain bikers, hoping that they will end their treks at one of the 20 socially distanced picnic tables outside the tasting room, the Business Journal reported. Trails on the property were originally built in 2015 to host mountain bike races for local high schools. That led to a competition for racers from 110 regional high schools, with about 5,000 people and a Stanford University Medical Center mobile clinic on the property that weekend. Racers’ parents parked recreational vehicles in a meadow beside the long driveway.
Also seeking to appeal to the Wine Country visitor looking for a less-formal entertainment venue is the Brambles 18-hole golf course project near Middletown, the Business Journal reported. The project to construct the mostly membership-based course with a private airport at an existing glider strip was approved by the county in April 2020.
Named to reflect the unpretentious Lake County environment, it’s been the work of Eric Berridge, a New York-based amateur golfer and major investor, and James Duncan, a golf course architect over seven years, with the property purchased about two years ago. The golf course is being designed by Coore & Crenshaw.
“We’re not trying to be Calistoga or Healdsburg,” Duncan said.
Grading for the holes, fairways, shoulders and traps was completed this year, the Business Journal reported. Jan-Mar Corporation built the 3,000-sq. ft. clubhouse, called The Milking Parlor, which has a dining area and bar. Grass is set to be installed in the spring of 2021 in time for the first players to test the holes in the fall, ahead of the first full season in 2022.
After the course is built, the owners plan to see how quickly the new lodging in northern Napa Valley fills up, before undertaking ideas for a dormitory or similarly informal accommodations on the property, which will need utilities to be approved and extended to the property, the Business Journal reported.
With roughly 11,000 cars passing the property daily, the course is envisioned to complement the nearby Guenoc Valley resort project, Duncan said. Between 50 and 100 golfers are expected to visit the property daily.
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