BLOWING ROCK
Reynolds Blue Ridge, at 6,212 acres in Watauga and Wilkes counties, is still the largest housing development in Northwest North Carolina, but it will be a more affordable and more public area than planned by the previous owners.
Companies affiliated with Reynolds Signature Communities bought the former Laurelmor property in December 2008 after companies affiliated with previous developer Bobby Ginn defaulted on a $675 million credit facility (a type of loan) for Laurelmor and three other resorts.
The new owners are debt free.
It's been nearly a year since the former Laurelmor was renamed and launched as Reynolds Blue Ridge.
"We took about a year to analyze where we thought the market was post-recession," said Reynolds Blue Ridge spokesman Chris England.
That means, at least for now, lower prices.
Laurelmor's average lot price was $625,000, but Reynolds Blue Ridge's offerings include sites with lots ranging from $125,000 to $175,000.
That means the buyer could purchase the land and build a home for less than $500,000, less than the cost of the lot alone in Laurelmor.
While Ginn had planned a palatial clubhouse similar in architectural style to the Biltmore House, Reynolds Blue Ridge plans a small village with a restaurant, wellness center, library, general store, outdoor outfitter and cultural activity center.
"It's a residential community," England said. "We do plan to open up parts of that so that folks can come in more and bring the community in."
Plans are to build the restaurant on a site with long-range views, and open the restaurant to the public. That would be part of the village, at about 3,100 feet above sea level and three miles from the development's top gate in Watauga County off the Blue Ridge Parkway. But a construction timetable for the restaurant is uncertain and depends on how quickly the economy improves and on overall development.
There are 10 homes in Reynolds Blue Ridge now, with construction about to start on two more. That's still a long ways from when Ginn held its 2006 sales launch, where people were wined and dined at a lavish buffet under huge banquet tents and buyers signed contracts for 240 lots.
Ginn's timing was terrible, both for the economy and golf resorts, and financial problems derailed those plans.
As the new owner, Reynolds Blue Ridge wasn't responsible for Ginn's problems but has been able to cut development costs because Ginn had already built the main road and other infrastructure to high standards.
The new owners have finished putting guardrails along the 9.2-mile Reynolds Parkway, the main road that goes from the top gate in Watauga to the bottom entrance in Wilkes County.
Next year, the developers plan to begin work on the village and the Rees Jones golf course, which will use part of the previous golf course work.
mmitchell@wsjournal.com
336-667-5691
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