Golf resort proposed for Pistol River

Hole 16 on the proposed Pistol River Golf Club 18-hole course. Photo and map courtesy of Eagle Two Development

Plans for the Pistol River Golf Club project were unveiled this week by the Crook family and Brookings developer Leroy Blodgett, including a presentation to the  Brookings-Harbor Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.

Although the 200-acre resort would rival Bandon Dunes, it would be aimed at a clientele different from the business groups that travel to Bandon for two or three days of golf and meetings.

“This would be more a getaway kind of thing,” Blodgett said, with families staying at cabins on the resort for four or five days. “Maybe they’d play golf. Maybe not. It’s a beautiful area.”

He said the Bandon green fee is about $240.

“We’re like $115, including a golf cart,” Blodgett said.

Members of the Crook family, who have lived in Curry County since the late 1800s, are financing the project, which has an estimated construction cost of $20 million, Blodgett said.

The Crook family hired Blodgett, of Eagle Two Development Co., and Grant Hornbeak, of Arizona-based Five Star Development, to build the resort on 200 of the 2,800 acres of property the family owns in the Pistol River area. The resort site would be adjacent to Crook Point, to the south of Pistol River, halfway between Brookings and Gold Beach.

This is the biggest project so far for Blodgett, former city manager for Brookings who started his own development company two years ago after working for another local developer. He is partnering with Hornbeak, who has built numerous golf courses, resorts and subdivisions around the country, Blodgett said.

He said much must be done if the Pistol River Golf Resort is to be ready by the June 2011 target date.

The county must first amend its comprehensive plan to allow destination resorts, County Planning Director David Pratt said.

“We’re starting the process. We’re looking at some areas,” Pratt said Thursday.

“It will be a long process with several public hearings,” he said.

Associate County Planner Jodi Fritts said a destination resort is just that – “It’s a destination.”

She said the closest one to Curry County is Bandon Dunes.

“Generally speaking, they are built around a golf course. They’re required to spend a lot of money. A third has to be on development of that destination property. They have to provide a certain amount of lodging, meeting rooms, restaurant or restaurants,” Fritts said. “The idea is, when you get there, you can stay there and have everything you need.”

Blodgett said Perry Dye, golf course architect for Dye Designs – and son of its  founder Paul “Pete” Dye – has been walking the proposed golf course and mapping it.

Besides the 18-hole golf course, the resort would have between 25 and 75 cabins and employee housing, Blodgett said. About 95 percent of the property would remain open space, with a low environmental impact, he said.

Once the guests arrive, they would check in and be issued golf carts, with no cars allowed on the resort. The lodges would range from one to four bedrooms, from 1,000 to 1,850 square feet.

Blodgett said that, currently, there are six vacation rental cabins on the site.

“They stay full although they don’t do marketing,” Blodgett said.

After the resort is developed, Blodgett said, there would be 62 permanent jobs created with an almost $2 million annual payroll. He said the gross annual revenue would be above $10 million, with the county collecting $186,000 in annual taxes. The Crook family will likely pay approximately $50,000 in permit fees while the resort is being developed.

Blodgett anticipates the application would be submitted to the county in December. If all goes well, the county approval would come in May 2010, with construction starting in June, taking a year to complete.

Asked what kind of opposition he expected to the project, Blodgett replied: “It doesn’t matter what kind of project, there’s always some opposition.”

He said the area is surrounded by state parks “and they’re OK with it.”

He expects Oregon Fish and Wildlife officials to have some concerns, and the family and developers will work closely with the agency.

“We did talk to the director of state parks,” Blodgett said. “One thing they’d like to see is connection to trails. We talked to him about the possibility of allowing trails through the property.”

“At the beginning, we will do a temporary clubhouse. That eventually will be part of a cabin,” he said. “Later there will be a nice clubhouse.”

“It will have to be large enough for weddings and things like that,” Hornbeak said.

Blodgett said there will be no general open areas for non-guests.