Kauffman's Resort Living Inc.
THE TRUSTED GUIDE FOR GOLF COURSE, PRIVATE CLUB & ACTIVE-ADULT REAL ESTATE
TOP 20 TRENDING GOLF COURSE/PRIVATE CLUB DEVELOPMENTS & MASTER-PLANNED COMMUNITIES
Montverde, Florida
Montgomery, Texas
Mountain Park
Toccoa, Georgia
Big Island, Hawaii
Sandpoint, Idaho
Orlando, Florida
Park City, Utah
Greensboro, Georgia
Great Abaco, Bahamas
TOP 20 TRENDING GOLF COURSE/PRIVATE CLUB DEVELOPMENTS & MASTER-PLANNED COMMUNITIES
Kahuku, Oahu, Hawaii
Playa Flamingo, Costa Rica
Ocala, Florida
Lanai, Hawaii
Oahu, Hawaii
Quivira Los Cabos, Mexico
Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii
Orlando, Florida
KAUFFMAN'S RESORT LIVING INC.
THE LEADING BI-WEEKLY BUSINESS JOURNAL FOR GOLF AND RESORT DEVELOPMENT, PRIVATE CLUB PROPERTIES & VACATION HOME MARKETS
By Scott Kauffman - President / Editor-in-Chief
Jan. 28, 2024 - Volume 1, Issue 1
Welcome Home to the Inaugural Issue of Resort Living Inc.. After an award-winning full-time journalism career covering sports, global golf course business and resort-style real estate for USA Today, the Orlando Sentinel, Golfweek Magazine and dozens of other luxury lifestyle golf and real estate publications, I'm excited to introduce Resort Living Inc., and its companion website, ResortLivingMagazine.com, the most trusted source of news for master-planned golf, private club and active-adult/vacation home communities worldwide.
My passion for this resort lifestyle and real estate niche has given me the opportunity to experience many of the finest private clubs and residential resort communities ever created. Among the many memorable places I've visited: ultra-exclusive Ke’olu Golf Club at Four Seasons Resort Hualalai and Discovery Land Company's Kukio on the Big Island of Hawaii; Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga.; Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla.; Tavistock Group’s premier private club communities in Orlando, Isleworth and Lake Nona; and The Cliffs Communities in the Carolina Mountains.
Along the way, I've also been fortunate to have trusted access to the leading developers, sales and marketing executives and public relations directors driving these quintessential communities and clubs.
Now, in an exciting new chapter of my journalism career, I'm eager to share my years of knowledge, access and global insights with the debut of this flagship digital publication for Kauffman's Luxury Golf & Resort Living Inc. Network of affiliated websites. This biweekly business journal has one mission: Be the leading source of trusted market intelligence for golf, private club and resort-style real estate properties worldwide. At the very least, I look forward to keeping readers ahead of the real estate development curve and sharing inspiring stories of innovation, success and growth from the men and women that give meaning to Resort Living.
So Welcome Home again as I continue my never-ending journalistic pursuit to discover the world’s best places to Live, Work and Play!
Idaho Club Revitalized Under New Ownership, Sales Team
The Idaho Club, one of the most picturesque semi-private golf and lakefront communities in America, is back in business after being recapitalized under new ownership. Situated in the small northwestern town of Sandpoint in the Idaho Panhandle, the Idaho Club reopened last May when the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course played host to a local prep invitational.
A week later, the development's new ownership, Valiant Idaho LLC, officially relaunched the community's real estate sales efforts. The club’s ownership recently introduced Jim Matoska and his Red Earth Corporation team as the Idaho Club’s newest sales and marketing partners. One of the main reasons Valiant Idaho LLC Principal William Haberman was drawn to the distressed asset several years ago is the community's "perfect trifecta" of outdoor amenities and natural beauty.
For instance, Haberman, an Orlando-based real estate developer and investor, says Idaho Club residents have the rare opportunity to play the state’s only Nicklaus-designed championship course, enjoy pristine Lake Pend Oreille, one of the deepest and longest lakes in America, and visit the nationally-acclaimed ski resort at Schweitzer Mountain all in one weekend.
In conjunction with the renewed property sales efforts, the Idaho Club also released architectural renderings of what will be the new “modern mountain” clubhouse and a future lake club. The prior clubhouse was destroyed by a fire in 2008, and Valiant Idaho plans to rebuild in the same footprint and on the same foundation.
According to Haberman, Alex Murray of Idaho Pinnacle Properties remains the local broker of record and will work closely with Matoska, whose Red Earth team is known for marketing numerous master-planned resort-style communities nationwide.
Estero, Florida
Orlando, Florida
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TRENDING NEWS IN GOLF COURSE DEVELOPMENT, PRIVATE CLUBS & RESORT REAL ESTATE
Private Golf, Country Club Membership Trends: Living Healthier and Forever Young
By Scott Kauffman (January 2024)
More than 500 years after Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon first landed in Florida to supposedly find the Fountain of Youth, many retirees like Linda Kortlandt keep following de Leon’s path to the Sunshine State in a pursuit to discover life’s secrets and solutions to looking and staying forever young.
For the millions of Baby Boomers now enjoying their prime sunsetting years of retirement, one way this generation is trying to slow the aging process is living an active and healthier lifestyle like never before. And where these attitudes and behaviors are prominently at play is the evolving modern private golf and country club of the future – where communities from coast to coast are investing hundreds of millions in reimagined or newly built leisure-oriented amenities in the past couple years.
A perfect example of where this dramatic shift toward leisure-time pursuits is pronounced is Audubon Country Club in Naples, Fla., where Kortlandt has a second home and loves playing the popular 18-hole course designed by the late Joe Lee. But the club’s latest attraction creating quite the stir is the newly opened 19,000-square-foot Lifestyle Center.
This two-story, $7 million amenity replaced what was once the club’s modest 2,500-square-foot Courtside Café building that had a small little kitchen with a few tables and small tennis shop, according to club general manager Michael Rodriguez of Troon, whose Troon Prive division oversees the member-owned club.
The focal point of the new Lifestyle Center is the new and improved Courtside Café which will be substantially larger and feature an indoor/outdoor bar separated by a NanaWall that can slide open during Florida’s warm winter months, display kitchen, poolside dining, and increased outdoor lounge areas with fire pit tables.
The new fitness center, located on the building’s second floor, will feature state-of-the-art strength training and cardio equipment areas, two exercise rooms for fitness classes, a massage waiting lounge and two new massage treatment rooms, and men’s and ladies’ locker rooms. Rodriguez, who became the club’s general manager in March 2015, says the new facility’s pent-up demand portends to a prosperous future for the private club community.
Golf Course Communities Back from the Brink
Private Clubs Undergoing Recapitalization Boom
By Scott Kauffman - There’s a saying that the Chinese word for ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One means danger; the other represents opportunity. This figure of speech most certainly describes the 2008 financial crisis that crippled many top golf and resort communities. Ten years later, some of the biggest clubs that exemplify this saying are Bella Collina in Orlando, the Cliffs Communities in the Carolinas, and Reynolds Lake Oconee and Sea Island in Georgia.
Perhaps the best example of this real estate sector's recent boom, bust and rebirth is Bella Collina, a premier golf and lakefront community that is back selling homes and stronger than ever.
Scott Kauffman (January 2024) - On a recent weekend at Bella Collina, the private golf and lakefront community’s 75,000 square-foot clubhouse was buzzing with activity as a 100-plus visitors enjoyed a night of food and music at a place affectionately known as the Castle. By many accounts, this busy Bella Collina evening didn't seem out of the ordinary for the popular Orlando-area property, or any other private club holding a special member event. However, what made this night different is the fact it was composed of guests celebrating one of the many destination weddings now hosted by this picturesque private club community. As one club official put it, it’s one way to bring “golfers” back into the club when it’s dark outside. Welcome to the new-age private golf club.
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