Big Pine Lake was born.
“The first time I saw this property,
I was inspired by its beauty and the opportunity
to design a community on the last undeveloped inland
lake of this size this close to Harbor Country,” shared
Chicago-based developer Tom Drake. “It’s
very rare to be able to acquire all the land (250
acres total) around a lake like this.”
Through popular response to an earlier
project in Union Pier — Lakeshore Cottages — The
Drake Group found a market thirsty for vacation homes
for less than $450,000. Drake responded by designing
Big Pine Lake, a resort community with detached,
single-site condos starting at less than $300,000.
Above: Within short
driving distance of Harbor Country, Big Pine
Lake will
feature amenities
including a community clubhouse, recreation director,
on-site general store and outdoor amphitheater.
Below: Grand Traverse Resort & Spa extends
luxuries including a private beach and shoreline
pool
to its residential property owners. |
|
Sweetening its appeal are an outdoor
amphitheater, on-site general store, upscale community
clubhouse, pool, community docks and boats, fire
pit, ample green space, and recreation director to
oversee kids’ activities, along with grownup
events.
“Our target market spans a few
different groups, from singles and empty-nesters
to families and investment-minded people,” said
Drake, adding response so far has been high. “I’m
motivated by a passion to create inspirational environments.”
Similarly sized, pristine Goshorn Lake
in Saugatuck struck Pete and Deb Colvin much the
same way. The Ada-based couple — one a real
estate broker, the other an artist, designer and
developer — came across eight wooded acres
with 600-plus feet of footage while seeking a spot
to build their own log cabin for weekend getaways.
“We thought maybe there were
a lot of people like us who would benefit if we did
something a little bigger — split it up and
build cabins for others, too,” Pete said. Designed
by Deb, the Colvins’ 12 energy-efficient, quality-built
spec homes at Hidden Dunes sold quickly.
Now the couple offers the Cabins at
Kingfisher Cove on another wooded stretch of Goshorn
Lake. Each of the 1,850-square-foot cedar cabins,
finished with high-end products, is priced at $329,000.
Quarter-share ownership and rental management also
are available.
“The Detroit market is a trend,” Pete
said. “We have people from West Bloomfield,
Farmington Hills and Rochester who shoot over on
I-96 because they say it’s an easier drive
to Saugatuck than it is to head (north).”
To read the rest of this
article, turn to page 22 in the July/August 2008
issue of Michigan BLUE. Howell-based freelance
writer Cyndi Lieski provided research assistance
for this story. Lisa M. Jensen is editor of Michigan
BLUE.
|
