After years of being virtually dormant, an enormous portion of Cherokee County is on the cusp of a major makeover.
A Texas-based developer that helped transform Cherokee with two huge planned communities now is pumping millions of dollars into Lake Arrowhead in the northwest corner of the county. The development covers in excess of 8,000 acres — more than 40 times the size of Piedmont Park.
With two successful projects in Cherokee complete — Towne Lake and BridgeMill — Johnson Development Corp. is plunging deep into what once was one of metro Atlanta's last rural hinterlands.
This project also places Johnson in the heart of expected development between Canton and Cartersville, along the Ga. 20 corridor that links I-75 with I-575.
Johnson has budgeted $64 million to retool 5,800 acres of the Lake Arrowhead community, said Tommy Elsberry, Johnson's vice president for the project. The work is expected to take a decade.
Despite the foreclosures that are raining down on the Cherokee County Courthouse, Elsberry said Johnson is committed to completing its work at Lake Arrowhead. He said the slowdown at some master-planned projects, including the nearby Laurel Canyon, doesn't faze him.
"Johnson is 100 percent confident of the resilience of growth and the attractiveness of metro Atlanta," Elsberry said. "We also believe we have a unique product that will continue to make sales through this tough market."
To that end, Johnson has spent nearly $20 million on upgrades that include a rebuilt 18-hole golf course, new clubhouse, 40-acre festival area with a junior Olympic pool, miles of new trails, and land cleared and prepared for future houses.
This is the most extensive development Lake Arrowhead has seen since the 540-acre lake was filled in 1974.
Not all the current owners seem to be embracing the changes.
Money is the main reason — some fear property taxes and homeowner fees will spike as the property is upgraded.
"I don't like to talk about it with my friends here because some people think it's going to get more expensive," said Terry Shannon, who's 73 and bought a lot with her husband in 1974. The couple swapped that lot for one on the waterfront and built a house where they now spend four days a week.
"But I've been waiting for someone to come in and develop," Shannon said. "Nothing stays the same, and you don't want it to."
Craig Glasgow isn't worried about changes — and potentially higher homeowner fees — Johnson is bringing to Lake Arrowhead. He bought his second lot there after Johnson came in as a partner with the master developer, Purcell Co.
Glasgow said he's impressed with Johnson's work at Towne Lake and BridgeMill and expects a third charm at Lake Arrowhead.
"I live in Towne Lake and have friends in BridgeMill, and Johnson's done everything it said it would do," Glasgow said. "I'm going to tag along with someone like that because of their success."
Lake Arrowhead dates to the early 1970s. That was an era when Atlantans were wooed to buy second homes in new mountain retreats.
While two other resort projects north of Atlanta were successful over time — Big Canoe and Bent Tree — Lake Arrowhead never fulfilled its promise. Shannon, an avid golfer, said the resort didn't get the alcohol licenses needed to become a golfing mecca.
These big projects just take time to develop, said Alan Wexler, the chief executive of DataBank, a real estate data collection and analysis firm in Atlanta.
"It's a big challenge to develop that large a piece of property," Wexler said. "Sometimes it can take 30 years to build out, and historic trends show it can take several owners over time to get them complete."
That's been the experience of Cousins Properties Inc., an Atlanta-based development firm that's built several large communities. The company's latest project is a 6,300-acre mixed-use development planned in Flagler County, Fla., with Rayonier, an international forest products company.
"These are very complicated projects," said Cousins spokesman Matt Gove. "They have multiple moving pieces, and situations can change over time."
Today, Johnson is marketing Lake Arrowhead as a suburban alternative to a traditional subdivision. Although the future homes will be built on streets with gutters and curbs, Elsberry said the feel of the overall community will remain as a mountain getaway.
Elsberry said Johnson has no plan to build houses on the ridge line that sets the backdrop for the community — Pine Log Mountain. The lakefront is earmarked for future development, but the topography makes it difficult to develop, he said.
The entire site is zoned for about 80,000 units — from zoning approved at a time county officials were panting for growth — but Elsberry said no more than 5,000 units will be allowed. He said that building the maximum allowed number of homes would be a permitting nightmare and would diminish the natural attractiveness of the area — which is Lake Arrowhead's key market advantage.
"This is about quality of life, not density," Elsberry said. "We feel that we have a unique product."
Labels: Cherokee COunty, Georgia, lake arrowhead, new communities, new developments
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Brian Vanderhoff @ 3:34 PM
