Golf and real estate development adds new Inn at Anderson Creek, while real estate sales continue to outpace national averages
SPRING LAKE, N.C. (June 2, 2009) – The Department of Defense’s BRAC realignment plan may not make everyone happy, but it has translated into a real estate boon around Fayetteville, N.C., home of Fort Bragg, one of the U.S. Army’s largest bases.
No development has benefited more from the military realignment than Anderson Creek, a cutting-edge golf and real estate development located 10 minutes north of Fort Bragg, 35 minutes from Pinehurst and 45 minutes from Raleigh. At the beginning of March, the Anderson Creek development team completed the first of four buildings that will comprise the “Inn at Anderson Creek,” designed to accommodate not only residents and their guests, but also guests of the golf course.
The quartet of buildings that will eventually comprise the Inn at Anderson Creek will include a total of 48 suite units, and will be managed by the same team that manages renowned Jekyll Island (Ga.).
The BRAC 2005 process (BRAC is an acronym for “base realignment and closure”) is intended by the Department of Defense to help find innovative ways to consolidate, realign, or find alternative uses for current facilities to ensure that the U.S. continues to field the best-prepared and best-equipped military in the world. It is the process the DoD has previously used to reorganize its installation infrastructure to more efficiently and effectively support its forces, increase operational readiness and facilitate new ways of doing business.
While this has meant that a number of bases around the country have been closed, for Fort Bragg it has meant a ramp up in relocations.
Anderson Creek opened in 2001, underwent an ownership change in 2003, and already boasts about 1,000 residents. “It’s growing,” said Jon Hockaday, Anderson Creek’s director of golf. “It’s growing very quickly.”
The new Inn at Anderson Creek Golf Club is tucked amid the longleaf pines lining the 18th fairway of the Davis Love III-designed Anderson Creek Golf Club. Just steps from the beautiful Clubhouse & Grill, the Inn offers superb, all-suite guest rooms where spaciousness, luxury and home-away-from-home comforts await. Each handsome suite offers a king or two queen beds, expansive living area with dining area and king-size sleeper sofa, fully equipped kitchen, high- speed wireless Internet access and a private balcony overlooking the golf course. The value- conscious rates (excluding monthly) include a complimentary breakfast for two, and golf packages are available.
Anderson Creek is a private gated community where estate homes, town homes, patio homes and single-family homes are meticulously laid out over 1,700 rolling acres of pine forest. The development team is led by David Levinson and Steven Shotz, and includes a host of minority owners such as PGA Tour professionals Joey Sindelar – and Love III, whose golf course design team, Love Golf Design, built the development’s crown jewel.
Love’s first signature golf course in North Carolina was the winner of the “Best New Course in North Carolina” award for 2001 – edging out the Arnold Palmer-designed Brier Creek Country Club in Raleigh – and was rated 4 1/2 stars by Golf Digest in 2008.
“It’s a very playable golf course with the uniqueness of the Pinehurst area with the rolling topography and the Sandhills and the pine trees,” said Bob Spence, a member of the Love Golf Design team who grew up in nearby Pinehurst and oversaw the Anderson Creek project. “Anderson Creek is a great test of golf. The first time we got to walk the property and do a course routing based on what the land dictated versus what the real estate dictated. And that’s why it’s so good. It definitely offers more topography than Pinehurst, but with the same character and feel.”
The Love Golf Design team placed an emphasis on strategy and playability. “We try to do very traditional courses,” says Mark Love. “The No. 2 Course at Pinehurst was one of our dad’s favorite courses. This course has more of the Pinehurst look to it than any of our others with its rolling topography, Sandhills and pine trees.”
Love’s traditional layout reflects all that is great about golf in the Carolina Sandhills – rolling emerald fairways lined with longleaf pines; natural areas highlighted with love grass and perfectly manicured course conditions. The Donald Ross influence is most evident in the undulating, crowned greens of Anderson Creek and the flow of the course with the land.
“We tried to make it fit the land and look natural,” said Davis Love III. “This type of course is one that I’ve found to be the most appealing and pleasurable to play. Anderson Creek is one of the finest courses I’ve played and is more than ready to host a major golfing event.”
Heady praise from a major championship winner, even if his name is on the scorecard. Anderson Creek’s proximity to Interstate 95, as well as to the historic village of Pinehurst and Fayetteville, makes it a must-play for golfers traveling to the area.
Hockaday, a native of nearby Sanford, came over during Anderson Creek’s ownership transition of 2003, after spending a decade in the same position at Keith Hills Country Club in Buies Creek, N.C., where he oversaw the opening of a second 18 designed by Dan Maples and was responsible for developing the golf management degree program at Campbell University (which owns Keith Hills). But Hockaday said he could not pass up the opportunity to become involved with Anderson Creek.
“I don’t know of any development that has as many little amenities: parks and walking trails and paddleboat ponds and dog parks; there’s even a lifelong learning center,” said Hockaday. “It’s unbelievable all the things that they’ve done in this community, a lot of things that other communities just don’t do. It’s very unique.”
Indeed, Anderson Creek seemingly has it all, from an impressive gatehouse to pine-lined streets to many nature trails, footbridges, well-stocked fishing ponds, sheltered picnic areas and parks that provide opportunities for canoeing, paddle boating and fishing, horseshoes and quoits. Waterfalls, fountains and quaint gazebos are located throughout the community with seating and viewing areas for quiet relaxation and reflection.
The centerpiece of the Anderson Creek property is an exquisite clubhouse that features a historic bar where you can recap your round. Just off the bar is a quiet library where you can also collect your thoughts about your round or relax with a book. The inside of the clubhouse has been decorated with traditional hardwood fixtures and spectacular custom paintings. Anderson Creek also features a 10,000-plus square foot practice putting green and an expansive practice range with multiple targets.
Check out AndersonCreekClub.com for additional details. For more information about golf and accommodations in the Fayetteville, N.C., area, visit: GolfOnTheReady.com or call 800-577-3787.
Contact:
Martin Armes, 919-608-7260, martinarmes@nc.rr.com
Brad King, 336-306-9219, king@bradkingcommunications.com
