Post by IAMCAPER on Dec 11, 2006 11:02:42 GMT -4
All I can say is wow!
A tract of scrub forest beside a small lake just a kilometre from Louisbourg will become a playground for the rich and famous if two European developers have their way.
"You might think we’re crazy," Henric Bauermeister, director of Cape Breton Island Developers, said as he announced the $300-million luxury lakeside enclave, complete with million-dollar homes and two 18-hole golf courses.
The developers hope the Louisbourg Resort, Golf & Spa will bring rich Europeans to the island, Mr. Bauermeister told about 300 people jammed into the Louisbourg Playhouse on Friday. His colleague in the project is Christian Reinisch.
Over the next decade, the company will build 400 high-end, completely furnished and landscaped homes on half-hectare lots around Grand Lake. The homes, which will sell for $400,000 to $1 million, will border two 18-hole golf courses, one a par-3 executive course, the other designed by three-time Masters champion Nick Faldo of Britain, Mr. Bauermeister said.
The first home, a 4,500-square-foot, two-storey on the lake, is already under construction and 40 more will be built in 2007. So far, 24 properties have been pre-sold, Mr. Bauermeister said.
A third of the $300-million cost of the development will come from property sales, while the rest will come from private funding sources. Neither the federal nor provincial governments have contributed any money to the project.
"I can honestly say I have never been to a $300-million announcement where there wasn’t any government money," said Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, who is also responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
Premier Rodney MacDonald said the province has been working with the developers "in the areas of the Natural Resources, Transportation and Public Works and Environment (departments), but this is a private-sector initiative and it’s absolutely tremendous."
But Mr. Bauermeister hinted at future government involvement.
"We will need your help," he said, pausing to look directly at Mr. MacDonald and Mr. MacKay, who were sitting on opposite sides of him.
He also mentioned the importance of having direct flights from Europe to Sydney and more paving on the Sydney-Louisbourg highway, a notoriously bumpy road.
Louisbourg’s main street, with its view of Fortress Louisbourg, has many stores with boarded-up windows and dozens of homes for sale. All that remains at the town’s idle fish plant are three once-proud flagpoles in an empty parking lot.
In an area that at one time depended heavily on the fishery, news that the resort project could bring hundreds of construction jobs and 400 permanent positions was mind-boggling to some.
"Whatever they require, we can handle it," said corner-store owner Gary Peck, as he greeted a handful of customers.
"The tax base will be good for the municipality. It will employ local people; it’s a real positive announcement."
But another resident, who asked that her name not be published, was skeptical.
""There is big hype. People want to get excited and they want it to happen, but there is no guarantee.
"I hope that it does come to pass, really. But I’ll believe it when I see it."
A tract of scrub forest beside a small lake just a kilometre from Louisbourg will become a playground for the rich and famous if two European developers have their way.
"You might think we’re crazy," Henric Bauermeister, director of Cape Breton Island Developers, said as he announced the $300-million luxury lakeside enclave, complete with million-dollar homes and two 18-hole golf courses.
The developers hope the Louisbourg Resort, Golf & Spa will bring rich Europeans to the island, Mr. Bauermeister told about 300 people jammed into the Louisbourg Playhouse on Friday. His colleague in the project is Christian Reinisch.
Over the next decade, the company will build 400 high-end, completely furnished and landscaped homes on half-hectare lots around Grand Lake. The homes, which will sell for $400,000 to $1 million, will border two 18-hole golf courses, one a par-3 executive course, the other designed by three-time Masters champion Nick Faldo of Britain, Mr. Bauermeister said.
The first home, a 4,500-square-foot, two-storey on the lake, is already under construction and 40 more will be built in 2007. So far, 24 properties have been pre-sold, Mr. Bauermeister said.
A third of the $300-million cost of the development will come from property sales, while the rest will come from private funding sources. Neither the federal nor provincial governments have contributed any money to the project.
"I can honestly say I have never been to a $300-million announcement where there wasn’t any government money," said Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, who is also responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
Premier Rodney MacDonald said the province has been working with the developers "in the areas of the Natural Resources, Transportation and Public Works and Environment (departments), but this is a private-sector initiative and it’s absolutely tremendous."
But Mr. Bauermeister hinted at future government involvement.
"We will need your help," he said, pausing to look directly at Mr. MacDonald and Mr. MacKay, who were sitting on opposite sides of him.
He also mentioned the importance of having direct flights from Europe to Sydney and more paving on the Sydney-Louisbourg highway, a notoriously bumpy road.
Louisbourg’s main street, with its view of Fortress Louisbourg, has many stores with boarded-up windows and dozens of homes for sale. All that remains at the town’s idle fish plant are three once-proud flagpoles in an empty parking lot.
In an area that at one time depended heavily on the fishery, news that the resort project could bring hundreds of construction jobs and 400 permanent positions was mind-boggling to some.
"Whatever they require, we can handle it," said corner-store owner Gary Peck, as he greeted a handful of customers.
"The tax base will be good for the municipality. It will employ local people; it’s a real positive announcement."
But another resident, who asked that her name not be published, was skeptical.
""There is big hype. People want to get excited and they want it to happen, but there is no guarantee.
"I hope that it does come to pass, really. But I’ll believe it when I see it."