EAST GULL LAKE — Construction equipment is plentiful these days around one of the lake area’s major resorts.
Cragun’s Resort on Gull Lake is completing renovations to its golf courses along with building another nine holes, plus establishing a new 69-home neighborhood from the ground up. The future single-family home association promises to be one of the few opportunities for golf course living north of the Twin Cities metro, said Eric Peterson, general manager, in the midst of a red-hot real estate market.
“As prices and as things change on the lakeside, you know, and real estate is limited on the lakes, we want to have a really nice option for people to create a home site that’s unique,” Peterson said in April. “And being on a golf course, there really isn’t any up here.”
The expansive changes touching 837 acres of property in Crow Wing and Cass counties recently got the final go-ahead from the Crow Wing County Board with approval of preliminary and final plats, a land use map amendment and an environmental assessment worksheet. Peterson said the golf course upgrades and expansions — which will see the Cragun’s Legacy Courses increase its offerings from 36 holes to 45 by 2023 — are part of a long-term master plan and overall renovation project of the more than 80-year-old resort.
“It’s really to add more capacity on the golf course, update it, stabilize it for the next 25 years,” Peterson said of the course design from professional golfer and Minnesotan Tom Lehman.
ADVERTISEMENT
The remodel will incorporate holes from Bobby’s and Dutch’s Legacy to form Lehman’s 18. Dutch’s first four holes will be combined to be the first three holes of the Lehman course. Holes 4-8 of the Lehman’s 18 will be new and designed on the east side of the Cragun’s property. The ninth hole will be what is currently Bobby’s 14 with new modifications.
Then the back nine of Lehman’s 18 will begin with four new holes stretching all the way out to the Gull River. The finishing holes of Lehman’s course will use some combination of Bobby’s 15, 16, 17 and 18 as well as use the space of the gambler’s hole to make the 18th hole of Lehman’s course lead back to the clubhouse.
At any given time, 27 holes of golf will remain open to the public. The new fairways and greens in the expansion will be seeded later this summer and ready for play next August, and the revamped courses are expected to be finished by the summer of 2023.
Meanwhile, preparing the 1-acre lots along what will become the new section of golf course is underway. What sets the new development apart are the spectacular golf course views, Peterson said. The homes, built in partnership with B-Dirt Construction, will sit on high ground overlooking a wetland area and the new holes. The wooded area in the process of being cleared to the east of the resort, long owned by Cragun’s, was the site of significant blowdown amid two consecutive years of damaging thunderstorms — 2015 and 2016 — in the Gull Lake area.
ADVERTISEMENT
It’s the second residential housing development pursued by the resort. The first — Legacy Village — is marketed as a resort lifestyle community, offering single-level homes and maintenance-free living on quarter-acre lots. Peterson said this community appeals to retirees and empty nesters, while the new development will likely run the gamut with larger lot sizes and larger homes, including families with children.
“It really fits well with our business, I mean, as we’ve grown our golf and our food and beverage and other aspects of our business,” he said. “It’s important that we have some loyal customers as well. So these homeowners are — what comes with their purchase is a resort club membership where they actually have the ability to have access and discounts at the resort.”
While the development is expected to navigate headwinds with inflated building costs, Peterson said a lack of housing inventory and the high demand for homes in the Brainerd lakes area are two advantages for the project.
“I would hope that we would have most of the homes and have residents in here and close to sold out in the next five years,” he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
County approvals
The decisions of the Crow Wing County Board coupled with conditional use permit and variance approval by the planning commission/board of adjustment paved the way for the development and the golf course changes. In supporting the land use map amendment to designate the area as rural residential 5 instead of rural residential 10, the planning commission said the project was in accordance with the county’s comprehensive plan. This included encouraging a diverse business mix, helping to retain existing resorts and encouraging housing options with access to recreational and open space opportunities. The commission also expected the projects to have a positive impact on property values in the area and to encourage future development.
After the completion of an environmental assessment worksheet, the county board agreed with the worksheet’s conclusion that the project should not require a more in-depth environmental impact statement. While the land was undeveloped prior to this project, the board concluded storm damage necessitated the removal of much of the tree cover. There will be only minor wetland fill impacts, according to project documents, and the residential development will follow a conservation design. A conservation design “clusters the majority of the lots, but allows for fewer, larger lots, provided a conservation area is dedicated and meets the criteria for preserving land from development and meeting the minimum zoning density requirements.”
“With the preservation of open/green space within the development, along with the Engineered Stormwater Management Plan, the project will protect and preserve the water quality of Crow Wing County’s lakes and water resources,” the planning commission stated in its findings of fact.
CHELSEY PERKINS may be reached at 218-855-5874 or chelsey.perkins@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at twitter.com/DispatchChelsey .
