We're not talking about Tahoe or Telluride, the Poconos or the Finger Lakes. Instead, try Lake Powell, Beaver, Cedar City and Garfield County.
Welcome to the southern Utah of tomorrow - where R&R will meet the rich and the richer, where large-scale luxury destination resorts will lure a clientele with bank accounts the size of the scenery.
"These [resorts] are unique and not like anything that's happened before," said Scott Hirschi, who heads the Washington County Economic Development Council. "The projects are at a higher scale, offering all amenities."
Take the proposed Mount Holly Club 18 miles east of Beaver. Before year's end, lots starting at $1.5 million will go on the market to prospective buyers who desire exclusive access to a private ski resort (the former Elk Meadows), a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and upscale retailers and restaurants.
Or check out the now-under-construction Amangiri Resort eight miles from Lake Powell. A mere $6.5 million will buy a villa near five-star dining, a world-class spa and a 34-room hotel costing about $1,000 a night.
Too pricey? Travel farther north to Cedar City, where the proposed McComic Ranch will offer hundreds of homes and condos starting at $400,000 along with restaurants, a hotel and limousines to shuttle residents to and from, say, "Macbeth" or "As You Like It" at the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespearean Festival.
In Garfield County, motor-home owners can roll into the Lake Panguitch Resort, where for $75,000 to $125,000 they can buy a parking spot in southern Utah's first high-end "condo" RV park. They can fish, hike, snowmobile, cruise ATV trails, ski at nearby Brian Head or sweat away pounds at a planned spa and recreation center.
Utah tourism officials are touting these luxury getaways and their proximity to famed national parks and recreation areas as they hype the state across the globe.
"We are mentioning those [resorts] planned, in construction and already existing in Utah with press, tour operators and travel agents," Leigh von der Esch, director of the Utah Office of Tourism, wrote in an e-mail from a World Travel Market meeting in London. "The Internet promotion of and accessibility of resorts worldwide has increased the interest in high-end properties. Utah has been discovered not just for our exceptional beauty, national parks and the 'Greatest Snow on Earth,' but also for our amenities, properties and great cuisine."
Von der Esch expects the luxury-resort popularity to continue - even with jet-setters who take the less-traveled path to the Beehive State.
"With Dubai and so many other global destinations being promoted," she said, "we are excited with the enthusiasm we are seeing for the Utah product."
Hirschi also sees the rich niche continuing to grow, especially as baby boomers retire and realize their higher-priced dreams. Southern Utah's ritzy retreats particularly stand out to builders and buyers.
"In general," Hirschi said, "there is clean air, magnificent views and recreation opportunities."
For instance, Amangiri has Lake Powell. Mount Holly has an 11,000-foot mountain, golfing and skiing. McComic Ranch has Cedar's summer and fall Bard bash. Panguitch Lake has all kinds of outdoor offerings. And all these posh projects offer quick access - some quicker than others - to national parks, monuments and recreation areas.
David Williams, the Utah tourism office's deputy director, said another factor that might make the state attractive to developers is the price of doing business.
"While the properties are expensive," he said, "to develop them in some areas of Utah may be more affordable than other places."
Experts also point out that these resorts cater to elite customers virtually immune to the economic ups and downs that can jar lower-income earners. Potholes, it seems, rarely pop up on easy street.
Mount Holly spokesman Bill Quick reports that clients worldwide already are waiting to pounce on the club's million-dollar lots, which also pack a $250,000 membership fee.
Once they buy in, members are expected to build luxury homes or town houses that will look out on the Tushar Mountains and 700,000 acres of Fishlake National Forest.
"The inherent benefits of the club are the natural beauty of the Tushar range," Quick said. "It's an incredible property with a ski resort, golf course and close proximity to Las Vegas."
Homi Vazifdar, project manager for the Amangiri Resort south of Big Water, said the Kane County project - the second in the nation for Singapore-based Amanresorts (the other is in Jackson Hole, Wyo.) - is sure to draw some of the 35,000 "Aman junkies" in the United States who cross the globe in search of high living while keeping a low profile.
"These Aman junkies are recession-proof," said Vazifdar during a recent tour of the 600-acre site near Lake Powell. "To them it is not a matter of money, but about security."
All villas are governed by Aman design standards. "Each will be like a Picasso," he said, "one of a kind."
The project's first phase includes construction of 20 units along with a 100,000-square-foot, 34-room hotel and luxury spa.
"We will provide whatever customers want," Vazifdar said.
And all that big money flowing near Big Water is sure to provide extra tax dollars to the area economy. The other resorts are expected to do the same.
"I imagine there will be some positive services roll off of these," Hirschi said.
Not everyone is sold on these plush playlands - despite the promise of richer revenues. Folks in Beaver County went to court to try to stop the Mount Holly Club, but failed.
One of those residents, Margaret Wellman, remembers Boulder, Colo., before the wealthy discovered it.
"It [Boulder] turned from a nice hippie town to a yuppie, rich, snobby place," said Wellman, who moved to Beaver in 2000. "Decent, nice people forgot their values and became greedy."
She fears the same fate will befall her beloved Beaver.
A more modest - but still pricey - project is planned farther south at the base of Fiddler's Canyon in Cedar City.
McComic Ranch project manager Mike Hake said his company scouted all of southern Utah before settling on Iron County's biggest city - with its dynamic economy, numerous festivals and Southern Utah University.
"It also has a nearby ski resort [at Brian Head]," Hake said, "and is within 90 minutes of the Grand Canyon and other national parks."
Cedar City planning official Brian Maxfield views McComic Ranch as an example of Iron County gearing up for the arrival of more "empty-nesters," boomer couples who have reared their children and want a second home.
"They have more disposable income than we've seen before," Maxfield said.
The target market for McComic Ranch: southern Nevada and California.
"What Flagstaff is to Phoenix, we are to Las Vegas," Maxfield said.
At Panguitch Lake, Veronica Polidori is looking to RV owners from Nevada, California and Arizona to buy high-end "homes" for their houses on wheels. Parking spaces will start at $75,000. A marina has been dredged to handle more than 100 boat slips. New infrastructure, including a sewage treatment plant, will be built.
The RV members, who will belong to a homeowners association, then can go to a community center, spa and fitness facility. They also will have access to top-flight trout fishing, extensive ATV trails and skiing at Brian Head.
"We want to make a year-round resort," Polidori said.
And all the developers of these destination escapes hope to see southern Utah well-stocked with the world's well-heeled.
mhavnes@sltrib.com
