Your 2008 Vacation: Lakeview Bluffs

Lakeview Bluffs, a regional sports resort community planned for a 1,100 acre brownfield site along Lake Erie in Lake County, Ohio, is the brainchild of IMG, the world’s largest sports marketing and management agency, and Hemisphere Development LLC.

“Cleveland, where IMG was founded in 1960, is a great location for an active, family-oriented and recreational development,“ says Bob Kain, president of IMG. Lakeview Bluffs encompasses more than a mile of Lake Erie shoreline and offers breathtaking views of the Grand River.

The ambitious development’s principal feature will be the IMG Resort Academies, which will provide world-class instruction in all major sports, including golf, tennis, soccer, baseball and basketball. The facility also will integrate comprehensive health and wellness programming designed by medical experts. This complex will emulate the IMG Academies located in Bradenton, Florida, the world’s most successful multi-sport training institute for elite athletes, but will focus training on sports enthusiasts and families.
IMG has designed its inaugural IMG Signature Golf Course as another major amenity, featuring holes perched on bluffs 40 feet above Lake Erie and running along the Grand River corridor.

Lakeview Bluffs also will feature a boutique resort hotel, cascading down a bluff overlooking Lake Erie to a crescent shaped beach, a world-class spa, corporate meeting facilities, and a comprehensive health and fitness campus.

IMG will stage a variety of special events at the resort annually, including both regional and national competitions. Other recreational amenities include a culinary academy, vineyard and winery, and a trout club with teaching streams for fly fishing.  The Lakeview Bluffs grand opening is expected in spring 2008.

Hemisphere and IMG plan to develop a number of resort/residential properties across the United States and North America. “Implementing this novel development concept with IMG can be a significant economic development tool for communities across the country,” says Todd Davis, CEO of Hemisphere Development. The concept provides an exciting draw to large sites, particularly brownfields, that will be easily embraced by community leaders and residents. BFN