Edgewood plans upscale hotel at golf course

Edgewood Companies continues to pursue its plans to construct a 205-room upscale lodge at its Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in South Lake Tahoe.

Edgewood Companies, which rebranded itself after decades of doing business as Park Cattle Co., submitted plans a year ago to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to build a three- and four-story luxury hotel and condo project totaling more than 200,000 square feet at the golf course.

The company recently started environmental studies, which are expected to last a minimum of six months, and should know by spring 2010 whether it can proceed with the development, says Brad Nelson, president and chief executive officer.

If the company wins the approval of regional planners, Nelson says, Edgewood Companies may start the project with an initial phase of 80 rooms - which could be the face of development at the course for some time.

"We are studying those options and talking to potential operators and partners and other people who understand a hotel on the scale of 80 to 250 rooms to see what works in there," Nelson says.

Construction of the hotel would mean relocating three golf holes, which provided the impetus to renovate the 40-year-old course and make it more of a premier West Coast facility. Edgewood Companies has met with noted golf course architect Tom Fazio to improve Edgewood's playability.

"Golf has changed in the way pros and resort players like to play," Nelson says. "Edgewood, that asset, and the potential to have the lodge is very exciting. It is something we can do fairly soon."

Edgewood Companies also is re-formulating its plan for the 5,000-acre Park Ranch in Minden, which it purchased in 1998. A proposal to develop the area into a mixed-use of residential, commercial and industrial space on 1,500 acres was denied by Douglas County in November. The plan, which hung up largely because of traffic impact on U.S. 395, called for construction of 4,200 homes.

"We are back reconsidering what we do with it," Nelson says. "It might be scaled back and we may change some locations."

The development proposal by Edgewood Companies would have kept 3,000 acres of the ranch as open space, including a three-mile stretch of the Carson River that currently is fenced off.

"We thought that was a huge opportunity for the community and the county," Nelson says. "But that didn't outweigh their concern about traffic impacts on 395 between Minden and Carson."

The company also must decide what to do with the Horizon hotel. It owns the land underneath the Stateline hotel-casino property. Columbia Sussex operates the hotel, and Tropicana Entertainment is manager of the casino because Columbia Sussex doesn't have a gaming license.

Edgewood and Columbia Essex have had a litigious relationship, mostly because Edgewood is unhappy with the quality of the Horizon operation, and Edgewood recently renewed the lease only through 2011.

"We want it to stay operating the best we can, but we are looking at all the options," Nelson says. "We can keep Columbia Sussex running it as long as they have the gaming still going, or we can find new tenants, or maybe it's time to remodel it. We have all those operational issues sitting out there and we are working with a team of consultants to figure out best plan for the property."

Nelson says if Edgewood Companies does decide to remodel the Horizon, it most likely would be rebranded as well.

Tropicana Entertainment also operates the nearby Montbleu, which also sits on land leased from Edgewood. Its lease recently was extended to 2028.

The property under the Horizon, Montbleu and Harvey's has been held by the Park family since 1898.

In December Park Cattle Company changed its name and opened its board to independent directors for the first time, adding Steven Johnson, Charles Scharer and Robert Winkel to form a board of seven.

Johnson is former president of Berry-Hinckley Industries; Winkel is a Reno attorney with a background in real estate, and Scharer is former president of Harvey's. The additions to the board bring in a fresh set of thinking and skills in gaming and hotel management.

"The thought of the family is that we are headed down a real estate direction, but we have a lot of ties to gaming and hotels," Nelson says.