Fazio & Nicklaus Courses Planned for New Oregon Resort

Central Oregon could soon boast a 640-acre destination resort featuring two 18-hole signature golf courses, one designed by Jack Nicklaus and the other by Tom Fazio. The proposed site lies east of Highway 97 between Bend and Redmond. The tentative plan for the proposed Huntington Ranch Resort involves one course being public (probably the Nicklaus layout) and the other course private.

High Desert Development Partners LLC of Los Altos, California submitted a land-use application on October 6, part of which calls for construction of 600 housing units on the perimeter of the property. Complete build-out could take five to 10 years, with ground-breaking possibly beginning in April 2001. Phase 1 includes development of the golf courses, a 100-room hotel, restaurant and other resort facilities.

"We've done a lot of research," said Tom Hix, a managing member of High Desert Development. "Water, traffic and schools are the hot buttons with these types of projects these days."

Hix and his partners addressed water issues recently by contracting with the city of Bend to provide wastewater treatment services to the resort. Part of this agreement includes the use of up to 2.5 million gallons of Level 4 treated effluent for daily irrigation. Avion Water Co. would supply the potable water since the site contains no natural water sources. The impact on roads would be minimal because the main thoroughfare to the resort would be the Powell Butte Highway, a large two-lane county road.

"What makes us unique is that we are isolated and also have vistas of the Cascade Mountain Range and forests," said Hix. "There really won't be any impacts to the schools here at all because the people who visit the resort will primarily be from out of town."

It appears as though the developers are addressing the most important issues first and backing this up with research that clearly shows how the region can benefit as well. According to county records, the resort could provide up to 200 jobs for local residents.