Cliffs Communities sell $40 million in Tiger Woods real estate

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(ASHEVILLE, NC) -- Despite the recession, two brands appear to be holding their value well in the sluggish real estate market: the Cliffs Communities and Tiger Woods.

At least that's one way to explain the Cliffs' successful real estate launch of its newest private golf course community - the Tiger Woods-anchored Cliffs at High Carolina. According to Echelon Sales, the real estate sales and marketing group that partnered with the Cliffs on last month's sales event, the Cliffs recorded more than $40 million in vacant land sales for Woods first U.S. golf course design project.

The reservation-based sales event, held here Nov. 8, was attended by more than 1,000 people, including Woods, chairman of Orlando-based Tiger Woods Design, and Cliffs Communities founder and Chief Executive Jim Anthony.

"The event certainly lived up to our expectations" said Scott Beville, president of real estate for the Cliffs Communities.  "We believed the combination of the High Carolina location, the solid reputation of the entire Cliffs team and the first Tiger Woods-designed golf course in America would create an opportunity that our customers would find exciting, and the success of (the) event validates that belief."

The sales event kicked off with a Nov. 7 cocktail party at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, a historic hotel built in 1913 that has hosted the likes of John D. Rockefeller, Dwight Eisenhower, Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, to name a few. The property rollout was held the following day on site at the future High Carolina clubhouse, where customers were able to view the first available homesites in the private gated community followed by a sneak peak of the course design.

"It was great to see such enthusiasm" Echelon Sales principal Wilson Greene said.  "The fact that customers were buying property amidst the challenges in this economy speaks volumes about the reputation of Jim Anthony and The Cliffs as well as the uniqueness of this property and the golf course that will be built here."    

Woods also took time during the event to unveil the routing of his first course on American soil. The Cliffs report that "special care and time were taken by Woods and his design team to ensure that all 18 holes receive southern exposure of sunlight, resulting in year-round playability at 4,000 feet elevation."

"The energy and passion that Tiger and his team have brought to this project have been incredible," Anthony added. "As Tiger's goal is to create the best golf course, our goal is to create the best place to live, work and play in America. At The Cliffs at High Carolina, we continue a nearly 20-year tradition of building communities that align with our owners' needs and reflect the core values of the culture here - an enriching quality of life created through authentic experiences focused around what's most important: one's family, friends and well-being."

With The Cliffs at High Carolina, the Cliffs' will feature eight private courses, all of which are located within a short distance of one another and are accessible by a single membership. The High Carolina course is currently in the permitting stage and is expected to begin construction in 2009 with a grand opening planned for the fall of 2010.  

High Carolina, located minutes from downtown Asheville, will also feature an inn and spa, clubhouse, residents  village and an extensive trail system. Properties offered in the grand opening release were priced from the $500,000s to more than $3 million.

After announcing the Cliffs deal last Aug. 14, Tiger Woods Design has since announced introduced another North American project near Ensenada, Mexico, called Punta Brava. The debut of Woods' golf design career was Al Ruwaya, the centerpiece of the Tiger Woods Dubai project in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.