By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
Tech entrepreneur Britton Lee’s firm S3 Group, LLC is planning a “5-star” luxury golf resort in Bullhead City on the Colorado River.
Plans for the Emerald Bay development include an 18-hole championship course, a nine-hole par-3 course, a resort hotel and spa, a beach club/marina/racquet club, a sports science boarding school for middle and high school athletes, and homes in a mix of luxury single-family residences and condo units in both attached and villa configurations.
The development will be anchored by The Legacy Club at Emerald Bay, the planned “world-class golf facility.” The course will be managed by KemperSports, which bills itself as “the industry leader in delivering memorable experiences at some of the most renowned venues in the country.”
S3 Group has proposed the resort under a planned area development. According to the documents submitted to Bullhead City, “As part of the PAD, the applicant will be proposing R1L (Residential: Single-Family Limited), R2MF (Residential: Multiple-Family), GC (Golf Course), and C2 (General Commercial) uses. The PAD document includes specific development standard tables for required building setbacks, heights and allowable uses that vary from the typical standards. The request includes structures of up to 5 stories and building heights of up to 85 feet. As review and potential approval of the conceptual plan do not grant zoning, an in-depth review of the proposed standards will be made with the submittal of the preliminary plat and zoning map change requests at a later date. The applicant will be requesting that the PAD approval be flexible to allow for changes of up to 25 percent to conceptual parcel sizes with administrative approval.”
According to the submitted plans, the uses break down as follows:
- Single-family residential: Up to 310 homes;
- Condo golf villas: Up to 105 units;
- Multifamily condos: Up to 600;
- Golf courses: 251 acres;
- Golf clubhouse: 40KSF;
- Golf maintenance building: 15KSF;
- Hotel: 250KSF/200 rooms;
- Tennis center: 10KSF;
- Beach club: 15KSF;
- Marina: 10KSF;
- Boat storage: 20KSF;
- Sports & Science Academy: 150KSF;
- Gas station and convenience store: 7.5KSF.
The 493-acre site is located at the NWC of Highway 95 and Bullhead Parkway. S3 Group received approval of a conceptual plan for the development by a 7-0 City Council vote in its April 16 meeting.
The PAD documents say the development will be planned uniformly to ensure common themes carry and coordinate throughout. Construction of the various components will be timed according to market demand, absorption rates and other factors evaluated on an ongoing basis.
Final building designs will be created during the site plan process, with designs and elevations submitted to the City for design review, according to the submittals.
During the April 16 City Council meeting, several Bullhead City residents delivered impassioned comments about the project. Those speaking in opposition were primarily concerned about the changing character of the area, with one speaker noting Emerald Bay will be a massive development of multi-million-dollar homes situated in a community with a median household income of less than $60K/year.
Those speaking in favor, including some Council members speaking from the dais, commented on the infusion of capital and employment opportunities the resort will provide, as well as the potential promotion and branding value to the city and its tourism draw.
The S3 Group, LLC is the project owner and developer. Diversified Future is the entitlement manager. heibrid architecture is the design firm and land planner. Engineering is through Anderson-Nelson, and the traffic engineer is Lokahi.
