THE MCLEMORE RESORT

LOCATION: Lookout Mountain, Georgia
PURPOSE: Hospitality, Commercial, Residential & Golf
ACRES: 2,000+

The McLemore Resort is a master-planned mountaintop community located atop Lookout Mountain in the heart of northwest Georgia. At 2,300 feet above sea level, McLemore is a two-hour drive from Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham, Huntsville and Knoxville. The project includes 400-plus residential home sites and homes, two 18-hole golf courses, and an 8,350 square foot clubhouse. that span a two-mile wide section of Lookout Mountain, Georgia, from the western cliff edge to the eastern cliff edge.

McLemore features an internationally-recognized 18-hole Highlands Course, and The Keep, an 18-hole cliff-edge headlands course, by legendary golf course architects, Bill Bergin and Rees Jones.

In 2024, McLemore opened Cloudland, a 245-room hotel that is part of Hilton Worldwide’s Curio Collection. Cloudland features 20,000 square feet of conference space, a full-service spa, café, two restaurants, and a cliffside bar and grille.

CHALLENGES

1. Failed development acquired beginning from 2009 through 2017 from a variety of individual landowners

2. Vote required by the home owner’s association to approve enhancement strategy

3. Numerous complex residential home site purchases (2nd largest in Hamilton County history)

4. Water treatment plant required overdue enhancements

5. Original golf course in disrepair with rounds as low as $25

6. Remote site location 40 minutes from Chattanooga, TN

7. Emergence of COVID-19 during hotel construction, resulting in price increases and logistics inefficiencies

SOLUTIONS

1. Owner (SLC) financed purchase of the land

2. Secured private equity funding for initial development

3. Secured funding ($171,940,000) for construction of Cloudland hotel

4. Established franchise agreement with Curio, an upper-upscale Hilton Worldwide brand

5. Redesign of 18-hole Highlands Course by Rees Jones and Bill Bergin

6. Construction of The Cairn six-hole short course and 9-hole putting course

7. Construction of The Creag, an 8,350 square foot clubhouse with fine dining restaurant

8. Established fire station (fire, rescue and emergency services) and volunteer fire department

9. Established Valor Hospitality as hotel management company

10. Established Special Tax Assessment/Special Tax District

11. Established AR Homes as preferred builder of residential homes

12. Negotiated waste water service with Walker County Georgia

13. Average round price now $200 for Highlands Course

ACCOLADES

1. “Hilton has nothing like this in its portfolio,” Frank McFadden, Senior Director, Development Southeast Region HILTON

2. Named “Top 10 Finishing Holes in the World,” LINKS Magazine

3. Named “Best Finishing Hole in America Since the Year 2000,” Golf Digest