Development rising at Cummings Cove site

FAST FACTSCost so far: $15 millionAcres: 3,000Homes: 2,000Price range: $250,000 to $500,000Dues: $120 per monthAmenities: Golf course, pool, restaurant, walking trails, mountain accessSource: Dock Street Communities

A new 3,000-acre development is rising in the shadow of Aetna Mountain, as new developers take over the former Cummings Cove project.

The golf and country club project will be the largest development in Chattanooga, about twice the size of Jay Bell's combined Hamilton on Hunter neighborhoods.

Workers already are doubling the size of the existing clubhouse to add a restaurant, grill, fitness center, pro shop, locker sooms and lounge. A nearby sports park will be complete in April, and residents can access 1,200 acres of adjacent land managed by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, according to Rainbow Russell, spokeswoman for Black Creek Mountain.

A hybrid live-work development lies at the entrance to the new phase of the project, where plans call for combined commercial and residential units to provide services like yoga and a general store.

"We thought this would be the entrance to the mountaintop, so we wanted to create some life here," Russell said.

Dock Street Communities, a Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based developer, partnered with Henry & Wallace to build the new neighborhood, the majority of which will sit on top of Aetna Mountain.

Larry McGill, one of the subdivision's preferred builders, said to expect about 2,000 houses in total, in a forested area about six miles from downtown.

Homes in the former Cummings Cove already are selling well, and the new team has begun eight more in the new tract.

"Once you get up here, you see why," McGill said. "When things get moving here, I think you'll see Lookout Valley change dramatically."

Even though things are just getting started, the property owners already have invested $15 million before building the first house, said Jeff Hale, neighborhood sales executive.

A planned "sweeping mountain road" up Aetna Mountain will cost even more, but will serve as a driveway for about 1,500 homeowners, he said.

Single-family home prices range from $250,000 to more than $500,000, officials said. Dues of $120 per month pay for a social member ship at the golf course, and use of the pool, fitness center, restaurant, walking trails and golf course.

The Black Creek Golf Course, home to the Nationwide Tour's Chattanooga Classic, was named as one of Golf Digest's top 10 courses in Tennessee.

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