Greg Norman and a $1-Billion Golf Resort and Winery in Peachland

Legendary golf professional Greg Norman and Norm Porter CEO of Treegroup Developments unveiled a $1-billion golf, winery and housing development for Peachland on Monday.

With 425 acres on the south-eastern slopes of Pincushion Mountain, Ponderosa will have a 7,100-yard championship golf course, winery, hotel, golf academy, tennis courts, amphitheatre, trail system and 2,200 housing, units ranging from 10% affordable housing to single-family homes, townhouses, condos and villas.

Treegroup Developments Corp. bought the Ponderosa Golf Course in 2007, but received a stalled development application. With a few additional purchases the company bought surrounding property and added 138 acres through a joint venture with Westbank First Nation. The signature golf course will be capable of hosting world-class golf tournaments and other major events, said Treegroup CEO Porter.

When Norman‘s team inspected the property, VP Jason McCoy told Porter: “We‘ve designed and developed 60 to 70 golf courses around the world, and this is one of the most spectacular properties we‘ve been on.”

Norman, stated it‘s “I completely concur with what Jason said. This is a magnificent piece of property, it’s like the Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe comes together.” Greg Norman aka The Shark continued to say “It really is, when you think about the wineries you‘ve got here, the lakes, the beautiful vistas and the Ponderosa pines. It‘s just a combination of everything. Very rarely do you get that anywhere in the world and you have it right here,” “From our perspective, we‘re very, very fortunate to be involved here because this will turn out to be a gem, no question about it. We look where the growth corridor is going. If you look where Kelowna is now and West Kelowna, it‘s a very fast growing part of Canada.”

The goal is to open the golf course in the late spring of 2011 and have the first residents move in early in 2011.

Contact Vantage West with any questions info@vantgewestrealty.com

BC Housing Market Exhibits Balanced Conditions

Vancouver, BC – August 14, 2009. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales in the province climbed 53 per cent to 10,051 units in July 2009 compared to the same month last year. After six consecutive months of rising home sales and declining inventories, the province moved into balanced conditions in July, the first time since April 2008.

"Record home sales in Metro Vancouver and Victoria propelled the province into balanced conditions last month,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “While conditions in many interior markets are getting much better, their reliance on the struggling resource sector and a recent spate of forest fires have contributed to a more gradual pace of improvement."

Year-to-date, MLS® residential sales dollar volume declined 10 per cent to $21 billion over the same period last year. A total of 46,380 units were sold in the first seven months of 2009, down 6 per cent from 2008, while the average MLS® price declined 4 per cent to $451,758.