Showing It Off

Russell Lands to unveil The Ridge Club at its annual Showcase of Homes

LAKE Magazine

September 2007

Russell Lands' newest upscale addition to their property: A 10-acre facility including a 9,000 square foot clubhouse.

The Ridge Club, a new private $10 million recreational facility that is part of Russell Lands' massive Lake Martin development at The Ridge, has been completed and will be open to the public during the annual Showcase of Homes development this month.

"We've been told it is a world-class facility," said Steve Arnberg, the director of Real Estate Sales for Russell Lands. "There's nothing like it in Alabama."

Arnberg describes The Ridge Club as "equal to a clubhouse you'd find on a golf course" but without the golf course. Instead, The Ridge Club will be a family-oriented facility centered on fitness and outdoor recreation.

The new facility, which encompasses more than 10 acres, includes a tennis complex, two swimming pools joined by a waterfall, a playground, two sports fields and an event lawn.

During summer months, bicycle rentals will be available and lifeguards will be on duty at the pools. There will also be a day camper program where children will have access to supervised activities like swimming, biking, and nature trails.

"The day camper program gives families an opportunity to have an extended vacation," Arnberg said.

The clubhouse has over 9,000 square feet of heated and cooled space, including a large great room, a meeting and conference room facility with high tech audio-visual equipment, a lounge and card room, a crafts room, a catering bar and a catering kitchen, and a porch that wraps around three-quarters of the building. Downstairs will be a fitness center with weights and an aerobic/yoga room, his and hers locker rooms and, beginning next summer, a pool-side snack bar.

The craftsman-style building includes old wood floors and a custom-made chandelier. "It's lovely," Arnberg said.

Alexander City resident Pat Scroggins has been hired as The Ridge Club's full-time manager and Alphonso Leonard will work as the maintenance and groundskeeper.

Membership in The Ridge Club is gratis for Ridge property owners and their immediate family and guests, Arnberg said. He said that the facility will be available for rent for wedding receptions, large parties, and family get-togethers.

"The purpose of The Ridge Club is to give a good reason to live in The Ridge year round," Arnberg said. "I see it as a very important building. It's that unifying thing that makes The Ridge a neighborhood...This is a place where everybody gets to know each other."

At this point, there are about 150 homes in The Ridge development with about 20 percent serving as full-time residences and 80 percent as second homes. Arnberg said about 250 lots have been sold to-date and the development could eventually contain more than 800 homes.

"If we continue to develop The Ridge roughly as we have, at roughly the same prices, we're going to be looking at a multi-billion dollar development," Arnberg has said, predicting The Ridge will be completed between 2010 and 2015.

The Ridge Club was designed by Barry Coyle of Chapman Coyle Chapman Architects in Atlanta. Arnberg said Coyle specializes in club architecture and he has recently worked on such notable projects as The River Club in Atlanta, as well as additions to the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.

Golden & Associates Construction, LLC from Birmingham built the facility, and will also build the new Russell Lands Sales Center on Highway 63. Reece, Hoopes & Fincher of Atlanta created the land plan for The Ridge Club, which makes maximum use of the ten acres allocated to the club.

Arnberg said The Ridge Club is "an important next step" in Russell Lands' development of Lake Martin, one that will help improve the local economy for everyone who does business and lives in the area.

"Lake Martin residents ought to be proud of it. The Ridge Club is going to help our sales effort, and more people will want to move into The Ridge and buy property here, and therefore need to buy furniture, lumber, washing machines...this will help restaurants, grocery stores, it will help everybody."