Big rigs bring boomers to Empire

By Pat Stinson
Sun contributor

What was once a potato field will soon be seen through new eyes as vacationers and retirees gather for the first of three rallies — to be held Sept. 18-20, 25-27 and Oct. 9-11 — at Indigo Bluffs, northern Michigan’s newest RV luxury resort. Indigo Bluffs is located on and west of the old Sleepy Bear Campground (which is now closed to the public: read related story on our website, GlenArborSun.com) on M-72, east of Empire.

“This is not just your RV site in a KOA or other campground,” said Allan Reed, director of sales for Indigo Bluffs.

That’s because Class A motor coaches are not just your average recreational vehicle. At 30-50 ft. long, they are big enough to accommodate a full kitchen, laundry and private bedrooms, and many also include slide-out patios and decks. They are luxury homes on wheels, with price tags that can reach $2 million.

Reed, whose father and sister were both RVers, said that the question for owners of the big Class-A rigs is: Where is their base? Where do they stay when the few parks that can accommodate the RV’s wide turning radius and large power requirements are already full?

“One of the things that was obvious is that ownership is key,” Reed said, explaining that a place to stay is not always guaranteed at a campground with rented sites. “This way, there’s no question,” he said of the Phase I ownership lots, priced for sale at $85,000-$180,000 or, for the “built-out” model lots, $195,000 and $250,000.

Owner Gary Becker, who once owned and still acts as CEO for a national video equipment rental company and who currently owns a condominium at The Homestead resort near Glen Arbor, was not initially enamored with Reed’s suggestion two years ago for an RV resort. After learning that a number of RV campgrounds had “mothballed,” Becker’s reaction was, “Nope, why would I do that?” Reed said.

The pair did their research by visiting several Class “A” RV resorts including Bella Terra in Alabama. They enlisted the services of Kidd Group, a Florida public relations and marketing firm that specializing in RV resorts that has also worked with Hearthside Grove of Petoskey and Traverse Bay Resort in Acme. Industry statistics provided by Kidd showed that the discretionary income of this class of “older” RV owners allowed for long-distance travel, with 71 percent of their survey respondents indicating that they would not cancel a trip if fuel prices reached $5.50 per gallon and 28 percent claiming that fuel prices wouldn’t affect their travels at all. Reed said this group of baby boomers wants more and tends to own multiple resort lots throughout the country.

“This is really a fun group,” said Kristin Taylor, account manager with Kidd, which developed the name “Indigo Bluffs” to conjure visions of dunes and blue waters, and designed the totem-style bear to honor the Sleeping Bear legend. Taylor described an upscale lifestyle that includes nature, exploration and having things to do. “They don’t have any limitations,” she added, sharing that the Class-A resort concept is “feeling at home while far away.”

Home away from home

When completed, Phases I & II of Indigo Bluffs will offer many amenities that lend an air of permanence, such as paved asphalt roads, activity buildings, water features and sites with stamped concrete pads, patios, sewer hookups, power pedestals and optional coach houses and upgraded landscaping. Larger, landscaped lots of 5,000-8,000 square feet have a quad design, with 75 feet between RVs, and can, at the owner’s discretion, be landscaped for privacy. An architectural committee is in place and oversees design of activity buildings and “extras” available to owners who want them, including 12 x 14-foot Craftsmen-style coach houses for storage. A homeowners’ association and fees will apply.

Though the resort community will be gated and include security, it will be “grandparent friendly,” according to Reed. Visits by children and grandchildren are encouraged, as are pets. During site visits to other resorts, Reed said they noticed that clubhouses were the only hubs of activity and had “nothing going on” until evening. Indigo Bluffs has tentative plans for a three-story clubhouse/reception building with a kitchen, business center, game room and meeting area with a bar-lounge. Separate activity buildings and areas will include a fitness center, second pool, indoor/outdoor spa with soaking tubs, a bathhouse, laundry facilities, tennis courts and a general store. (Paul Maurer General Contracting is heading the resort’s construction.)

Cedar resident Diana Aug, owner of Concierge Up North, is the resort’s activities director and arranges all events, on site and off. Upcoming weekend rallies she has arranged will include local food, wine tasting, optional games and musical entertainment.

“Groups won’t have to worry about entertaining the kids,” Reed enthused about the development’s lively list of future activities, as well as nearby attractions such as Golden Valley Ranch for horseback riding or boarding horses, The Dunes golf course, the shore-to-shore riding/hiking trail and events like Horseshows by the Bay.

For those owners who must miss the fun, Indigo Bluffs will offer a rental management program for their lots.

Future Phases

According to Reed, the fastest-growing area of recreational building is the Park Model, a one- or two-bedroom trailer which is built with lumber. The structure has wheels but is not meant for hauling; it is licensed and taxed as personal property, not real property, but is placed on a purchased, taxable lot that can be rented, sold or bequeathed.

“We’re talking about doing that,” he said, “with lap and shingle siding in the Craftsman style. We may put in a road to go to the (separate) Park Model area. The one-bedroom (model) with a loft is like having a summer cottage under $200,000.”

Some RV resorts have neglected in their association bylaws to address the emergence and popularity of the Park Model. This oversight has allowed a Park Model to be situated next to a RV, a situation that provokes some RVers.

“So, we’ve heard from a number of people, ‘You’re not going to allow those, are you?’ Reed said. “We may offer 20-25 and will hold onto some as rental units.”

Ready to roll

For now, the resort has 21 lot sites with full pads that are “open for business,” according to Reed. Thirteen reservations for lots were held at press time. The first 20 purchasers will become part of a “Founders’ Club” whose owners will receive significant upgrades to their lots.

Some holding reservations “sight unseen” have made the trip to Empire and indicated that they are “pretty impressed,” Reed said.

“To offer something of this caliber near the National Park,” Reed said, is the attraction for the Class A motor coach set, and the intention and vision of the Indigo Bluffs’ team

Sleepy Bear Campground put to bed

By Pat Stinson
Sun contributor

There were tears, some anger, and a lot of hugs when campers heard the news over Labor Day weekend that Sleepy Bear Campground would cease operating as a public campground effective Sept. 8, to make way for a luxury Class-A motor coach resort development.

“This was not an easy decision for Gary Becker to make,” said Janice Teppo, who with her husband, Jim, has managed the campground since 2004.

Becker owns a Homestead condominium and bought the property at the northeast corner of Benzonia Trail and M-72 last fall, possibly with the intention of keeping the campground open for at least another year, according to Indigo Bluffs’ Director of Sales Allan Reed.

Circumstances recently led decision-makers to take another path.

“For 25 years, people have been bringing their children, and those children brought theirs,” said Grand Haven resident Terry Frifeldt, while manning the campground’s busy registration desk and store counter with his wife, Edarae, during the recent holiday weekend.

“I believe in Indigo Bluffs and I support Gary Becker,” Teppo said, sharing the irony that the campground had seen one of its best summer seasons, with staff turning away 48 campers for the previous nine weekends and 90 wanna-be Labor Day campers by Saturday morning of the long weekend.

“A lot” of reservations were made for 2010, Teppo said, and she planned to begin calling those campers on Sept. 9 to personally break the news to them. With tears in her eyes, she said that explaining the closure to the family of a boy with Down Syndrome who called her “grandma” would be especially difficult.

“Our biggest concern is where people are going to go next year,” she said. “We’re giving them a list of campgrounds in the area.”

Indigo Bluffs planned to honor a June 2010 reservation for a large group of bikers. Otherwise, the old campground would be available only to Indigo Bluffs’ friends with reservations.

The Teppos, who own a Class-A recreational vehicle and maintain an address in Illinois, have worked at campgrounds throughout the south in the winter. This winter, they will make themselves available to help promote Indigo Bluffs at trade shows, sharing information about the property and the area.

Jim Teppo said the couple would stay on during the transition to help with maintenance of the old reception building, baths and cookout areas.

“We’ve had a good run here,” he said. “Change is good. It’s probably not a pleasant thing for a lot of families, but it also ‘happens’ and we go forward. Positive passion.”

He is optimistic about the resort’s chances, given that one of two Petoskey RV parks is “doing well” and the Traverse Bay Resort is doing “reasonably well.”

“That indicates there’s a market,” he said. “Odds are pretty good.”