By Scott Kauffman - President / Editor-in-Chief
Aug. 8, 2024 - Volume 1, Issue 1
Welcome Home to the Inaugural Issue of Resort Living Inc.. After an award-winning full-time journalism career covering sports, global golf course business and resort-style real estate for USA Today, the Orlando Sentinel, Golfweek Magazine and dozens of other luxury lifestyle golf and real estate publications, I'm excited to introduce Resort Living Inc., and its companion website, ResortLivingMagazine.com, the most trusted source of news for master-planned golf, private club and active-adult/vacation home communities worldwide.
My passion for this resort lifestyle and real estate niche has given me the opportunity to experience many of the finest private clubs and residential resort communities ever created. Among the many memorable places I've visited: ultra-exclusive Ke’olu Golf Club at Four Seasons Resort Hualalai and Discovery Land Company's Kukio on the Big Island of Hawaii; Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga.; Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla.; Tavistock Group’s premier private club communities in Orlando, Isleworth and Lake Nona; and The Cliffs Communities in the Carolina Mountains.
Along the way, I've also been fortunate to have trusted access to the leading developers, sales and marketing executives and public relations directors driving these quintessential communities and clubs.
Now, in an exciting new chapter of my journalism career, I'm eager to share my years of knowledge, access and global insights with the debut of this flagship digital publication for Kauffman's Luxury Golf & Resort Living Inc. Network of affiliated websites. This biweekly business journal has one mission: Be the leading source of trusted market intelligence for golf, private club and resort-style real estate properties worldwide. At the very least, I look forward to keeping readers ahead of the real estate development curve and sharing inspiring stories of innovation, success and growth from the men and women that give meaning to Resort Living.
So Welcome Home again as I continue my never-ending journalistic pursuit to discover the world’s best places to Live, Work and Play!
Idaho Club Revitalized Under New Ownership, Sales Team
The Idaho Club, one of the most picturesque semi-private golf and lakefront communities in America, is back in business after being recapitalized under new ownership. Situated in the small northwestern town of Sandpoint in the Idaho Panhandle, the Idaho Club reopened last May when the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course played host to a local prep invitational.
A week later, the development's new ownership, Valiant Idaho LLC, officially relaunched the community's real estate sales efforts. The club’s ownership recently introduced Jim Matoska and his Red Earth Corporation team as the Idaho Club’s newest sales and marketing partners. One of the main reasons Valiant Idaho LLC Principal William Haberman was drawn to the distressed asset several years ago is the community's "perfect trifecta" of outdoor amenities and natural beauty.
For instance, Haberman, an Orlando-based real estate developer and investor, says Idaho Club residents have the rare opportunity to play the state’s only Nicklaus-designed championship course, enjoy pristine Lake Pend Oreille, one of the deepest and longest lakes in America, and visit the nationally-acclaimed ski resort at Schweitzer Mountain all in one weekend.
In conjunction with the renewed property sales efforts, the Idaho Club also released architectural renderings of what will be the new “modern mountain” clubhouse and a future lake club. The prior clubhouse was destroyed by a fire in 2008, and Valiant Idaho plans to rebuild in the same footprint and on the same foundation.
According to Haberman, Alex Murray of Idaho Pinnacle Properties remains the local broker of record and will work closely with Matoska, whose Red Earth team is known for marketing numerous master-planned resort-style communities nationwide.
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