Neil Hebert, president of Empire Development, has completed the first of what he hopes is several stages in the rebirth of 160 acres on the east side of Lake Winnipeg in the Rural Municipality of Alexander.
The 18-hole Beaches Golf Course, located about 75 minutes north of Winnipeg, has been converted into a nine-hole facility in an effort to attract the duffer crowd and differentiate it from nearby Grand Pines Golf Course, which caters to serious golfers.
"We want to offer a cheaper, more family-oriented alternative. You could take your nine-year-old with you and they'd have the ability to hit the ball and not have a real frustrating day," Hiebert said.
His plan to create a 137-lot cottage subdivision with 48 condominiums and 43 seasonal campground lots has already received municipal approval and Hiebert is also planning to create a four-acre, man-made lake for swimming.
"It becomes a $30-million-plus project when it's all said and done and developed," he said.
The shovel won't go into the ground on the subdivision, however, until the province completes a "functional design study" on twinning Highway 59 around Grand Beach, Manitoba's most popular beach destination.
from Western Investor, September 2010
