
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 5, 1995                   TAG: 9508070022
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HOMESTEAD RESORT HOPES YOU'LL SHARE YOUR TIME THERE

FOR $40,000, you can have your own 2,000-square-foot cottage at The Homestead - for 27 days a year.

You can soon own a piece of The Homestead resort in Bath County.

The Hot Springs resort's officials said Friday they are scheduled to break ground Oct. 1 on 40 cottages that would be offered for public sale and ready for use next summer. They will sit on a hillside beside the ski runs.

The developer is Club Corp. of America, a Dallas operator of private clubs and resorts and owner of The Homestead since October 1993. CCA expects no delays in getting local or state approvals, said Rich Hodsdon, sales director for the project, to be known as the Owners Club.

Buyers of Homestead cottages will have to share. Each 2,000-square-foot residence will have 13 owners. For $40,000, each owner will be entitled to use the property 27 days a year.

And, when five cottages under construction at CCA's resort at Hilton Head Island are complete, Homestead cottage owners can spend any part of their 27 days there. CCA hopes to expand to 25 time-share resorts in North America in about five years, Hodsdon said.

The Homestead is entering the time-share business because many of CCA's 250,000 members said in a survey they want second homes without being responsible for maintenance or necessarily always visiting the same spot, Hodsdon said.

He said the $40,000 per share price, which equals $520,000 per cottage, appears comparable to the value of single-owner houses in nearby Deerlick, a development on former Homestead land. A house there has an asking price of $490,000.

Also, the resort recently completed its most recent phase of renovations, with the tab coming to $12.5 million since work began 18 months ago. The Homestead plans $17.5 million worth of additional work by the spring of 1998, said Gary Rosenberg, president.

He reported revenue is rising 8 percent to 10 percent annually, although the resort still costs more to operate than it brings in. Golf rounds are up 20 percent to 25 percent during the past year, he said.

by CNB