Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
More than 200 lots will be up for auction on Saturday at the development known as Grey Rock, which has seen a string of environmental controversies and ended up in bankruptcy a couple years back. The development is perhaps most well-known as the location of an HGTV Dream Home give-away. The Grey Rock development also ranks as one of the biggest land development melt downs in WNC in recent years.
Here’s some history, from bluenc.com:
Land Resource, LLC purchased the 4,000 acre Grey Rock tract for less than 12 million dollars in 2003. Wachovia financed the acquisition.
Official land sales for Grey Rock, a yet-to-be developed mountain residential community located in Rutherford, North Carolina, commenced over the spring weekend of April 28-May 1 2005. The 900 home sites were priced from $200,000 to $700,000. (Court records show that in April 2005 Land Resource had received $15,693,000.00 from earlier sales.)
Grey Rock marketing material, the Property Report and the property owner’s manual indicated that the subdivision would be constructed in various timed-phases with roads, infrastructure and amenities showing specified completion dates. Today most of the developer’s promises have not been fulfilled.
Grey Rock at Lake Lure received national recognition from the HGTV’s 2006 Dream Home Giveaway promotion. The Dream Home is the only structure completed in the development.
On September 21, 2005 the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources cited the developer for repeatedly violating erosion control regulations. The state halted all construction in Grey Rock from September 21, 2005 through February 16, 2006 and fined the company approximately $94,000.
On August 2, 2007 the Orlando Business Journal reported that Land Resource, LLC had obtained a $60 million revolving line of credit from KeyBank Real Estate Capital and Wachovia.
In July 2008 the Grey Rock sales office was closed and on November 6, 2008 Land Resource, LLC filed for bankruptcy protection.
And in September of 2009 Land Resources CEO Bob Ward shot and killed his wife, Diane. Allegedly. The guy ripped off people all over the Southeast. There are a bunch of unfinished communities. I'm surprised there hasn't been more reported about this story.