Cherokee County to get Georgia Tech Club Charles Arnold Contributing Writer Two organizations affiliated with Georgia Tech-the Georgia Tech Alumni Association and the Georgia Tech Athletic Association-have signed a licensing agreement with a developer that plans to build a $66 million, 600-acre golf course community in southeastern Cherokee County. The project will be built by The Georgia Tech Club LLC, which includes the two Georgia Tech organizations as well as The University Clubs by Melrose, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Melrose Co., a privately held developer of high-end golf communities based in Hilton Head Island, S.C. The developer plans to build the project over the next few years through traditional development financing and with funds from membership fees and sales of homes, which could be priced at more than $500,000 each. The alumni and athletic associations will contribute in-kind services and promotional support rather than funding. The group recently started a marketing campaign to try to sign 100 "founding members"-at $60,000 each-so that construction may begin late this fall. The Melrose Co. is sending letters, a video and a promotional booklet to big-name alumni provided by the 100,000-member Georgia Tech Alumni Association and the Georgia Tech Athletic Association. "We are, in essence, endorsing the idea," but as nonprofit organizations, said Joe Irwin, vice president and executive director of the Alumni Association. "This is not a fund-raiser. Georgia Tech is putting our name on a club we can call our own." The alumni and athletic associations also will get 5 percent of the membership sales and 10 percent of gross operating revenues. Combined, those sources will bring in an estimated $1 million a year after the community is sold out, which officials estimate will take four years. The idea of a university-backed, alumni-sponsored golf course resort was advanced by the Melrose Co. Developers hope that the Georgia Tech Club will be a model for other major colleges and universities. The Melrose Co. already is negotiating with other institutions- notably the University of Tennessee, Texas A&M, the University of Indiana and The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., said Melrose President and CEO Robert T. Kolb. The Georgia Tech Club will have 206 homes (on lots costing about $240,000 each) and another 25 exclusive, fully furnished four-bedroom "founders' cottages" (at a total price of at least $750,000). Each of the 25 cottages, named after buyers, will come with a vacation rental agreement to generate income for owners while providing on-site lodging for conferences and meetings. Homes will be centered around an 18-hole golf course with a 30-acre driving range and practice area. A country club, a tennis center and a fitness center will round out the project, Kolb said. Home lots are a little more than 1 acre but spread widely apart to qualify the development under state regulations as a conservation subdivision, said Peter B. Millichap, vice president with The Peachtree Group Inc. in Dunwoody. The Peachtree Group-which includes Millichap and President Fritz Rybert-located and assembled the 600 acres about 30 miles north of Georgia Tech's Midtown campus. The location is about three miles north of the rural community of Birmingham, Ga. Most of the property is in southeastern Cherokee County off Georgia 372. About 100 acres are in North Fulton. The property is within a mile of a possible route for the proposed Northern Arc highway. "[But,] there is no way to get off the Arc to our property unless you get off at either [Interstate] 575 or Georgia 400, unless the governor changes his mind and puts intersections at locations other than where it was previously announced," Millichap said. In launching the Georgia Tech Club, the Melrose Co. formed strategic partnerships with other companies, such as Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc. and IBM Corp.'s global services division. Troon Golf in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Des Moines, Iowa-based Weitz Construction Inc., are venture capital partners, Kolb said. A Georgia Tech alumnus, Atlanta architect Niles Bolton, president of Niles Bolton Associates, designed the cottages and the country club. The gated community will be the new athletic center for Georgia Tech's NCAA golf team. Tech alumni also can play there with their guests, as well as visiting university and college teams participating in tournaments. Golf course architect Rees Jones, president and CEO of Rees Jones Inc., in Montclair, N.J., designed the golf course and practice area. With the Georgia Tech Club, the university will gain "a world-class practice facility surrounded by a world-class golf facility," said Tech's head golf coach, Bruce Heppler. Troon Golf will operate the golf course once it opens, which will be at least two years from now. Homes will be sold before the golf course is finished. Kolb said about 10 prominent local home builders are being interviewed now to put up the first speculative housing. Each home builder must purchase three lots for models. Homes will be sold from a new Buckhead office. Mark K. Hesemann, vice president of membership development for The Georgia Tech Club LLC, opened a new project office on Lenox Road N.E., in the One Live Oak Center building. Hesemann and a five-person staff are coordinating the project and will make the initial calls to university alumni. The alumni department's eight magazines all are to feature articles this summer about the Georgia Tech Club.