IMG And Hemisphere Team Up
Lakeview Bluffs to combine IMG Resort Academies, inaugural IMG Signature Golf Course, 2300 housing units and other resort amenities ... read more
IMG, the world’s largest sports marketing and management agency, signed an exclusive deal with Hemisphere Development LLC to develop regional Sports Resort Communities. The deal was announced today by Bob Kain, President of IMG, and Todd Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Hemisphere. The venture will develop its first real estate project at Lakeview Bluffs, located on 1,100 acres along Lake Erie in Lake County Ohio.
“IMG is delighted to be involved with this landmark project in our own community,” says Kain. “Cleveland, where IMG was founded in 1960, is a great location for the active, family-oriented and recreational development we envision.”
“Lakeview Bluffs encompasses more than a mile of Lake Erie shoreline, and offers breathtaking views of the Grand River,” explains Davis of Hemisphere. “Combining the site’s real estate potential with IMG’s sports and entertainment prowess will create a high-energy atmosphere delivering a unique destination to visit and live.”
The ambitious development’s principal feature will be the IMG Resort Academies, which will provide world-class instruction in all major sports, including golf, tennis, soccer, baseball and basketball. The facility also will integrate comprehensive health and wellness programming designed by leading medical experts. This complex will emulate the IMG Academies located in Bradenton Florida, the world’s most successful multi-sport training institute for elite athletes, but will focus training on sports enthusiasts and families.
IMG has designed its inaugural IMG Signature Golf Course as another major amenity, featuring holes perched on bluffs 40 feet above Lake Erie and running along the Grand River corridor. Lakeview Bluffs also will feature a boutique resort hotel, cascading down a bluff overlooking Lake Erie to a crescent shaped beach, a world-class spa, corporate meeting facilities, and a comprehensive health and fitness campus. IMG will stage a variety of special events at the resort annually, including both regional and national competitions. Other recreational amenities include a culinary academy, vineyard and winery, and a trout club with teaching streams for fly fishing. The Lakeview Bluffs grand opening is expected in Spring 2008.
Hemisphere and IMG plan to develop a number of resort/club/residential properties across the United States and North America. According to Davis, “Implementing this novel development concept with IMG can be a significant economic development tool for communities across the country.”
IMG is the world's premier sports and lifestyle management and marketing firm, with an international staff of more than 2,200 people in 70 offices in 30 countries. TWI, IMG's television division, is the largest independent distributor and producer of televised sports, managing a library of more than 150,000 hours. TWI annually produces and distributes 6,500 hours of original programming to more than 200 countries covering 200+ sports, as well as being a global leader in digital sports and entertainment. IMG is also commercially involved in an average of 11 major sports and cultural events around the world every day; IMG Consulting works with many of the world's largest corporations on marketing and sponsorship programs; IMG's stadium and arena group works with leagues and franchises worldwide; IMG is the world's largest non-character licensing firm, and is a leading literary agency and book packager. In addition, IMG Models is the world's number one international model management firm, IMG owns and operates top sports and fitness academies, and IMG Artists is the top global performing arts management firm.
IMG's clients include Charles Barkley, James Brown, Jennifer Capriati, Vince Carter, Bob Costas, Lindsay Davenport, Chris Evert, Sergei Fedorov, Renée Fleming, Sergio Garcia, Gisele, Retief Goosen, Jeff Gordon, the GRAMMYS®, Denny Green, Scott Hamilton, Elizabeth Hurley, Jaromir Jagr, Derek Jeter, Nancy Lopez, John Madden, Major League Baseball, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Steve Mariucci, John McEnroe, Joe Montana, Kate Moss, Jim Nantz, Jack Nicklaus, The Nobel Foundation, Olympus Fashion Week, Arnold Palmer, Itzhak Perlman, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Pete Sampras, Marty Schottenheimer, Monica Seles, Maria Sharapova, Michael Schumacher, Vijay Singh, Annika Sorenstam, Picabo Street, Liv Tyler, USGA, the U.S. Olympic Committee, Dick Vitale, Bill Walton, Wembley National Stadium, Venus Williams, Wimbledon and Tiger Woods.
IMG Academies, located in Bradenton, Florida, is the largest multi-sport training facility in the world and encompasses the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, David Leadbetter Golf Academy, IMG Soccer Academy, The Baseball Academy, The Basketball Academy, IMG Academies Mental Conditioning, Bollettieri Sports Medicine and Game On. Every year approximately 11,000 adult, junior, collegiate, and professional athletes from over 75 countries train at IMG Academies’ Bradenton facility. Hemisphere is a nationally renowned brownfield redevelopment company, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Hemisphere’s development projects have included a number of the most sophisticated and complex redevelopments in the United States.
