Harvard Case Study: Lakeview Bluffs
“…It takes a decade to create an overnight success” said Todd Davis, CEO of Hemisphere, the developer of the 1,100-acre Lakeview Bluffs site... read more
"...It takes a decade to create an overnight success" said Todd Davis, CEO of Hemisphere, the developer of the 1,100-acre Lakeview Bluffs site, as he approached the vineyard at the heart of his development. The 1-acre vineyard looked somehow like a jewel in the middle of a green pasture, protected by a 12-foot tall fence, surrounded by electric wires to dissuade interested deer. The first round of tests from the wine produced by this vineyard was completed in 2005, and the results have been impressive. Ohio State University's School of Agriculture has been cooperating with Hemisphere to start and maintain the vineyard since 2003. Although the wine from the grapes was an overnight success, it took many years to bring the vineyard into reality. Moreover, not many people could have imagined that several decades ago, this place essentially was a settling pond for baking soda, a by-product of the "solvay" process used to manufacture soda ash, and a major component of glass.
In many ways, this vineyard resembled the efforts Davis and Craig Kasper, CEO of Hull, an environmental engineering firm, and Davis's partner in the development. Sixty years of heavy industrial use had created a negative aura and troubled everyone who was involved in the project: the previous owner, an oil refining and chemical manufacturing conglomerate, the state and federal governments, and the community; everyone viewed it as a significant liability. A cost-center where the only question was: "who is going to pay to clean it up?" It was almost 8 years ago that Davis and his firm brought a vision to face this seemingly insurmountable challenge. He saw the opportunity amongst the myriad pages of litigation documents that kept the site frozen for over 20 years. His vision, with his partner Bob Amjad, was to scrap the property's old image and replace it with a brand new model for large brownfield development sites. Lakeview Bluffs will be the first sports-oriented master planned resort community in the U.S., featuring the first IMG Resort Academies training facilities, 15 miles of trails and bike paths, approximately 2,300 housing units, a boutique hotel and conference center, a spa, a worldclass health and wellness center, a trout club, and, of course, a vineyard and winery perched high on a bluff over a spectacular river view, more reminiscent of Napa Valley than Ohio.
