Vhs 1008p050 Spotlight Rev

Founded in 1993, DPS Development Company has spent the past 15 years creating communities that offer residents a wide variety of sporting options. These pages: The Turks & Caicos Sporting Club is set on its own 1,100-acre private island, where every home will have water views. Activities at the club include exploring the coves and beaches in one of the property’s fishing boats or crystalline kayaks.

46 VACATION HOMES II OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2008

DPS Sporting Communities

Spotlight

Sports Authority DPS sets new standards for sporting communities In 1962, the Turks and Caicos archipelago was the recovery site for the historic Mercury Friendship 7 mission, in which astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth. The site was chosen not only for the nearby military base, located on Grand Turk Island, but for the reliably great weather and crystal clear water that would aid the USS Randolph in hoisting Glenn’s capsule out of the Caribbean. Upon his second of three orbits around the earth, Glenn commented to mission control, “This is Friendship 7 … I can see clear down, see all the islands clear down, the whole chain from up here, can

By Oliver Slosser

see way beyond them and Area Hotel [Grand Turk] looks excellent for recovery.” The environmental conditions in Turks and Caicos have remained just as pristine as Glenn found them in the 60s, but getting to the islands is now a lot easier—at least for members at DPS Development Company’s Turks & Caicos Sporting Club. On the 1,100-acre Ambergris Cay, the company recently opened a 5,700-foot-long airstrip, the longest private airstrip in the Caribbean, to accommodate the residents of its new 550-home community. The club is one of five DPS developments that together have

Courtesy Turks & Caicos Sporting Club at Ambergris Cay

OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2008 II VACATION HOMES 47

Spotlight DPS Sporting Communities earned the company a reputation for building some of the most comprehensive sporting communities in the world. DPS founders—Chip Dolan, Peter Pollak, and Steve Schram—established the company in 1993, seeking to create a different type of vacation home community. “We wanted to get away from the trend we were seeing of golf or beach communities that were limited to just one season,” says Pollak. “Instead we wanted to create a multifaceted, year-round experience.” Indeed, rather than focusing on just one theme, such as golf or beach sports, DPS emphasizes an array of activities and amenities. “Every one of our properties has a learning center where members can discover, for example, how to cook, how to fish, or how to ski,” says Pollak. Whether DPS members are learning a sport for the first time, or enjoying an activity they have done all their lives,

48 VACATION HOMES II OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2008

the company’s properties allow them the opportunity to experience all aspects of the sporting life. “It’s not unusual for one of our members to play golf in the morning, go boating in the afternoon, play some squash in the early evening, and then finish the day with a great meal at one of our restaurants,” says Schram, who now is one of DPS’ managing partners. Although all of DPS’ properties offer a variety of amenities, each community is distinct and singular. Ford Plantation, one of the company’s first developments, is located in Richmond Hill on Georgia’s coast, on the former estate of Henry Ford. The community is anchored by Ford’s 1920s classical Greek Revival mansion, which serves as the property’s main structure, where members can enjoy dining, wine tastings, and special events. All of the homes built on the property feature architectural styles

similar to that of the Ford home. Ford Plantation also offers amenities one would expect of a top-notch private community, including a Pete Dye golf course, a marina, and a sports complex. DPS developed a similarly historic community on 1,350 acres adjacent to the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, which has been hosting guests since before the American Civil War. The Greenbrier Sporting Club, a private residential community of approximately 500 homes built in 2001, grants homeowners the opportunity to live at a National Historic landmark and enjoy the amenities of both the private sporting club and the resort. The company’s latest addition to the sporting club is a collection of 56 homes, called the Green Homes at the Greenbrier. Located on sites ranging from one to six acres, these homes will offer the most innovative technology in

green building, including prefabrication, insulated foundations, Timberpeg post-and-beam frames, and Energy Star–rated appliances. Size restrictions on the new homes, a requirement that is implemented at all DPS developments, will further ensure that residences do not encroach on the surrounding environment. Timber framing for two prototype homes will began this fall. In 2004, DPS began sales for the aforementioned Turks & Caicos Sporting Club, which is located about 400 miles from the company’s Deep Water Cay project in the Bahamas and is slated for completion in 2010. Unlike Deep Water Cay, the Turks & Caicos Sporting Club is set on a private island available to DPS members only. An environmental learning center sits next to the airfield, on one of two large coves found on the island, and includes an onstaff naturalist. “The naturalists at our properties are in

Opposite:

DPS’ Snake

River Sporting Club, which is set on 554 acres in Wyoming, offers a variety of activities, including golf on a Tom Weiskopf– designed course. left: The

Snake River,

located next to the club, is home to some of the best fly-fishing in the area. below: In addition to hiking and biking paths, the club has an equestrian center and miles of trails.

courtesy Snake River Sporting Club

OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2008 II VACATION HOMES 49

Spotlight DPS Sporting Communities

right:

The Greenbrier

Sporting Club, which will feature the company’s first completely green homes, comprises a 32,000-square-foot members’ lodge with views of Howard’s Creek. below:

Some of the

club’s amenities include a sporting complex, a full-service spa, and a Tom Fazio–designed, 7,025-yard golf course.

charge of keeping our members in tune with what is going on in the environment around them,” says Schram. “For instance, they will know when a particular type of insect that attracts fish will hatch, or when members can witness a migration of elk.” For those especially interested in activities of that nature, the company developed the Snake River Sporting Club in Jackson, Wyoming, a 120-homesite enclave nestled between six miles of private Snake River frontage and 3.4 million acres of Bridger-Teton National Forest. The Teton County Planning Commission approved the first phase of the club in 2005, which is no small feat considering that 97 percent of the 3.8 million acres in Teton County are federally owned or state managed. The club has preserved approximately 80 percent of its 554-acre site as open space and has placed restrictions on construction to ensure that each home will not exceed 6,500 square feet. The club is in the final stages of its first phase, which includes a Tom Weiskopf–designed golf course, a heli-skiing program, and naturalist programs, as well as a lodge, that opened in September. Phase two of the project will add a spa, tennis courts, and a gym. With the exception of the Turks & Caicos Sporting Club, DPS’ clubs offer memberships to both non-homeowners and residents. (At the Turks & Caicos club, the only

members are the property owners.) All of DPS’ communities are member-owned, with management for the three newest communities—Greenbrier Sporting Club, the Turks & Caicos Sporting Club, and Snake River Sporting Club—handled by the Greenbrier Resort & Club Management Company. The same organization behind the resort component of the Greenbrier, the management company has been a partner on all of DPS’ developments, though once a property has reached completion, management is taken over by a company of the members’ choosing.

courtesy The Greenbrier Sporting Club

50 VACATION HOMES II OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2008

Spotlight DPS Sporting Communities [ DEVELOPMENTS & RESOURCES ]

Deep Water Cay Location:

On a 120-acre island just

off the east end of Grand Bahama Island Residences: Amenities:

50 homesites

Bonefishing, sailing, ten-

nis, sporting clays, and a spa Timeline:

Completed in 2005. All of

the original parcels have been sold. Approximately 25 properties are currently available for resale Pricing:

JOSH GIBSON

Current resale prices avail-

able upon request. Club membership starts at $30K 843.815.8300, www.deepwatercay.com 912.756.5666,

designed golf course, a shooting

with 65 percent of phase one home-

www.fordplantation.com

facility, an equestrian center, a lodge,

sites sold to date. Golf, fly-fishing,

a sports complex with a pool, and

and naturalist programs are now

an Asian-inspired spa. Members also

open. Phase-two amenities, includ-

have access to all of the amenities

ing the spa and tennis and paddle

Greenbrier Resort, the sporting

available at the resort, such as white-

courts, are still in development

club comprises 1,350 acres of the

water rafting, hunting, and gourmet

Pricing:

sports complex, a spa, a deepwater

6,500-acre property in the moun-

cooking classes

bership is $150K. Annual dues have

marina, sportfishing, an equestrian

tains of White Sulphur Springs, West

Timeline:

center, and a nearby hunting pre-

Virginia. Two thousand acres of the

percent of the homes have been sold.

888.434.7772,

serve. The property also is home to a

estate are set aside as open space

All amenities are up and running

www.snakeriversportingclub.com

Pete Dye links-style golf course

for hiking, biking, jogging, and

Pricing:

bridle trails

to $3.5M; prebuilt homes from

Turks & Caicos Sporting Club

$1.35M to $6.5M. Club membership

Location:

Ford Plantation (pictured) Location:

On 1,800 acres in Rich-

mond Hill, on Georgia’s coast, about

Greenbrier Sporting Club

18 miles southwest of Savannah

Location:

Residences: Amenities:

Timeline:

400 homesites

A members’ lodge, a

Completed in 2001. All

Next to the circa-1778

not yet been determined

Homesites range from $395K

original parcels have been sold, and

Residences:

all amenities are complete. Approxi-

Greenbrier comprise 56 of the 500

is $140K, with annual dues of $11K

island 575 miles south of Florida and

mately 25 homes are currently avail-

total planned homes. Parcels range

888.741.8989,

18 minutes by private club plane

able for resale

in size from one acre to more than

www.thegreenbriersportingclub.com

from Providenciales

Pricing:

Resale prices range from

The Green Homes at the

Sales started in 2001; 75

$1.3M to $6.5M. Club mem-

six acres

Residences:

$200K to $2.9M. Club membership

Amenities:

starts at $115K

only amenities include a Tom Fazio–

Sporting club members–

Snake River Sporting Club Location:

On 554 acres bordering

550 homesites range

in size from one-third of an acre to more than eight acres

the 3.4 million-acre Bridger-Teton

Amenities:

National Forest in Jackson Hole,

with a customs and immigration office,

Wyoming

a 100-slip marina with 10 separate

Residences:

A total of 120 home-

A 5,700-foot airstrip

megayacht slips for vessels exceeding

sites. The club is being developed

200 feet, a spa, a fitness center, horse

in two phases, with 68 homesites in

stables, an environmental learning

phase one ranging in size from .4

center, and a members’ lodge

acre to 2.2 acres, and ranch lots in

Timeline:

development for phase two that will

for sale in 2004; 30 percent have

span more than 30 acres

been sold. Completion of all com-

Amenities:

A Tom Weiskopf­–designed

Homesites were released

mon structures is expected by 2010

golf course, a helipad for heli-skiing,

Pricing: $600K

equestrian facilities, fly-fishing, a spa

bership is $95K, with annual dues

with natural hot springs, and a ski-in/

of $6K

ski-out private lodge at Teton Village

877.815.1300,

Timeline:

52 VACATION HOMES II OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2008

On a private, 1,100-acre

Sales commenced in 2005,

to $6M. Club mem-

www.tcsportingclub.com