Note: This story was updated to reflect that bonds were sold by developers, not Walker County.
The biggest single new investment ever in Walker County is taking shape atop Lookout Mountain, where a luxury hotel retreat and a second golf course are planned adjacent to the award-winning McLemore golf course.
Duane Horton, the Chattanooga developer and president of McLemore, said in a telephone interview that the 245-room Cloudland Lodge and the proposed new Outpost golf course are designed to draw tourists and business groups from around the country to Northwest Georgia. Both the new 18-hole golf course and the 245-room Curio Collection by Hilton hotel are scheduled to open in early 2024.
“We’re about 50% complete with construction (of the convention hotel), and we hope to start selling hotel rooms right after the first of the year,” Horton said. “We’re going to start building our sales team, and we want to give people in this community the first opportunity to work here. We’re really thrilled about the community that we are building and the destination that we have become and that we are continuing to grow.”
Construction of the new convention hotel is slated to be done by the end of 2023, and Horton said he envisions opening the new hotel in either February or March of 2024.