Waterfront Living - Fort Loudon Lake
Real Estate Guide

Lowe's Ferry - Waterfront community plans yacht-club-style marina

History buffs know American naval officer David Farragut for his rallying cry, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” A lifelong sailor, Farragut left a waterfront-related legacy in East Tennessee.

The nation’s first admiral was born in 1801, on the north bank of the Holston River near today’s town of Farragut. The site was Lowe’s Ferry, also known as Stoney Point. His father operated a ferry between Blount and Knox counties for several years.

More than 200 years later, Lowe’s Ferry is surfacing again, this time as the name of an upscale residential development on Fort Loudoun Lake.

McKeough Land Co. of Grand Haven, Mich., closed this summer on 303 acres along the lake in Louisville – at $13 million, possibly one of the largest land deals in recent Blount County history.

The developer is selling 220 lots, 70 of them waterfront properties. As sales manager Scott Harestad observes, “There’s not a lot of lake property left on Fort Loudoun.”

Over the next two years, McKeough will turn the former family farm into an upscale waterfront community with a private yacht club, deck, pool, beach, covered barbecue area, indoor gathering space, kitchen and boat launch.

“We want to create a development where people can enjoy the waterfront without feeling overcrowded,” says Harestad.

And, he says, “You don’t have to necessarily own waterfront property to be able to access the lake.” The developers gave one of their waterfront lots to the homeowners’ association to use as the club.

They are working with Tennessee Valley Authority on approval for a marina. Harestad envisions the community gathering place close to the water having a “yacht-club feel.”

He says McKeough wants to keep an Old-World, traditional atmosphere throughout Lowe’s Ferry. The development will incorporate green spaces and use the existing tree line and streams as natural buffers.

The company also plans to sprinkle walking paths and bike trails throughout the property. Harestad expects the mix to appeal to baby boomers, who want an active lifestyle, and others who gravitate toward the kind of secondary and retirement waterfront communities that McKeough develops around the Great Lakes and the Southeast.

Some buyers may be interested in Lowe’s Ferry for its investment potential. “Waterfront property has appreciated faster than general property,” Harestad says.

McKeough doesn’t impose a time limit in which owners have to build on their property. That flexibility gives people breathing room for making payments on their land before retirement.

Breathing room is important at Lowe’s Ferry. According to Harestad, who oversees McKeough’s Tennessee and Kentucky operations, the developers chose Blount County for its open spaces and price value.

“We try to be medium- to low-density,” says Harestad, who moved here from California where “you couldn’t touch a piece of waterfront property for less than $1 million.”

With Lowe’s Ferry, McKeough obtained nearly 7,000 feet of lake frontage on a former family farm. The company guarantees every lot to be build-able.

Although McKeough doesn’t build houses, the developers will be happy to work with local contractors and engineers, says Harestad. He hopes to put together a preferred builder list to help ensure aesthetic integrity in the neighborhood.

Founded in Michigan in 1989, McKeough has a specialty in waterfront developments, and made Inc. magazine’s list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the United States for the past three years.

A McKeough executive who had once lived in Morristown knew about the area’s beauty and suggested looking for acquisitions here. The developers saw that East Tennessee combined the best of both worlds – lakes and mountains. Such a combination would appeal not only to locals but also to Midwesterners and Floridians thirsty for a mild climate all four seasons, without hurricanes.

Fort Loudoun Lake already has a track record. More than 2 million outdoor enthusiasts visit the reservoir each year, according to Tennessee Valley Authority. They come for boating, bird watching and other leisure pursuits.

Many are part of the “Volunteer Navy,” hundreds of boats forming a giant floating tailgate party at the University of Tennessee football games. Knoxville has one of few universities in America with a stadium next to a large body of water.

Legend has it that former UT Vols broadcaster George Mooney kicked off the Navy when he found a quicker and more exciting way to get to the stadium than fighting automobile traffic. He navigated his little runabout down the Tennessee River to UT games, and thereby launched a fall tradition in Big Orange Country.

In keeping with the nautical theme, Harestad christened the Lowe’s Ferry Web site www.volsnavy.com. He notes that the Louisville community lies 14 miles from Neyland Stadium and also is close to the airport, Pellissippi Parkway, the interstate, hospitals, restaurants and shopping in Maryville and Knoxville and the downtown area for both cities.

It’s full speed ahead at Lowe’s Ferry. Road construction is expected to begin this month, and lot sales are making a splash. For more information, call Harestad at 584-0005.

FORT LOUDOUN LAKE
- Lowe’s Ferry

Location: Louisville

Developer: McKeough Land Co.

Lots available: 220

Lot sizes: 3/4 acre to 3 acres

Price range: Approximately $80,000 to $500,000

Special amenities: Yacht club, pool, beach, deck, boat launch, proposed marina

Distances: Four miles to private tennis club and Louisville Marina, 7 1/2 miles to Pellissippi Parkway, eight miles to private golf club, 10 miles to McGhee Tyson Airport, 14 miles to Neyland Stadium

Sales manager: Scott Harestad

For more information: 584-0005, www.volsnavy.com

Fort Loudoun Lake
Location: Runs 60 miles from the confluence of the French Broad and Holston rivers downstream to Fort Loudoun Dam. Lake goes through Knoxville and extends south to Lenoir City.

Size: 14,600 acres of water surface, 379 miles of shoreline
TVA-certified clean marinas: Concord Marina, Fort Loudoun Marina, Louisville Landing Marina

Recreational usage: Boating, waterskiing, jet-skiing, canoeing, bass fishing, bird watching

Nearby waterfront restaurants include:
Riverside Tavern
Calhoun’s on the River