New multi-generation membership benefits honor the importance of family experiences
Sunset, S.C. – With a focus on the family, The Reserve at Lake Keowee has introduced its Legacy Membership, an incredible expansion of benefits to the community’s Full and Premier Members. The Reserve’s Legacy Membership now allows Members to extend their membership privileges beyond their spouses and minor children to include their parents, adult children, and grandchildren. Existing members need only complete a Family Registration Form to activate their Legacy benefits.
“We have always been a very family-oriented community and have tried hard to cater to the desires of members and to carry out our promise and vision as a place to create family legacies,” explains Chuck Pigg, VP of Greenwood Communities and Resorts and Community Manager of The Reserve. “Upon reflecting on our 10th Anniversary year, we recognized once again how important it is to our members to share The Reserve with their families. We felt that one of the best things we could do to enhance the membership value for existing and future members, as well as further strengthen our commitment to family, was to offer membership privileges to the parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren of the member.”
The “value” of including family in the club experience or bringing family together in a central gathering place has, in recent years, become more of a driver for private club membership. A feature in the November/December 2010 issue of Club Management magazine outlined the Top 12 national trends affecting individual clubs, according to survey results from the General Managers of the top 25 premier clubs across the country. “Intergenerational issues” – defined as the challenges presented by longer life spans (also called lifestyle longevity) and the need to serve multiple generations with different perspectives and lifestyles under the same membership – ranked the highest, with 83% of respondents categorizing these as having a very high (33%) or high (50%) impact on their clubs. Also ranking in the Top 5 trends was “emphasis in family programming”, with 61% of all GMs responding that trend’s having a “very high” or “high” effect on their clubs.
Likewise, in an October 2010 Resort Real Estate Consumer Survey conducted by Kelsey & Norden entitled “Consumer Trends Emerging from the Economic Crisis,” the authors surveyed more than 6,000 current and prospective owners of resort real estate. Their findings identified the most distinct difference between near- and long-term buyers as being a much greater desire on the part of near-term buyers to own a vacation home in which they can spend more time with family and friends.
Among Kelsey & Norden’s other notable findings was that, for the first time, the market of interested prospective buyers has more Generation Xers than Baby Boomers (48% to 42%, respectively). This finding may denote “a significant requirement to provide products and experiences that meet the current needs of our historic customers, the Baby Boomers, while also creating products and experiences tailored to a generation that comes with a number of unique differences in behavior and preferences.”
The legacy aspect of The Reserve’s new Legacy Membership answers a growing demand among Baby Boomers, as evidenced in the Kelsey & Norden’s study, to transition their vacation/second home into a retirement home. More than half of the Baby Boomer respondents indicated that they are “likely” to “very likely” to retire in their vacation/second home. And though no one can deny the keen eye all buyers have toward the perception of value-for-price, Kelsey & Norden found that “the recession forced people to reevaluate their priorities and values. Many families concluded that spending quality time together away from their regular stressful, time-constrained lives is now more important than ever.”
Full-time residents Barry and Carol Hudson echoed those same sentiments: “We decided to build at The Reserve because we believed this would be a place our kids and grandkids would want to visit and that has certainly been the case. Keeping the family together is a priority for us, and The Reserve is the perfect place to do that. So, naturally, we were delighted to hear about the new Legacy Membership. Our son, Shannon and wife, Melissa, live in Greenville and are excited to know they will have full membership privileges making The Reserve amenities more easily accessible. Our daughter, Barbara Ann, and husband, Kirk, visit several times a year even though they live in Oklahoma.”
The Hudson Family congregates at The Reserve every summer, over the Fourth of July. They enjoy the Family Olympics at Turkey Ridge Park, watching the fireworks, golfing, and of course, doing all manner of activities in and around the lake and pool. During Fall visits, the whole family takes to the trails.
For part-time residents Doug and Sandy McKinney, too, the impetus for building a home at The Reserve has always been to bring their large family together: “We have five children, four sons-in-law, a son who is recently engaged, and eight grandchildren,” Sandy McKinney explains. “Our lakefront home at The Reserve can sleep 23 people, and we included a great beach with boats and jet skis, not only so that our kids would want to come visit, but also our grandkids. Our property is wonderful, but The Reserve and its amenities make it doubly wonderful.”
The McKinneys are fortunate in that all of their children and grandchildren live within three hours’ drive of Lake Keowee. On some weekends, their children use the lakehouse to entertain their own friends and their families. In past summers, their grandchildren have participated in the Summer Bible School, and they all enjoy the Blessing of the Fleet, Fourth of July festivities, Pooch Parade, and parties and picnics on The Great Lawn.
“I’m pretty sure that the new Legacy Membership was designed with our family in mind,” chuckled Chad McKinney, the youngest of the McKinneys’ five children. Chad, 28, has recently become engaged and holds guys’ golfing outings at The Reserve a couple times a year. “We come to The Reserve often, but we haven’t taken full advantage of all of the amenities because Mom or Dad needed to be there with us. Now that I have my own membership privileges and can, for example, golf at the member rate, I’ll feel so much more comfortable going to the club while I’m there to play a round and get a nice meal.”
The McKinneys couldn’t agree more. “With all of the amenities, we feel like every weekend we go down to The Reserve is like a mini-vacation. It’s like having your own resort. The Legacy Membership will help our kids and grandkids enjoy The Reserve with their friends and families. This is going to be a huge thing. This will be phenomenal for them.”
More than perhaps a membership, the Legacy Membership is an opportunity to experience The Reserve more fully for today’s families.
“We feel so privileged to live here,” the Hudsons continue. “The memories we make here we want to leave behind for our children and grandchildren. We’ve always said that when our family comes through the gate at The Reserve, we want them to feel that this is their home. Our children have grown to love The Reserve. It’s our hope that, when we’re gone, they will view The Reserve as their home, to build their own legacies here by the lake.”
In just the first few weeks since announcing the new Legacy Membership, more than 160 parents, children, grandparents and grandchildren have already enrolled in the new program. Prospective members will learn about the Legacy Membership for the first time at a series of Live South real estate shows which target buyers interested in vacation, second and retirement property in the Southern U.S., beginning January 15 in Chicago, Ill., and on from there to Greater New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pa.; Greater Washington, D.C.; and Columbus, Ohio.
About The Reserve at Lake Keowee
The Reserve spans 30 miles of shoreline on Lake Keowee with convenient access to Greenville, Asheville, and Clemson University, and more than $100 million in completed family amenities including a 200-slip Marina and Village Center, Guest House, Pool Complex and Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course. The community has approximately 650 members from 30 different states. Members and their extended families—including parents, grandparents, children, and grandchildren – enjoy club privileges under the new, multi-generational Legacy Membership program. The Reserve was created in 2000 by Greenwood Communities and Resorts, and features 3,900 acres in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains including 1,400 acres of parks, preserves, trails and green space. Homesites begin in the $100,000s. To learn more, call 877-922-LAKE (5253), visit www.ReserveAtLakeKeowee.com, or read the official community blog at www.LifeOnKeowee.com.
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