Sunset Cay scales back plans on Smith Mountain Lake

Developers of Sunset Cay, a mixed-use resort community planned for Smith Mountain Lake, are taking a step back, for now, on an option to purchase hundreds of acres in Moneta.

Bedford County officials last year approved rezoning for nearly 500 acres of land for a golf course and more than 1,000 homes on Hendricks Store Road.

Mike Loflin and Jim Fields of Smith Mountain Partners, the group developing the project, said plans took a hit this summer due to economic conditions.

“An economy like this, you need to be careful,” said Fields.

Nine homes have been built on a 52-acre site already purchased on Hendricks Store Road that did not require any zoning permits from the county, Fields said.

Sale prices range from $495,000 to $535,000.

The immediate focus is on the project’s commercial portion, which Fields said includes a 40,000-square-foot building under construction called the Shoppes at Sunset Cay.

Fields said half of that space would soon open and include four restaurants, a design center and fitness center. There are also 400 condos still planned for that site, he said.

The partners also bought a marina, campground, hotel and restaurant formerly known as Campers Paradise on Virginia 122 just east of the Hales Ford Bridge. It is now the Marina at Sunset Cay and the restaurant reopened last year under the name Harrison’s.

If and when the economy bounces back, Loflin said plans to pursue the land option for the golf course would resume.

“We still think it’s a terrific option for the property,” Loflin said.

It doesn’t make sense with the current situation, Fields said, to close on a deal with a private landowner on what is the third and final portion of the project.

“It’s going to be further out than we originally thought,” said Loflin. “This is a tough time for development — but we’re moving forward.”