A new owner has purchased River Grove RV Resort in Felton, Calif., and plans to invest up to $400,000 in improvements to turn the dilapidated private membership park into a family friendly campground with a new name: Santa Cruz Redwoods RV Resort.
In fact, the new owner will reopen the park Saturday (May 1), said James Urquhart, co-owner of Petaluma-based Campground Management Group Inc., whose firm has been retained to manage the property, according to a news release. A new website for the park that includes online reservations can already be accessed at www.santacruzredwoodsrvresort.com.
“It really was a shambles of a park in a state of disrepair,” Urquhart said. “We’ve already hauled away several dumpsters filled with debris and we have construction crews completing improvements right now.”
Initial improvements include newly leveled and graded campsites, new septic systems and new electrical connections at each campsite as well as renovations to the park office and bathrooms. The new owner also plans to install a playground, amphitheatre, campfire center and dog park by Memorial Day.
“The new owner fell in love with this park and over the next two years is expected to invest about $400,000 in improvements,” Urquhart said.
River Grove RV Resort was originally designed over 30 years ago. But later went through several changes of ownership. “It had been a membership only park for many years, but the previous owner was unable to make the payments on the note and the park fell into disrepair,” Urquhart said.
He said campers who had purchased memberships to River Grove RV Resort will be offered introductory discount camping rates to the newly remodeled park, but the primary focus of the park will be to serve the general public as a family camping resort.
“We’re very pleased to hear that an investor has taken an interest in transforming River Grove RV Resort into a well maintained, family campground,” said Debbie Sipe, executive directorof the California Associaiton of RV Parks and Campgrounds (CalARVC).
Sipe added that the private campground industry is attracting growing numbers of investors who are purchasing parks and transforming them into attractive weekend retreats or vacation destinations for California residents as well as visitors from outside the state.
“Entrepreneurs and investors are increasingly realizing that the campground business is a viable and growing niche within the travel and tourism industry,” Sipe said, adding that the campground industry has been the most resilient segment of the tourism business during the recession.
For more information about Santa Cruz Redwoods RV Resort and Campground, please contact James Urquhart at (707) 338-5006 or visit the park’s website at www.santacruzredwoodsrvresort.com.
