The Plan and the Development Team
Planning for Timber Shores
The plan for a high-quality RV resort and campground on the Timber Shores property was announced in 2019. Under the leadership of developer Fred Gordon, a team of professionals with the expertise needed to design and permit the project developed a plan that was presented to Leelanau Township in late 2019.
The Site Plan Design Team: Timber Shores site-plan design team included both Wisconsin based Bud Styer & Associates and Commercial Recreation Specialists who were engaged by the developer to design the RV Campground and the recreation amenities. This engagement followed prior engagements with nationally recognized RV Campground consultants who all endorsed the economic viability of a RV resort at this site, however with differing market focus and site layouts.
We settled upon this consulting team based importantly on their extensive experience with similar developments in Wisconsin, which is a similar climate and market to Michigan. Further refinement of the site plan was provided by Gosling Czubak Engineering Sciences, Inc of Traverse City. Consultants also include Scott Thompson of Northern Civil Consulting and natural resources consultant Charles Wolverton of Wolverton Consulting, LLC.
Once completed the resort will be operated by a well-trained staff led by Joe Drudi, profiled below. Bud Styer and Associates will provide training and operations oversight. Commercial Recreation Specialists will continue to work with the resort to assure that the many recreational activities are operated safely.
The Developer
Fred Gordon has a long history of real estate development including a residential subdivision, hotel and golf course in Palm Springs, California, several major office buildings and hotels in Southeast Michigan, shopping centers, offices and multi-family properties, corporate offices and research facilities in Auburn Hills, Michigan and development of a 146 acre brownfield parcel also in Auburn Hills.
He also has a long-history of love for Northern Michigan from vacations with his parents at the Omena Inn in the 1940s and later at their home in Charlevoix.
Gordon, who earned a bachelor’s in accounting from the University of Michigan, a MBA from Northwestern University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan, was a founder of the First National Bank of Warren, and a founding board member of the Bank of Auburn Hills. With two partners he founded The Balcor Company, which was acquired by American Express. He is known for his skills in financial rehabilitation of developments, including the six million dollar financial rehabilitation of the Colony Beach Resort in Longboat Key, Florida in the late 1970s through the 1980s. Gordon has been an investor in many large properties nationwide. During his career he’s achieved $500,000,000+ in real estate investment and development.
His interest in an RV Resort came after the collapse of the financial markets in 2008-2009. In his initial efforts to create a planned development of second homes at Timber Shores, Gordon had heard many positive stories about the impact of the original Timber Shores resort on Northport and Omena.
After researching the growing interest in RVing as an affordable leisure vacation — and a safer one in the era of Covid-19 — he concluded that an RV resort might create great economic activity for Northport, Omena and the entire Leelanau community.
Gordon has spoken to the Multi-Housing Council, was a panelist at the M/PF Multi-Family Conference, the Regional Property Tax Assessors Conference and at the 11th Annual Entrepreneurship Conference at Harvard Business Schools in 1994. He has completed numerous continuing education programs in the legal field. He has also served as a board member of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, as a Council Member of the Corporate, Finance and Business Section of the State Bar of Michigan, as a member of the National Multi-Family Housing Council and with the University of Michigan President’s Club.
A copy of Gordon’s resume can be viewed here.
The Campground Manager
Joe Drudi is a skilled manager with decades of experience in managing a recreation venue as the owner and operator of Southmoor Country Club. Prior to his ownership of Southmoor, Drudi was the manager of a fine dining restaurant and of a group of 50 food stores.
He is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps where he was a Training Noncommissioned Officer.
He is a graduate of the Turf and Grass program at Purdue University and, in addition to his skill at running a business, he is a certified agronomist and knowledgeable in proper management of the environment.