Vern Porter and more than 15 investors are hoping to make the Nautical Beachfront Resort “the premiere destination in Lake Havasu City.”

Submitted Illustration The first of a four-phase, multi-million dollar Nautical Beachfront Resort master plan is shown. The area shows a new restaurant/bar, resort style pool, new entranceway and roundabout as well as several other new features. The first phase is expected to break ground in the next two weeks with construction set for completion in April 2011.

The Nautical general manager and the investors are looking into a four-phase, 41,000-square-foot master plan project that will add a new “destination beach club,” resort-style pool, more than 180 new units, a new conference center, a new restaurant/bar, extended-stay units, a new fitness facility, dry boat storage for more than 200 boats and other various amenities. Nautical representatives would not give specific cost estimates Tuesday but said the first phase, the proposed beach club, would be a “seven-figure” project with the total cost to be an “eight-figure” project. Project designers and managers are set to meet with the City Planning Commission this morning to discuss the area’s zoning as it would need a “residential zoning designation” to allow for the extended stay (more than 30 days) units, City Project Manager Dan Kassik said.

However, as the zoning does not affect the first phase of the project, the proposed beach club, Nautical representatives said they are moving forward with applications in the hopes of breaking ground in the next couple of weeks.

“I’m personally incredibly excited about this,” Porter said on the eve of the planning commission meeting. “It gives this city something that it hasn’t had in the past and that’s a real destination resort. … We need to drive tourism in this town. By doing this, we’re thinking it’s going to be just one leg on the road that hopefully returns us to the destination city we can be.”

Property development group RW Partners, LLC became a 50 percent silent investor in 2006 and took over 100 percent ownership in Sept. 2007, said John Bozzo, senior vice president with RW Partners LLC. Investors on the project include Porter, Bozzo and “about 15 to 20 other investors outside of the city,” Bozzo said. Bozzo added he’s excited to move forward with the beach club.

“That’s phase one and that includes a new roundabout, a new arrival building, back office and business center but the highlight is the new pool,” he said. “That’s an amenity that we don’t believe exists today in Havasu. We believe it’s going to be a very unique, larger resort-style pool more akin to what you’d see in Vegas ... with an outdoor bar and grill, cabanas with TVs, refrigerators and nice, lush landscaping. It’s going to be well beyond what we currently have on that property.”

Bozzo added that he expects construction to begin the next two weeks and be complete by April 2011 “at the latest.”

“Once we get the applications completed with the city, we’ll start on that phase,” he said. “But our future phases are still up in the air and are subject to change and the meeting (today) is part of that where we’re going through some preliminary submittals with the city.”

Project Manager Kassik said today’s meeting involves a concept review and the planning commission is not scheduled to make any formal recommendations.

“The meeting is simply so the applicant can get some feedback on the project on potential concerns that might exist,” Kassik said. “They will then come back at a later date for recommendations and then go in front of the City Council for approval. But there is no time frame on zoning code so they have as much time as they need to come back again.”

The second phase of the project is currently set to be for the dry boat storage. The third phase would include an additional 30 to 40 units and the fourth phase includes the about 20 long-term residential units facing the marina.

Principal planner Jeff Vogel, with planning group Vogel & Associates LLC, hopes the plan will reinvigorate the economy in Lake Havasu City.

“I think it’s going to be probably one of the more premiere destination resorts for Lake Havasu in terms of all of the uses when it’s finished,” Vogel said. “It’s going to accommodate a variety of users … and I think it’s great and it’s really exciting. It’s the perfect time too because the resort user is looking for something like this.”

You can contact the reporter at nbruttell@havasunews.com