$30 million construction project starts for Chase on the Lake
BIZ BUZZ
Chase on the Lake Hotel, with 70 hotel units and a renovated bar and restaurant, is going up on Leech Lake in Walker.
The $30 million construction project, to be built by Nor-son Inc., will "resurrect the famous Chase on the Lake Resort," developers say. Construction was expected to begin with a ground breaking at 1 p.m. Friday in Walker. Plans are to open the resort in May.
In addition to the hotel, Chase on the Lake includes 47 units described as "condotels" that will be sold. Sale prices for the fully furnished lakefront condominiums begin at $230,000. Marketing materials design the project as one that will return a once beautiful retreat to "its undeniable days of splendor, bringing back the charm of the 1940s only now draped in contemporary high-end amenities."
Steve Olson is the owner/operator. Olson reported units were already selling before construction began.
Artist rendering
"The excitement over this project has been staggering," Olson said in a news release.
The resort amenities include an indoor pool, 1920's themed sports bar, restaurant, coffee shop and gelato bar, spa, marina, convention center, bowling alley - and rentals such as boats, bikes, and personal watercraft.
Cross-Tech Manufacturing Inc. in Crosslake was named 475 out of Entrepreneur Magazine's Hot 500 companies in the USA. Cross-Tech reports that means they beat out nearly 100,000 other companies to gain this important listing.
Owners Roger Roy and Scott Freiberg said the honor, which came from a list of 19 million businesses, was a surprise.
The Dispatch did a Labor Day special section feature on Cross-Tech in 2006 in a highlight of hidden gems in manufacturing. From modest beginning in June of 1999, the business - which features the Brush Wolf hydraulic rotary cutter as a product - grew into one of the largest rotary cutter manufacturers in the U.S. Cross-Tech has 18 different models for skid loaders.
Cross-Tech gained ISO 9001:2000 certification in May. Gaining the recognition as an emerging growth company in Entrepreneur Magazine's August issue was considered another major milestone.
RENEE RICHARDSON, senior reporter, may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.