Another high-end resort may be in the works for Sunriver.

A conceptual plan to turn nearly 400 acres of land south of Sunriver into a destination resort, will be submitted to Deschutes County planners by the end of this year, according to Sunriver Resort managing director, Tom Luersen.

Sunriver Resort Limited Partnership, which owns Sunriver Resort, Crosswater Golf Course and Sunriver Realty, is in the process of planning the development, which would include overnight lodging, single-family home sites, a nine-hole golf course, a restaurant and meeting space.

”Our plan is to exceed the standards and build a compatible development with Crosswater and Sunriver Resort,” Luersen said.

The resort is proposed for a nearly 400-acre parcel of land across the street from the entrance of Crosswater Golf Course.

Sunriver Limited Partnership bought 197 acres of land in 2000 and purchased the adjacent 197 acres earlier this year, Luersen said.

The property was zoned for a destination resort in the early 1990s.

According to Goal 8, Oregon’s statewide planning requirements for destination resorts, the site is required to have at least 150 overnight lodging units that are for rent 45 weeks out of the year, a two-to-one ratio of single-family lots to rental units, a restaurant that serves up to 100 people, meeting space and recreational amenities.

Luersen said that, beyond meeting the state destination-resort requirements, the specific number of overnight and single-family units has not been decided.

Rather than an 18-hole golf course, Luersen said the partnership is looking into building a nine-hole, par-3 course with terrain similar to Crosswater and a practice facility.

Luersen said overall the cost of the resort is expected to be between $30 million and $40 million.

Homesites in the development are likely to be comparable in price to homes in Sunriver, Luersen said.

”The lot sizes planned are smaller than Crosswater and slightly larger than Sunriver lots, it’s likely the homes built on the sites will be less expensive than Crosswater.”

Luersen said he hopes to have final master plan approval from the county at the end of summer 2005, with groundbreaking slated for late 2005 or early 2006.

The plans for the destination resort come during a flurry of new resort announcements in the Central Oregon region.

Cascade Highlands last month submitted plans for a destination resort off Century Drive in Bend that includes an 18-hole golf course, overnight lodging and homesites.

Ground was also broken last month on an 18-hole golf course at Brasada Ranch, a 1,800-acre destination resort in Powell Butte.

Luersen said the proposed resort in Sunriver, which hasn’t yet been named, will have an advantage over others in the region.

”The other projects are going to need to build up their amenities,” Luersen said. ”We are capitalizing on a brand that already exists.”

Kristy Hessman can be reached at 541-383-0350 or at khessman@bendbulletin.com.