What’s going on with the George Williams College campus? FAQs answered

The Village of Williams Bay is currently considering the future of the former George Williams College campus, a lakefront property located along a large stretch of the village’s shoreline. The property has been an integral part of the Williams Bay community for generations of residents and has been the site of a popular concert series, Music by the Lake, for more than six decades. Since 2002, the campus has also been the site of the headquarters for the Geneva Lake Water Safety Patrol. Below is a summary of the plans for the property as they stand at the end of 2024:

Who currently owns the property?

In 2000, under the direction of a new president, Dr. Rebecca Sherrick, Aurora University in suburban Chicago purchased the campus, which was founded in 1886 as George Williams College, a YMCA training school. For two decades, Aurora University used the Williams Bay location as a satellite campus, offering classes for its students seeking degrees in programs like education, nursing and social work. To transition the campus from its formerly summer-only role to a year-round educational role, the university made significant improvements and additions to the campus while preserving the major historic buildings. University officials also successfully formed philanthropic partnerships with local residents to continue the longstanding Music by the Lake summer concert series.

When Dr. Sherrick announced her retirement in 2022, Aurora University officials made the decision to discontinue classes at the George Williams College campus. In the summer of 2023, the university began to solicit bids for the purchase of the 137-acre campus property. In December of that year, Aurora University announced that it had entered into a contract to sell the property to Chicago developer Topography Hospitality, LLC.

What is Topography Hospitality, LLC and what are its plans for the property?

Topography Hospitality, LLC, was founded in Chicago in 2021 by Liam Krehbiel. In 2002, Krehbiel’s father, Fred Krehbiel, purchased an historic Irish estate and spent nine years developing the grounds and restoring the 19th-century manor house for use as an ultra-luxury resort. Named Ballyfin, this resort opened in 2011; a few years later, the British press reported that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West spent part of their honeymoon there.

By 2015, following the sale of the family’s fourth-generation manufacturing company to the Koch Brothers, the Krehbiel family was listed on the Forbes 500 list with an estimated net worth of $1.8 billion. Around the time of Fred Krehbiel’s death in 2021, Liam Krehbiel took over Ballyfin and formed Topography Hospitality.

Earlier this year, Topography Hospitality announced plans to build The Preserve at Williams Bay, a resort and spa similar to Ballyfin, on the George Williams College property. Based on documents Topography Hospitality has made available to the public, the resort would cater to high- and ultra-high-net-worth guests. Other amenities planned for the property include two on-site restaurants, a racquet pavilion, an activity center, a spa and pool area, and a new amphitheater with seating for up to 3,500 people.

What is the current stage of this project?

Before Topography Hospitality can move forward in building this ultra-luxury resort, the company needs several approvals from the Williams Bay Village Board. The first hurdle they faced was related to the village’s Comprehensive Plan. In 2023, a two-year planning process that sought the input of homeowners and residents of the village resulted in a new Comprehensive Plan that specifically excluded the word “resort” from the land-use categories. In order to move forward, Topography Hospitality first needed the Williams Bay Village Board to amend this language in its Comprehensive Plan.

The Williams Bay Village Board held an open meeting on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. The meeting was well-attended, with a large number of residents speaking out passionately both for and against the change. Ultimately, the Village Board voted to pass the amendment to the Comprehensive Plan, affecting relevant language that had previously limited land use to “Institutional Campus,” changing it to the revised “Institutional Campus and Limited Resort.”

What are the other approvals necessary for the resort to proceed?

Topography Hospitality’s website indicates that it will ask the Village to establish a Planned Development Overlay (PDO) for the property. This zoning overlay would allow the company to deviate from the Village’s standard building regulations and restrictions in order to achieve its overall vision.

On top of this, a portion of the undeveloped land that makes up the former George Williams College golf course is actually located in the Town of Walworth. Despite the fact that Topography Hospitality’s initial plans call for this land to remain undeveloped, the company is asking the Village of Williams Bay to annex that portion of the land into its borders, raising the possibility of future resort expansion or even residential development.

Village Board members interviewed by the Lake Geneva Regional News at the Dec. 9 meeting indicated that it was only the beginning of what would most likely become a long, public process.

When will the Village Board vote on these zoning changes and annexation?

The vote on the rezoning was originally scheduled for the same night as the vote on the Comprehensive Plan Amendment: Dec. 9, 2024.However, a few weeks before that meeting, the Village announced that the zoning vote had been canceled. At the time of this writing, a rescheduled date has not yet been announced.

What financial impact would the resort have on Williams Bay?

This is a complicated question. Topography Hospitality has emphasized the increased tax revenue to the Village that the resort would generate. (As an educational institution, the George Williams College land has never previously appeared on the tax rolls.) The company also highlights the creation of up to 100 permanent jobs and many more temporary jobs during the construction phase. And the company estimates that the resort’s room taxes could bring in as much as $1 million of revenue by 2029, though it’s important to note that these numbers appear to be based on a high year-round occupancy rate, and the Lake Geneva area has historically proved to be a seasonal vacation destination.

However, before the project can move forward, the Village must first significantly update the infrastructure to the property, including roads, water and sewer systems. In order to pay for these upgrades, the Village Board has already created a TID (Tax Incremental Financing District). The Village would then take out a loan through the use of a bond issue to pay for the infrastructure upgrades, and pay back the loan using the additional tax revenue brought in over time through the TID. Critics point out that, if the project should fail before the loan is repaid, the Village of Williams Bay could find itself with a major loan to repay and no TID revenue with which to pay it back. The Village would then be obligated to repay its loans through other funding sources.

Assuming the resort moves forward, could local residents still access the property?

As a private resort, the property would be available almost exclusively to guests and club members. The project’s website indicates that the resort’s bars/restaurants would be open to local reservations “on off-peak nights when we have the capacity to accommodate them.”

According to Topography Hospitality’s current prospectus, proposed accommodation rates would range from $1,200 to $3,900 per night during peak season. In a presentation to prospective investors, Topography indicated it also plans to offer a club membership, with a $100,000 initiation fee and $12,000 annual dues. “This membership is mainly for people who have a home in the area,” according to its website.

While these rates and fees are prohibitively high for the majority of local residents, current plans for the property do include the development of a 90-acre nature preserve on what was originally the “Back 9” of the George Williams College golf course. At this time, Topography Hospitality says that the nature preserve would be open to the public.

Per the new amendment to the Village of Willams Bay’s Comprehensive Plan, “pedestrian access to the Geneva Shore Path shall be preserved.”

Would the Music by the Lake concert series be revived under Topography Hospitality?

Information provided on the project’s website indicates that the Music by the Lake series would be continued under Topography Hospitality’s stewardship. Although the company plans to demolish the Ferro Pavilion (site of the Music by the Lake concert series), their plans for the resort do include a new amphitheater built into a large, wooded hill on the property. The new amphitheater would seat around 3,500 people.

Does Topography Hospitality have any other projects currently in the works?

The company recently purchased and then demolished an historic building at the corner of Wells and Superior Streets in the River North neighborhood of Chicago. Early reports indicate that the company intends to build a private club on the site. An announcement on the company’s LinkedIn page in August of 2024 indicated that “Topography Hospitality is under development to own and manage a portfolio of luxurious and sustainable hotels in areas of outstanding natural beauty.”

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