WCM: Developer on Planned Luxury Resort in Tennessee

Published March 13, 2024 | Woodall’s Camping Magazine

Joey Locker expects to break ground early this summer on Locker’s Southern View Luxury Motorcoach Resort, the greater Nashville, Tenn., area’s first luxury RV resort.

The 285-site resort will include deeded lots and is being designed exclusively for Class A and Super C motorhomes.

“About half of the lots will be deeded, so owners can design their own outdoor kitchens, pavilions, patios and water features,” said Locker, who is developing the resort with three business partners.

The first phase of about 193 sites is expected to open by summer 2025, with deeded lot prices ranging from $250,000 to $450,000, with the higher-priced lots being sites along the Cumberland River.

Locker is building the resort to appeal to RVers who are 55 and over.

“Those are the kinds of people who can afford this lifestyle,” he said, adding that the Nashville market does not currently have a high-end motorcoach resort.

The 72-acre resort, about 25 minutes from downtown Nashville, features a half mile of frontage along the Cumberland River as well as oaks, pines, pawpaw and Bradford pear trees.

Locker said lot owners will be able to put their sites into a rental program so that they can generate revenue when they’re not using their sites. About half of the RV sites will also be available for overnight use by transient RVers. Locker also plans to install 10 park models as rental accommodations.

Park amenities will include an 8,400 square-foot clubhouse with a swimming pool, hot tub, gym, event center, conference area and library, as well as concierge services and laundry facilities. The resort will also have pickleball courts.

An onsite restaurant and a private owners clubhouse are planned for phase two of the resort, construction of which is expected to begin in late 2025, based on market demand. A shuttle will also be available to take guests to Nashville to attend shows, football games and other attractions. Guests and lot owners will also have the ability to take boat rides into Nashville along the Cumberland River.

In addition to its manmade amenities, the resort also features two archaeological sites, including a half-acre area with thousands of shells that are believed to have been created by Native Americans who lived along the Cumberland River thousands of years ago.

“Instead of being farmers, these Indians were fishermen,” Locker said, adding that they discarded the shells from mussels and other aquatic life on a site near the Cumberland River.

The resort property also has a second archaeological site that includes footings from a couple of buildings and an old cistern that dates back to the early 1700s, Locker said.